What is Passion about?

[BillyB]

Posted: 9/26/04 at 9:09pm

What is it about? Is it good?

[Plum]

Posted: 9/26/04 at 9:18pm

I posted the answer to that question in the "nude scenes" thread.

[AvalonSkysStudios]

Posted: 9/26/04 at 9:22pm

Passion is about this handsome soldier named Giogio who is, at the present time, having an affair with a gorgeous and married woman named Clara. Soon he has to depart from Clara after being transferred to another station in Italy, where he meets the sick and ugly woman named Fosca.
Fosca begins to fall passionately in love with Giorgio who resists her at first but later realizes what true love is.
**********************************************************
I own this on dvd, since i love Steven Sondheim's work, and if you are a fan of his, buy it right away.
Jere Shea (Giorgio), Donna Murphy (Fosca) and Marin Mazzie(Clara) as with the rest of the cast including Gregg Edelman and Tom Aldredge, give excellent tour-de-force performances.
It garnered several Tonys including Best Musical and Best Actress in a Musical> Donna Murphy.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 9/26/04 at 10:04pm

Passion is about 2 1/2 hours of the most boring music you will ever hear. It's Sondheim at a lowpoint.

[NuggetMonkeys]

Posted: 9/26/04 at 10:09pm

Gotham, I disagree strongly...
and GOD-freaking-DAMMIT!
His name is Stephen.
PH!
PH, dammit!
ay ay f*cking ay!

simply, PASSION is about obsessive love.
-d.b.j-

[amasis]

Posted: 9/26/04 at 10:17pm

"Fosca begins to fall passionately in love with Giorgio who resists her at first but later realizes what true love is."

I love PASSION. I personally don't think at all that it is a low point for Sondheim.

I'm not sure about the whole "true love" thing, though. Would be interested to hear people's take on the book... Updated On: 9/26/04 at 10:17 PM

[Plum]

Posted: 9/26/04 at 10:20pm

Passion is not Sondheim at his low point at all. "Happiness," "I Read," and "Loving You" are all quite lovely. Right now I'm of the opinion that The Frogs is Sondheim's worst score, unfortunately.

[BwayLover]

Posted: 9/27/04 at 2:50am

In the last few weeks, ever since I got the DVD, I have become absolutely OBSESSED with "Passion".
The music is gorgeous- lush and haunting. The songs that stick out, to me, are "I wish I could forget you" and "I Read", as well as the wonderful "Loving You". It is so brilliantly done that even after numerous times of listening to it, I still find new things, new themes and hidden subtle hints about what is yet to come. It's brilliant.

The performances of the OBC are all amazing, but there is no doubt that this show belongs to Donna Murphy. She owned that stage, both with her haunting vocals and with her intense performance. I advise all actors to see this- it is truly a master class in acting! She is just phenomenal.

I don't think it's Sondheim's low point AT ALL. If anything , it is his high point to me. Granted, this show is not for eveyone- it is intense, powerful and relentless (just like Fosca)- but when you allow yourself to get into it, it is also extremely moving.

Updated On: 9/27/04 at 02:50 AM

[musicalfandukie]

Posted: 9/27/04 at 2:58am

i have only heard 2 of the tracks from this show! and i love what i have heard. i should get the cd so i can hear it all. if the rest of the music is like that. it has to be a great show:)

[jo]

Posted: 9/27/04 at 8:17am

I also happen to like PASSION very much. I did not see the Broadway production but had seen the London transfer instead ( with Michael Ball and Maria Friedman). The London production has a longer score and the voices are great.

PASSION must be Stephen Sondheim's most romantic work although the score needs more than one listening to appreciate its beauty and lyricism. It is based on an Italian novel on the dilemma faced by a handsome but a little self-absorbed military officer with the love showered on him by his married mistress and with the love/obsession focused on him by a slighly demented and unattractive woman. I have both the Broadway and London cast albums as well as the DVD of the Broadway production ( slightly edited version used for a television airing).

I recommend getting the DVD as it presents the TONY winning production in full. I also enjoyed listening to the commentary by the authors and the major cast included in the DVD. I do prefer the London cast album, though. Michael Ball's voice has never been in greater form, which is in full power when he sings the song that was expanded by Mr. Sondheim for him ( No One Has Ever Loved Me/I Love Fosca).

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 9/27/04 at 8:21am

Passion is my all-time favorite Sondheim show. It's a gorgeous and intelligent score coupled with a rich, intriguing story. I found it to be one of Sondheim's most engaging musicals.

[BwayLover]

Posted: 9/27/04 at 2:13pm

Just a remark, Jo- it wasn't expanded for Michael Ball. It was cut from the show when it premiered on Broadway and then restored in London.

And yeah, the commentary is GREAT!

[sharon1]

Posted: 9/27/04 at 3:35pm

I have to agree with Jo. I like the dvd very much I do prefer the London cast recording. I think primarily because the vocals are outstanding. Friedman and Ball were at their very best

[BwayLover]

Posted: 9/27/04 at 4:01pm

I must say, I was left rather cold by the OLC- It just didn't do it for me. I do love the cut song ("I Was Wrong")though..
There has been much debate over Jere Shea's acting (I personally think he was good, but others have said he was kind of wooden) -but one thing's for sure: The man can sing! I really do prefer his voice to Mr. Ball's - it's more....manly. And, well, I'm a little biased here because I have become a huge Donna Murphy fan thanks to this production.....but I do believe her Fosca is definitive. Her voice is simply divine, so beautiful and emotional... And I haven't even mentioned Marin Mazzie....who is in glorious voice here and simply lights up the stage (umm..screen) with her presence.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that I prefer the OBC.

Updated On: 9/27/04 at 04:01 PM

[KarenNYC]

Posted: 9/27/04 at 4:15pm

I saw PASSION as part of the Sondheim Celebration at the Kennedy Center two years ago with Michael Cerveris as Giorgio, Judy Kuhn as Fosca and Rebecca Luker as Fosca. Cerveris and Kuhn were a-MAH-zing. I'm not a fan of Luker's, but she was fine. I'd only heard Cerveris as Hedwig at that point so I had no idea he had a "legit" voice like that. His performance was definitely one of the highlights for me out of the four shows I saw at the Kennedy Center.

It's a little sick and twisted, isn't it, that Giorgio was so full of contempt for Fosca and he treated her terribly, but because she was so persistent and kept chasing after him and loved him unconditionally, he eventually came around. Of course there's more to it than that, but that's it in a nutshell.

[BwayLover]

Posted: 9/27/04 at 4:25pm

Well that is kinda simplifying it, isn't it?

I think he comes around because he finally sees how powerful and real her love for him is..as opposed to Clara's, which by then he realizes is not genuine (at least by his standards). He is touched by her unconditional love and moved by it, and that's when he realizes he loves her, as well. I think it's beautiful.

I've only seen pictures of this production, so I can't really judge.. Kuhn looks very....ill- Which is a compliment when referring to Fosca. I don't quite see Cerveris as the extremely handsome Giorgio, though- I'm sure vocally he was incredible, but I don't know if he fits the part physically. He is a very handsome man, that's for sure- but not in a 19th century Italian way, if you know what I mean. Just my humble opinion.

Did Cerveris Sing "I Was Wrong" in this production? I'm curious. Also - did anyone see Lupone play Fosca? I'd love to hear reviews...

Updated On: 9/27/04 at 04:25 PM

[KarenNYC]

Posted: 9/27/04 at 5:03pm

I really knew nothing about the show at the time that I saw it but my friend who accompanied me was talking about "the cut song", so yes, I think he did sing it in this production.

Giorgio did eventually come around, but he did say that he loved her, "not the way that she wants me to". He ended up truly caring for her, but it was because he felt sorry for her for getting ill, not to mention the fact that she kept taking his abuse and coming back. It was her desperation for him that eventually attracted him to her, and that is twisted. That is not to say that I think the show is bad. It's just twisted and there are relationships that are like that in real life.

[kgee30]

Posted: 9/27/04 at 5:06pm

Hmmm…if memory serves, Cerveris did not sing “I Was Wrong” at Ravinia last summer – at least I don’t remember hearing any material that differed from the OBC.

My review (again, if memory from 2003 serves): dark dark dark, as appropriate. Everything black, everything bleak. A few chairs onstage, and the main ramp from the top level also functioned as both table and bed.

The cast was uniformly excellent. Audra McDonald was fabulous as Clara – gorgeous, self-absorbed, entitled. (I’ll admit that I’ve never paid much attention to the character, though; Clara always struck me as a bit of a cipher.)

Cerveris didn’t come across as refined, or perhaps as kind, or deferential, as Jere Shea, whose Giorgio always seemed a bit meek to me because of that. Cerveris’ Giorgio was a little colder, more aloof. Oh, and sexier.

LuPone, I thought, was more visceral and more feral than Murphy, and the age discrepancy between Fosca and Giorgio underlined the character’s desperation. Her Fosca seemed needy and pathetic--definitely hitting the grotesque angle--and at times literally insane (I just never got the same leeching feeling from Donna Murphy, the impression that she was literally sucking the life out of this man, although I adore her performance).

Goodness, I’m not being helpful at all, am I? Apparently memory doesn’t serve at all. Updated On: 9/27/04 at 05:06 PM

[jo]

Posted: 9/27/04 at 5:16pm

No offense meant, but I agree with the comments that Jere Shea tended to be a little wooden - not just on the acting side... but also on the singing side ( although he does have quite a good voice). The character of Giorgio, it seems to me, was torn between different emotions - about his own journey and his distracting relationships with the two women, and as such I thought the singing should have reflected these strong emotional overtones.

There's an interesting comment offered by Michael Ball from an interview re PASSION :

"Stephen says that everyone who comes into the theatre sees themeselves as Giorgio, Fosca or Clara, but the truth is we have all been all three at some point. Clara and Forca's characters do not change, but Giorgio goes on this journey of discovery and we've all had a little journey here and there in our relationships."

Btw, if there are any jazz enthusiasts, I came across a jazz album of the musical score of PASSION. Very interesting.


Updated On: 9/27/04 at 05:16 PM

[KarenNYC]

Posted: 9/27/04 at 5:33pm

Hmmm…if memory serves, Cerveris did not sing “I Was Wrong” at Ravinia last summer

My bad. I should have specified that I was talking about the Sondheim Celebration at the Kennedy Center in DC in August 2002, with Rebecca Luker as Clara and Judy Kuhn as Fosca. I think the cut song was in the show then.

[BwayLover]

Posted: 9/27/04 at 5:49pm

No offense taken. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion. I will admit that at first I wasn't that impressed with Jere Shea's acting, but it's kinda grown on me in (many)repeated viewings. Plus I really do enjoy his voice.

And kgee30, it was very helpful! I enjoyed hearing your opinions and recollections. Thank you!

Updated On: 9/27/04 at 05:49 PM