The REAL Ciaron
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"Passion"......why do people stay away?I love this show. However, it seems to send even the greatest of Sondheim fans running for the hills. Why is this? I understand it is depressing but that is its greatest quality.
Both Friedman and Murphy were put on the map due to this show. I need a revival.
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RainyCrystal
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I love Passion.
My personal favorite is actually the Dutch production. IMO, it has the best cast (Stanley Burleson, Pia Douwes, Vera Mann, etc.). The recording is simply wonderful, and is a must-have for all who like this musical.
~Sissi
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belleboi80
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I would love a revival, as long as Ms. Lupone is not there!
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(aerial)
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I only heard Passion about a year ago. I really like it, both for Murphy's performance and the score itself. It's a good story, too, which always helps : )
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Salome
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While being my least favorite Sondheim show..I don't find it bad at all. I actually saw it twice..broadway and london. MUphy was brilliant and Friedman was adequate.
I think the trouble for me is..i can'y latch onto the score the way I do with most of Sondheim's work. its well written and introspective but I only can hear it a few times a year..any other Sondheim i can listen too weekly.
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Dvarg
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It's an exhausting show. No doubt it's great. But it is demanding and wears out the audience. One can experience it only now and then.
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PAMIE
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I love the Passion, I enjoy watching both of the production of The Passion which is the London and the Broadway production, but yes I think is a depressing story.
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RainbowJude
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The Passion of Love | The REAL Ciaron wrote: | | I love this show. However, it seems to send even the greatest of Sondheim fans running for the hills. Why is this? |
I think it is because, more so than any other Sondheim, Passion forces people (in general) to confront an idea close to their hearts - the nature and meaning of (call it what you will) love/passion. And while other Sondheim shows are challenging, they're about marriage or mass murderers or assassins or parents or art or selling out. These are the effects of love/passion and are easier to place at a further emotional distance from oneself.
But I think when you start challenging people's ideas about what love/passion is meant to be - particularly in a musical theatre context - then you start making them very uncomfortable because they might have to confront something very real and very private. And it's not that other Sondheim shows don't approach this issue; it's just that in Passion, the issue is a central one. And - if you look at the show's original season as an example - it is (in some ways) understandable that people would rather see shows like Crazy For You, Guys and Dolls, Beauty and the Beast or Show Boat than put themselves through a harrowing, albeit brilliant and ultimately rewarding, experience.
Later days
David
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MrsJamieWellerstein
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I just haven't had the chance to even LISTEN to Passion. The fact that I love Murphy into the ground is my main incentive (partially because I just love her, partially because she terrifies one of my friends).
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