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By PAUL BRENNER
The last original Stephen Sondheim musical to hit Broadway was "Passion" in
1994. And although the production was awarded the Tony Award as Best Musical,
the show had a short life span on Broadway, closing in early 1995. This
production, filmed (not videotaped) by noted cinematographer John Bailey, shot
in 1995, shortly after the show's closing, with the original cast, is now
available on DVD through Image Entertainment.
"Passion" is perhaps the most unrelenting of Sondheim's show -- mostly sung, no
comic relief, no intermission. Rebutting critics of previous Sondheim shows who
charged Sondheim as being too cerebral and cold, "Passion," as the titles
suggests, is a work of pure emotion. Sondheim based the show upon Ettore Scola's
1981 film "Passione d'Armore" but director and book writer James Lapine went
back to the original source, a 19th century epistolary novel called "Fosca" by
Ignio Ugo Tarchetti. The story concerns Georgio, a young Italian soldier towards
the end of the 19th century, who has an affair with a beautiful married woman.
When transferred to a barren outpost, he meets the sickly and unattractive
Fosca. Fosca instantly falls in love with Georgio and obsessively pursues him.
At first Georgio puts off Fosca and then brutally rejects her but eventually he
capitulates to Fosca's unconditional love.
This film adaptation, first shown on PBS, adapts well to the intimacy of
close-ups and restricted space. The performances are cutting and very moving --
particularly Donna Murphy's Tony Award-winning turn as Fosca. But it is Sondheim
who amazes. A composer-lyricist whose first show was in 1954, Sondheim is always
at the forefront of musical theater, forever pushing the form forward. "Passion"
is yet another revelation from the ever fearless Sondheim. Sondheim's musical
chamber piece can be hated, can be loved, but cannot be ignored.
The extras on the DVD include audio commentary, recently recorded in 2002, with
the core creators of the show -- Sondheim, Lapine, the actors Donna Murphy,
Marin Mazzie, and Jere Shea, and artistic consultant Ira Weitzman. Also on the
DVD is an audio recording of an extended version of the song "No One Has Ever
Loved Me" that was cut after the first preview of the show. The DVD is available
in Dolby 5.1 and Dolby 2.0. |
