This Passion revival can be summed up easily: So much happiness. Maybe not all that much happiness for the characters on stage (though the actors are obviously enjoying their roles), but certainly the audience is being treated to a beautiful production, a first-rate cast and a score that's impossible to stop humming for days, even by the likes of After Eight!
Melissa Errico must have signed some Dorian Gray deal with the devil pact because she looks and sounds better than ever. Happiness was gorgeously sung, and then Errico gets to drift around the stage in this yellow period dress while she ethereally sings the letters. (RippedMan- if you haven't listened to the Amour OBCR please do. It should win you over on Errico's talents.) I would love to see her play Lily in a Secret Garden revival.
Judy Kuhn is a more sympathetic Fosca as some others up thread predicted she would be, but I loved her performance. It's intense and superbly sung. I Read and Loving You were highlights of the evening for sure. Loving You is one of Sondheim's best songs anyway, and the way Kuhn performs it is heartbreaking.
Ryan Silverman holds it together as Giorgio. His acting in final few scenes had me just as involved with his plight as with Fosca's.
The new orchestrations are lovely and the slightly smaller sound feels right for the space. I really, really hope they record this cast. It would be a waste not to.
I've always loved listening to the OBCR, but this was the first time I got to see the show live, and I think it is worthy to mentioned alongside Sunday in the Park, Follies and Company as one of Sondheim's best.
Doyle's staging would actually transfer nicely to the Circle in the Square. Now that the theater is free they should think about making the move Uptown so more people can experience this.
Saw it last night. I don't know how well it would transfer uptown, simply because the piece is so special, and this production is so simple, and lovely. No bells and whistles here, aside from fine acting and singing from all three leads. When Doyle doesn't have the actors as their own orchestra, he's really masterful and inventive-- though I did like his Sweeney a lot.
Man I wish I coul dsee this. While perhaps not the shows I would pick as "his best", Company and Passion are my two favorite Sondheim shows, personally. Thanks for your reviews jv and Whizzer.
When I saw it over the weekend there were red stains on Errico's dress. It looked like blood or something had dripped down her right side. It made me keep wondering if her character bleeds later in the show or the dress was rented or reused from another show.
Its interesting to see how much more loved the show becomes with each revival. I think in time history will place it amongst Sondheim's greatest works.
Can anyone who has seen this advise whether or not front row is too close? That's all that is available on the date I can see this, but it seems like every time I end up in a front row, I get over-emoting performers who spit all over me for the entire show. I love these actors but don't want to be drenched in their saliva.
RippedMan- There is actually almost no red in this revival. Perhaps little bits of red on the officer's uniforms, but that's it.
I love walking into CSC each time they have a new production because the space always looks dramatically different. This time the stage is laid with like a smooth black marble and there two square black marble columns upstage. There are several massive curtains on a runner that various characters move across the back wall to set a new scene. Everything is very dark and black. The only real source of light is Errico's stunning yellow dress.
Most of the props/set pieces are mimed. The soldiers dine at a mimed table and squat into non-existent chairs. The shoot pool at a non-existent billiards table. It's simple and basic and effective.
Errico doesn't look a day over 25. She could still be playing Laurie and Julie Jordan if she wanted to. The woman just doesn't age. She's perfect for the part.
There are NO chairs?? I saw the show on Sunday and they most definitely sat in chairs. They mimed a table and foot, the soldier dishing it out had a ladle though.
I don't mind minimalism, but sometimes I think Doyle gets in his own way. Let people have a blanket or a chair! sheesh!
Wait! I retract my statement about the chairs- it was so dark I think I just remembered incorrectly. They DID sit in chairs, but definitely no table and no food. It felt like they were miming the chairs though.
The minimalistic approach works well for Passion. The smaller orchestrations, the small space; it all fits together to make for an intimate experience that boosts the poignancy of the piece.
LOL. Great! I don't mind the minimalism in Passion, I'm fine with the no table/food/desk/train compartment/etc. I DO kind of wish Fosca had a bed or something to actually lie down on. It was awkward to watch people mime "getting one a bed" when they're just sitting and turning front. Or at least an actual blanket for her. It makes no sense for her to use the soldier's coats when the show itself doesn't have a "let's put on a show and pull props out of a trunk" vibe like "Peter and the Starcatchers." It would just be CRUEL to not give them chairs. Someone should make Doyle squat for those 10 minutes and see how he likes it, haha.
The curtains also oddly distracted and annoyed me. I felt they weren't used to depict locations but symbolize who Georgio was thinking of. The darker curtain for Clara and the lighter and torn one for Fosca.
I had no problems with Errico's age. She looks and sounds amazing and Clara has several lines about being older (which is a relative term. I'd accept a 28 year old Clara and a 42 year old Clara). It was glorious to see a Georgio who would actually turn my head on the street. He is stunning and sings it marvelously and so truthful with Fosca, outright mean to her when needbe.
I DID have a slight problem with Kuhn's age. YES Fosca is "wretched, sick, unattractive" but she's 26/27. Kuhn looks great for her age, but I think she looks late 30s. I've seen sick and ugly 28 year olds, they dont look 39, they look a haggared 30. She also never seems to go to the truly WRETCHED place I like Foscas to go to. She does some awful, unkind, and unlikable things, but she never seems to justify them in her acting. In fact she plays most of them off as jokes. Don't get me wrong, Fosca IS funny and has lines meant to be jokes for sure, but I don't think her tricking and manipulating someone is a joke.
The show is insanely well sung. The music alone moved me to tears.
Saw this today and overall liked it...was my first exposure to the show and the voices are lovely. For the poster who asked if first row was too close, I would say not at all. I'd also add that for this one, it's played to all directions to such an extent that I wouldn't worry about paying any extra money to sit in the front rather than the side seats.
Saw the show last night. I thought it was absolutely brilliant. (Spoilers included)
Now, I have seen both filmed productions of the show (Original cast & Lincoln Center) and I own both the London and Broadway cast recordings. Thus, I have loved the score for quite a while, but I honestly have never really "connected" with the story. I also never really understood Giorgio's eventual love for Fosca. (Common criticisms of the show).
In my opinion, the cast transformed the show. Judy Kuhn was obviously brilliant, but I thought that Ryan Silverman was a definite standout for me.
Ryan Silverman's Giorgio is completely vulnerable. For this first time, I could see Giorgio's mental state slowly deteriorating as the night went on, which I think made the character much more sympathetic and it helped me understand why he loves Fosca. Not sure if it was because I watched the previous productions, but I did not see this in Jere Shea and Michael Cerveris. Giorgio felt like a ticking time bomb, a "beautiful" man on the outside but deep demons below. One of the most devastating parts of the show was when Giorgio picks Fosca up in the rain, something that people laughed at during previews of the original production. You could see Giorgio's self-hate as he picks her up, you can tell it is something that he absolutely does not want to do but he feels honor bound by duty to take her home. I thought it was pretty brilliant and devastating. Also loved how Giorgio's uniform slowly deteriorated along with his mental state throughout the show, a nice homage to the original production.
I think this was done in the Donmar production, but Fosca's mother & Ludovic's jilted lover are all played by men, which was a cause for some (in my opinion) unwanted laughter during the important flashback scene where we learn (OMG!) that Fosca is not a virgin.
Although the orchestra was quite small, it did fit the space perfectly. God knows Passion could use about 50 violins, but the orchestrations did not sound "thin" at all, just small. Not sure if these are new orchestrations, but I definitely have not heard them before. No one is listed in the playbill having written new ones, so I assume they are just a slimmed down version of the originals. Also, for the Passion fans, the reprise of "No One Has Ever Loved Me" at the end of the show added for the London production is not included in this production.
Sorry for the rambling review, but I am a big Passion fan and wanted to share my love of this production with you guys.
I keep hoping I'll like Passion, but I find that it (and Bounce/Road Show, which followed it) are Sondheim's only works that are completely devoid of any humor at all - which is a turn-off to me.
It's so unrelentingly solemn and serious - I think that's why the weird laughs come when Fosca gets on the train, or when Giorgio almost leaves her passed out on the mountain.
I know that the soldiers' manly joshing is meant to lighten the mood, but it always feels actor-y; and Bounce is certainly meant to have lighter moments; they just don't land very well.
The music is always gorgeous, and the lyrics masterful, but I miss a sense of humor...
"She does some awful, unkind, and unlikable") things," "I don't think her tricking and manipulating someone is a joke. "
Interesting how these insignificant little details go unmentioned by the enrapt enthusiasts. Perhaps they aren't bothered by them. Or who knows? Perhaps they even approve of them. ("Go, Fosca! Destroy that sucker's life!")
"Its interesting to see how much more loved the show becomes with each revival. I think in time history will place it amongst Sondheim's greatest works."
Yes, that is very interesting. Problem is, each of Sondheim's works is among his greatest works, and was the moment it was placed on a stage. So history has the easiest of all tasks before it.
Drama Desk Award Winners - MATILDA, VANYA AND SONIA, PIPPIN, VIRGINIA WOOLF & More!
STAGE TUBE: MATILDA Cast Performs on The View!
John Bantay Talks to Richard Jay-Alexander About Musical Mondays Farewell
CHUCK Star Zachary Levi and Krysta Rodriguez Set to Lead FIRST DATE
Paris SUNDAY IN THE PARK Now Available For Download
Jennifer Hudson Joins AMERICAN IDOL's Judges' Panel!
VIDEO: Rooney Mara & Casey Affleck in First Trailer for AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS
Rihanna for River Island Summer Collection Lands May 25th
Exclusive InDepth InterView Audra McDonald Talks GO BACK HOME Album & PBS Special, MARLENE DIETRICH'S ABC, Upcoming Projects & More
Donkey Kong Country Returns is Back and Optimized for Portable Play
BWW Blog: Leah Edwards - Practice. Perform. Repeat
BWW Reviews: Millepied, Wheeldon and Martins - A Mixed Bag for City Ballet
Jay Leno Hosts Magical Evening to Celebrate Partnership for Cancer Care
joined:6/16/08
Posted: 2/12/13 at 09:09pm