Passion - WOW.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 12:11am

I ordered the DVD of the professional filming of this from Amazon this week and watched it just now. First of all, I could kick myself for not watching this gem of a show sooner. Second of all, this is seriously one of the most beautiful shows ever written. Donna Murphy gave one of the most heartbreaking and real performances I have ever seen, and Marin Mazzie's voice was just beautiful. The book for this show was stunning and incredibly graceful and worked seamlessly with the score (which I am now in love with by the way). All in all, this show just astounded me. Who here was lucky enough to see this show on Broadway?

Updated On: 6/3/12 at 12:11 AM

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 12:28am

We may disagree on some things, but I have to agree with you on this one. I believe Passion is one of the must underrated musicals in history. Such a beautiful score and book. And Donna really made it perfect. She IS perfection in that role.

[After Eight]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 12:33am

"Who here was lucky enough to see this show on Broadway? "

It was the dog of all dogs, sickening, vile, horrible.

Lucky to have seen it?

Cursed is more like it.

Updated On: 6/8/12 at 12:33 AM

[Kad]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 12:35am

Pot, kettle, etc.

[ljay889]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 12:43am

Old, troll, etc.

[RainbowJude]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 12:46am

bwayphreak234 wrote:(PASSION) is seriously one of the most beautiful shows ever written. Donna Murphy gave one of the most heartbreaking and real performances I have ever seen, and Marin Mazzie's voice was just beautiful. The book for this show was stunning and incredibly graceful and worked seamlessly with the score (which I am now in love with by the way). All in all, this show just astounded me.

PASSION is a fantastic piece of musical theatre, isn't it? A gorgeous score, mature and haunting, seamlessly integrated with a book in which the themes are briliantly realised, approaching some pretty hairy stuff as it challenges us to confront some of the darker aspects of our humanity. We are incredibly fortunate to have the original production preserved on film, with Donna Murphy's phenomenal performance in the role. Super, super stuff.

I would be very interested to see what Elena Roger did with the role of Fosca in the UK last year. She seems right for it.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 12:54am

I'd love to see this done in the round with a chamber type orchestra. I think the smaller orchestra would make it sound so haunting and beautiful.

I can see where people would find problems in the script and story, but I think anyone who has ever been in love or had that feeling of like "I'm meant to be with this person" will sort of understand it.

[Dr. Kitchell]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 8:11am

Hello! This is my first posting here. I saw the show on Broadway and remembered thinking that the performances were incredible, but there was just something wrong with the show. When Fosca came crawling up that mountain, the audience started to laugh. I don't think that was the response the authors wanted.

[Jay94]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 8:25am

The shortest running Best Musical winner

[matty159]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 8:28am

I'm in the camp that loves the show. Saw it on Broadway and in London with Michael Ball. One thing that really stood out from the afternoon I saw it on Broadway was silence the cast was met with at the curtain call. It was as if the audience didn't know how to react to the piece or was in utter shock over what they had just seen. When applause did begin, it was a most tepid reception at best.

[artscallion]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 8:30am

There was a lot of inappropriate laughter during that production. I think at that point in SJS's career, based on what people had seen of him before, he was known for the sly wit of his shows. Remember this came right on the heels Merrily, Sunday, Into the Woods and Assassins. I think the audience expected more of the same, and so laughed when they saw things that SJS might have played for humor in previous shows.

This is why, wisely, they filmed this production without an audience.

Updated On: 6/3/12 at 08:30 AM

[Rypm25]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 8:32am

After seeing Into the Woods on PBS and falling in love with it
I started collecting CDs to sondheims other shows. When I learned
Passion was coming to broadway I had to see it. It was my first Sondheim
Show I saw on broadway. Now the show was in previews when I saw it and
I was relatively young (16 or 17) but I remember being bored by it and I
Absolutely remember the audience laughing towards the end. Especially
When fosca ended up on the train! I never revisited passion, though maybe age
Will let me appreciate it more!

[maila]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 8:48am

i love passion. it's one of my favorite sondheim shows. i love how seamless it was, that you didn't want to applaud in between songs to ruin the flow, which was what happened when i saw it on broadway. then suddenly, after a short silence right after the last note of the finale, everyone burst into loud applause. but what made it really memorable was donna murphy's nuanced performance. every slight turn of head, every slight move of finger conveys something. and that beautiful voice!

[someone.else's.story2]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 12:31pm

I saw Passion on Broadway three times when I was fairly young. I sort of liked it the first time, but was intrigued enough to see it again with standing room cheap tickets. With subsequent viewings, I grew to love the show. Truly some of the best performances I have EVER seen in a show. And Donna Murphy gave the performance of a lifetime. Jerry Shea was pretty amazing as well.

[whatever2]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 1:46pm

i'm surprised no one's mentioned the revival next season @ classic stage with melissa erico and judy kuhn; doyle directs:

http://www.classicstage.org/season/passion/

i think there may even have been a thread about it?

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 2:22pm

I love Passion, it has one of the most beautiful scores I've heard. I haven't seen it live but I have the filmed stage production on DVD. I also watched the one with Patti LuPone and Audra McDonald.

[BwayLover]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 3:57pm

PASSION is not only my favorite Sondheim show, but my favorite show, period. I wasn't lucky enough to see it live on Broadway, but i have watched the DVD countless times. It just touches my soul so deeply - the themes are so poetic and universal and speak to me in a way I couldn't possibly explain. The score is simply exquisite, and the lyrics make me think every time I listen to them.

This is the show that made me fall in love with Donna Murphy, as well. She is simply stunning in the role - indeed, the role of a lifetime, a combination of actress and role that is just too good to be true. It is a master class in acting. Marin Mazzie is of course wonderful, and despite what people may say, I love Jere Shea as Giorgio.

So yeah, I'm with you. :)

[kc2]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 4:02pm

There was a LuPone-McDonald Passion? How did I not know this?

I adore this show, didn't see it on Broadway but have the DVD, I am so glad it was filmed that way.

[3bluenight]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 4:07pm

The Lupone/McDonald production was a concert at Carnegie Hall, that was aired on Live from Lincoln Center for PBS. Although not commercially released, it is widely available.

I am also an advocate for this piece. Whether or not people like the show, I think they tend to have strong reactions because its themes are about the nature of love, and everyone has feelings about that.

I think the material is complex, the circumstances layered and nuanced, that people are drawn to piece.

[Owen22]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 4:07pm

I was at the first preview of "Passion" when Donna was wearing a huge prosthetic wart on her face. What I remember most from it was when she follows Georgio up the hill where he goes to read the letter from Clara the audience started giggling with groans of "oh, no!". And then after she faints (to more titters) he looks at her and then goes to leave her there. The audience erupted into cheers! (He finally goes back for her). Don't quote me, but I'm not sure "Loving You" was in the score yet (I really thing originally the writers wanted a character so nihilistic she made no apologies) so Fosca was fairly unrelenting. I saw it again soon after it opened (the version on DVD) and they had all somewhat toned down the character. I didn't love the show then, but I've warmed to it over the years, my favorite being the recent Donmar production in London with Evita's much maligned Elena Rogers, who tackled the role with humor, and, oddly enough, warmth (without changing a word) making her the greatest Fosca I've ever seen (including Patti and DC's Sondhiem Celebration's Judy Kuhn, who I will be seeing again this spring at CSC.)

Updated On: 6/3/12 at 04:07 PM

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 4:31pm

I love PASSION for its utter refusal to compromise. The town isn't comic book ugly (a la LI'L ABNER), it and the set are really ugly. The heroine isn't unusual looking for a couple of scenes before she becomes glamorous (a la FUNNY GIRL), she's really and irreparably ugly. (I love both of those other shows and I'm not faulting them, just using them to show what PASSION was not.) There is humor in the book and score, but it's invariably cruel and almost always at Fosca's expense: nothing like making fun of a cripple to win over an audience!

But PASSION simply refuses to be "appealing". Even the gorgeous score rarely falls into traditional song forms that the audience is expecting. The show sets forth a clear point of view (true love = obsession) and follows that view to its logical but unhappy conclusion. Lots of musical theater characters sing about dying for love; in PASSION the heroine actually follows through.

Yes, there was inappropriate laughter at points throughout the evening--because the audience was uncomfortable. And that is no accident--the show wants to make the viewer as uncomfortable as Giorgio is.

I'm very grateful I happened to be in New York during its short run. I was absolutely thrilled by the performances and the sheer audacity of the whole undertaking.

[indytallguy]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 4:35pm

I love the score, but do remember feeling baffled when I first saw the Broadway production. It just didn't work for me. But when I saw the Kennedy Center production during the Sondheim Celebration, everything fell into place. I'd kill to see that version again and am looking forward to the CSC's production.

[kc2]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 4:35pm

Thanks for the info 3bluenight, I'll have to try and find it.

I agree with those who call the show uncompromising. It's such a grown up, complex show & I think the music is truly gorgeous.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 4:41pm

^^^And just to continue on the subject of refusal to compromise: I don't blame anyone who does NOT like the show. It simply refuses to be "likable".

[lemiz1862]

Posted: 6/3/12 at 4:42pm

3bluenight, the concert of Passion with Lupone/Cerveris/McDonald wasn't at Carnegie Hall, but it was at Fredrick P Rose Hall at the Time Warner Center, where Jazz at Lincoln Center is.