At the Classic Stage Company, Sondheim’s Passion, first produced in 1994 on Broadway, has once again brought a perceived classic to its small open stage. The CSC, now in their 45th season, has continuously done outstanding theater work and has enhanced the cultural life of the Village as well as the entire New York theater scene. Kudos to Artistic Director Buzz Kulick.
Passion is pure Sondheim, a hailed and justifiably honored artist, an American original. It used to be that you’d come out of a musical comedy humming a melody or have a show tune stuck in your head like a never ending toothache. I came out of Passion whistling the scenery, which in this case wasn’t bad. The production design and sets were created by John Doyle who uses the small open stage wonderfully. He also directed, and gives us an intimate, engaging and nuanced Passion, sung as well as acted.
We also bear witness to interesting, as well as appropriate, costumes by Ann Hould-Ward and an atmospheric and subtle lighting design by Jane Cox, that guide us dramatically and shift the mood and action gracefully. The lighting enhanced the overall affect, fitting hand in glove with the elegance of the production. The sound design by Dan Moses Schrier and the orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick, musical direction by Rob Berman, make for the overall perfection of this production. I doubt that you will see a better rendering of Passion anywhere. John Doyle’s work is straightforward, balanced, sure handed, and inspired. He leads his ensemble in Sondheim’s passionate romp, seamlessly, dramatically without lingering on the highs or dwelling on the lows. His direction is masterful.
It is often said that half the battle in a show’s success is in the casting. This production of Passion has been very fortunate in its choices. Melissa Errrico, the object of the soldier’s passion, is beautiful to look at as well in which to listen. We are not surprised, recognizing her from her many previous Broadway appearances. Her Clara is believable and achingly real. Playing the more demanding role of Fosca, the gentle soul consumed by passion, Judy Kuhn, no longer a young innocent, displays a dramatic ability necessary to fulfill the difficult persona of a woman, sick in body and even more in spirit, who is consumed with an urgent passion that blinds her to everything else in her life. Ms. Kuhn makes the plight and her passion, believable. Carrying the burden of all that passion is Giorgo, the Captain, lover of Clara and beloved of Fosca. There’s enough passion for everyone and Ryan Silverman carries it all on his broad shoulders. Mr. Silverman handles the role with ease and a commitment to character that fills the house. An experienced performer, Mr. Silverman has starred as Raul in, Phantom and Al in Most Happy Fella, among others. He can sing big time.
That the production is terrific and worth seeing and that I also think that Passion is not a great work, is not a contradiction. The credits note that the musical is based on the film Passione D’Amore directed by Ettore Scola. Mr. Scola is one of Italy’s most acclaimed directors. I’m now curious to see the film to see what was lost in translation. It’s not all Stephen Sondheim’s fault. James Lapine wrote the book, adapted from the film, set out the story for Mr. Sondheim and shares the responsibility for all of the moans and groans. It feels like a Freudian case study in hysteria set in an atonal monotone. We’re supposed to forgive it all because it is a musical.
At the outset we meet the lovers, Clara and Giorgio. They can’t bear to be apart. He has to go to a new posting. She will wait. At his new posting Giorgio meets Fosca who is sick at heart, until she meets Giorgio. She falls in love and needs his love to regain her health. Giorgio will be her friend, to help make her better. He is reluctant. She is insistent. He bolts back to the arms of Clara. We then find out that Clara is a married woman and this great love, full of passion, is only passion on the side. Giorgio goes back to the base and Fosca, his Commanding Officer’s cousin, is now sicker and her passion, full blown. Her illness is like the flu and Giorgio catches it only it’s not the flu but some love bug that consumes him. Back to Clara, who, he sees, will not love him without question or give up her comfortable life for him, but if he will wait for five years until her son grows up, she will be his. He runs back to Fosca and in the grand tradition of Opera, he confesses to Fosca that he loves her; they make love, full of passion. Then, he goes off to the new post, after all he is a Captain and Fosca dies. He reads her last letter and we fade out; end of passion, end of love and end of story. Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Lapine. I was underwhelmed. Also, ninety minutes without an intermission.
