Passion - WOW. — Page 4

Gaveston, that's a good point. I guess that's why I, pretentiously or not, feel that people who have such a knee jerk HATE filled reaction are somehow taking it personally and it makes them uncomfortable. I've seen plenty of theatre I have really, really not liked, but I've never felt that the creators were insulting me as an audience member. Sure, maybe I've felt they were inept at what they were doing, but to take something so personally that you have to meet it with derision just seems to be, well, taking it awfully personally.

But did you feel they had failed, or did you feel they were personally insulting and full of disdain for your audience (and A8 isn't the only one I've heard have such a viscerally negative reaction to Passion)?

"How interesting that those of us who love the show seem to have no problem understanding why others do not. Yet those who dislike the show demand that all of us share their disdain."

This amazes me, too. I totally get the reasoning behind the dislike of Passion, but those same people seem to think those that love it have some kind of mental defect. Baffling...

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I should have said strong instead of knee jerk. Apologies.

(For the record I think a positive reaction often is absolutely knee jerk. And yes, my reaction to Passion was, umm, knee jerk, to overuse the term. I found it emotionally somewhat overwhelming but in a powerful and ultimately positive way--so that colours my view on why such a strong opinion--positive or negative, and this show doesn't seem to get any other sort of opinion--*is* personal. So of course I was projecting my own experience, I never claimed not to have been, and gave full disclosure).

I am probably digging myself a hole as well...

^^^But surely we have to admit that After Eight calling other posters condescending, pretentious, arrogant and/or presumptuous is pretty funny!

To get back to the original discussion, people do seem to generally have really strong reactions to this piece. My first exposure to it was watching a taped version of the PBS concert with Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, and Michael Cerveris. I was probably about 15, and I distinctly remember watching it, sitting in silence for about 45 minutes, and then watching it again. It was really difficult for me to wrap my mind around, but I loved it. It's such a beautiful score, and I'm in the camp that thought LuPone was a great Fosca. I do think it is a bizarre story though, and it's something a lot of people have trouble grasping, I think because it touches on so many parts of the human psyche that a lot of people would rather avoid confronting.

I think Passion embodies a lot of things that great theater or art should be...it's scary and difficult and dangerous and exciting and thought-provoking and people have very strong reactions to it because of all those things. I don't think it's ever going to be a show that's universally loved or even liked, but that's part of what makes it a special piece of theater.