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Rating:  - Sondheim's Worst!
Normally, I love Stephen Sondheim's work. I consider Company, Follies, Night Music, Sunday in the Park, Pacific Overtures, Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, and even the much derided shows Anyone Can Whistle and Bounce. But this one is...BAD. Yes, I just criticised Stephen Sondheim. I literally could not finish the show. The story is weak, the script sounds like it was done by Andrew Lloyd Weber (from me, that's as low a blow as you can get) and the lyrics, usually Sondheim's showcase, are clumsy and ineffective. The whole show has a breathy, affected air which ruins any pretense of true passion. The only good thing about the show is the logo.
Rating:  - Back at Last (and not a minute to soon)
For a long time, both the original Broadway cast recording and the taped version of Sondheim's chamber opera masterpiece, "Passion", were out of print. I wore out my VHS copy sometime in the late 1990s. I have an original print of the CD. I've heard stories that copies of the CD went on eBay for upwards of $100. Now, within the span of a year, the CD was rereleased, and the film was transferred onto a fantastic DVD, which all Sondheimite's should own.
"Passion" tells a devestating story: Giorgio (Jere Shea), an Italian soldier in the mid 1800s, is transferred from Milan to a small provincial town, leaving behind his married lover, Clara (Marin Mazzie). When he reaches the town, he meets Fosca (the absolutely unbelievable Donna Murphy, in the best musical theatre performance of the latter half of the 20th century), the sickly and ugly cousin of his superior (Gregg Edelmann). She falls instantly in love with him, but he wants only to be friends. His heart belongs to Clara, who will never leave her husband. What follows is one of the most beautiful scores in recent memory, and Sondheim's most accomplished score to date.
Mr. Shea is terrific as Giorgio, and Ms. Mazzie knocks it out of the ballpark as Clara. In smaller roles, Mr. Edelmann, Tom Aldredge, and Linda Balgord also shine.
On October 20, 2004, at the Ambassador Theatre in NYC, "Passion" was reproduced for one night only. Ms. Murphy and Ms. Mazzie reprised their roles, and the excellent Michael Cerveris, who starred in the Kennedy Center production in 2002, played Giorgio. It was magical. Let's start lobbying today for a recording of this performance!
Rating: - I am overcome.
I am mesmerized by this production. I must first say that I was not familiar with the more recent Sondheim works, and on first viewing I found some of the melody inaccessable / difficult - but only on first viewing.
My main reason for the purchase was the chance to see Marin Mazzie in her role. I had heard her clear, lovely voice on radio, and so I thought it was fair to gamble on the higher than average purchase price. This production was filmed for PBS shortly after the Broadway run of the show closed, and all of the principle cast are captured here. Marin, along with Donna Murphy and Jere Shea have all earned a place in my heart - they truely and deeply touched me.
The consequences of filming the staged presentation are that, in order to preserve the flow of the presentation, several cameras were used, and this resulted in an abundance of narrowly framed sequences and claustrophobic compositions. This is not entirely inappropriate given the subject matter. It was not possible to pull back for full vista views of the stage without revealing other cameras. The company comments on this in a lively and humourous commentary track.
The music, the voices, are uniformly glorious. After I identified the themes associated with the principle characters, and after I understood their intertwining magic, I succumbed (like Fosca?)to the rhapsody. This is more than a DVD. This is beguiling and beautiful performance captured for all time.
You owe it to yourself.
Rating:  - It's All About Donna Murphy!
Yes, you should get this DVD because it preserves the Tony-winning original production of Stephen Sondheim's "Passion." Yes, the show is excellent and probably works better on video, where the lack of opportunities to applaud aren't so jarring. Yes, the seamless transition from song to speech and back again proves surprisingly effective and engrossing. All of these are compelling reasons to buy this DVD.
But the biggest and best reason for buying this DVD can be summed up in two words: Donna Murphy. Oh my God, her Fosca is unbelievable!!! Her Tony-winning performance is unforgetable and will stick with you for weeks (maybe even months) after you first see it. I have never been so moved by a character in a musical before. She had me near tears, and I hardly ever cry while watching a show. I cannot begin to put into words the kind of depth Murphy brings to the tortured soul of Fosca, the longing for acceptance, the rudeness, and yet the unbridled love that Murphy layers into her performance. She steals ever scene she's in, and if the show had her on stage constantly for its almost two hours you wouldn't hear me complain. In fact, the notes of the insert have book writer James Lapine reminded everyone that the show is actually about Gregio, not Fosca, showing just how much attention Murphy must have gotten. I didn't really follow theatre back in 1994 when the show opened, but I imagine Murphy was the talk of the season and she deserved every compliment paid her and more. Her Fosca is a master class in acting, not just for musical theatre but for all theatre, and I can only sit in awe of her. Absolutely stunning.
Rating: - A stunning musical
I first found out about Passion as an avid Donna Murphy fan and i was once again not dissapointed by her performance or by the show itself. This is the most moving musical i have ever seen. Stephen Sondheim has once again struck gold with this beautiful and heart wrenching love story.
Donna Murphy deserved the 1994 Tony that she won for this performance and the way this was filmed her acting really shines. Her facial experesions and the emmotion that she taps into is phenomenal, and it is such a difference from other roles she has taken on (ex: Ruth Sherwood in Wonderful Town or Anji in Star Trek Insurrection) and this is a true testement to her acting ability.
I recomend this to any musical lover or anyone who loves a great and moving love story.
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