Passion.
I loved this show. Listened to it constantly...for years...
Then I saw it on PBS and found it to be dark, and slightly boring. But, I can appreciate it more now.
Phantom of the Opera was another...
When I saw it, I thought it was crap, and that was after listening to the score for a year.
"Do you know what pledge time is, Andrew"? said the PBS Executive.
"Yes", Lloyd Webber replied. "My 50th birthday special must be one program that gets done a lot."
"No", mused the man from PBS heedlessy. "Not so much. Our Stephen Sondheim Carnegie Hall concert. That's a big one."
Spoons, forks and knives seemed suddenly to suspend their motion in horror, all around the table.