Stephen Sondheim's Passion (Original Broadway Cast)

Starring:Donna Murphy, Jere Shea, Marin Mazzie, Gregg Edelman, Tom Aldredge, Linda Balgord, T.J. Meyers, William Parry (II), Christopher Peccaro, Francis Ruivivar, John Antony, Colleen Fitzpatrick, Marcus Olson, Andy Umberger
Director: James Lapine
Studio: Image Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com essential video
Based on the Italian movie Passione d'amore, Stephen Sondheim's Passion is a story of obsessive love. Giorgio (Jere Shea), a soldier, and Clara (Marin Mazzie), a woman with a husband and child, are deeply in love, but their idyllic happiness is disrupted when Giorgio is transferred to another post. Here he meets Signora Fosca (Donna Murphy), a homely and ill woman who is the cousin of the regiment's commanding officer. Fosca soon falls in love with Giorgio and pursues him relentlessly, saying "Loving you is not a choice / It's who I am." He is repulsed and resists her advances, but eventually he succumbs to the power of her love.

Rather than a succession of individual songs strung together by dialogue, Stephen Sondheim's score is a constant flow of gorgeous music. (The original theater program listed no individual songs.) The plot is conveyed by song, some dialogue, letters between the characters, and a group of soldiers that serves as a Greek chorus. The result is more of a chamber opera than a conventional musical. Passion won Tonys for Best Musical, Best Score, and Best Book of 1994.

Amazon.com essential video

Based on the Italian movie Passione d'amore, Stephen Sondheim's Passion is a story of obsessive love. Giorgio (Jere Shea), a soldier, and Clara (Marin Mazzie), a woman with a husband and child, are deeply in love, but their idyllic happiness is disrupted when Giorgio is transferred to another post. Here he meets Signora Fosca (Donna Murphy), a homely and ill woman who is the cousin of the regiment's commanding officer. Fosca soon falls in love with Giorgio and pursues him relentlessly, saying "Loving you is not a choice / It's who I am." He is repulsed and resists her advances, but eventually he succumbs to the power of her love.

Rather than a succession of individual songs strung together by dialogue, Stephen Sondheim's score is a constant flow of gorgeous music. (The original theater program listed no individual songs.) The plot is conveyed by song, some dialogue, letters between the characters, and a group of soldiers that serves as a Greek chorus. The result is more of a chamber opera than a conventional musical. Passion won Tonys for Best Musical, Best Score, and Best Book of 1994.

Description

An unforgettable chronicle of the redemptive power of love, this is a mesmerizing musical rhapsody from the Broadway team of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine. In 19th century Italy, handsome soldier Giorgio, is embroiled in a steamy affair with lovely, and married, Clara. Giorgio is transferred from Milan to a remote military outpost where he comes into contact with the ailing, homely Fosca, his commanding officer's cousin. Fosca falls instantly and deeply in love with Giorgio, who resists her affections. Gradually she reveals, and Giorgio learns to appreciate, what is truly beautiful about herself. This highly acclaimed Broadway musical features extraordinary performances from Donna Murphy (The King & I), Marin Mazzie (Ragtime, Kiss Me Kate) and Jere Shea (Damn Yankees). A haunting study of obsessive love, this striking production offers a visual and musical feast that will linger in your heart and soul forever! Winner of 4 Tony Awards: Best Musical, Best Actress (Musical) - Donna Murphy, Best Book (Musical) - James Lapine, Best Original Musical Score - Stephen Sondheim

Customer Reviews:

Sondheim's Masterpiece!.......2007-02-19

This is undoubtably Sondheim's masterpiece. An almost 2 hour rhapsody beautifully sung, acted, staged and filmed.
This is a must for every Sondheim fan!!!

I love this work..........2007-01-02

I love all Sondheim but this is my favorite.
The one thing that would make my life perfect (well,almost) would be if the concert performance from Jazz at Lincoln Center were also released on DVD so I could have both, with their different emphasis, to enjoy.
Till then this is the more "human", the other walks into catholic mysticism, of the two great performances and it's devastating.

True Passion.......2005-06-08

I have had the recording of Stephen Sondheim's Passion for quite some time now. I love Sondheim, but I never could really get into the music very much. The notes and tempos are extremely irregular and are veyr hard to remember, so it seems you are hearing it for the first time every time you listen to it. But then I saw this DVD and I realized the brilliance of the music and the show itself. It plays perfectly into the story. I shouldn't be able to remember the music very well, I shouldn't think it is light and fluffy. It's not at all. My God, this show tore me apart when I saw this. I had no idea how wonderful it was. It is a perfect example of how actors are not just voices, they are people who bring these characters to life. Sondheim's lyrics and James Lapine's book are exquisite and work so well together, you'd think they were written by the same person. The music flows in such a way I would have never imagined listening to the recording.

Donna Murphy! She brings one of the most brilliant performances to the stage that I have seen in years. She tore me up inside, made me cry, made me laugh even. I couldn't bear to watch yet she entangled me and made me watch. She's also got an amazing voice to match. I am absolutely in love with her now. Jere Shea is also very good. His voice is pure and melodic and perfect. His acting is very good too, I was surprised. Marin Mazzie is also perfectly convincing as the woman who loves her torrent afair yet wouldn't sacrifice a thing for it. Again, a beautiful voice.

This show is also very clever is its staging. The soldiers entrances are always a treat to see. Just the way everything worked together in the show as one is something rarely seen. In this show, something hit home with me and with others I have talked to. Unconditional love, without pretense, without care of sacrifice, true passion is what is shown. Think Shakespeare in Love: if he had written this play instead to show the true nature of love, he would have most difinitively won the bet. If you would like to enjoy the soundtrack, you need to see this first.

How Can Anyone Not Like This Show?.......2005-05-26

First, I must say that comparing Sondheim shows to each other is ridiculous. Would you tell a plumber that you liked his sink installation in one house more than in another? Each piece is completely different and should be judged on its own merits.

Passion explores the themes of love and beauty from a darker perspective than we are accustomed. The performances are quite good--particularly Donna Murphy's portrayal of Fosca. With the DVD, you get a chance to get closer to Fosca and experience the emotions with her. Ms. Murphy is able to find beauty in desperation. She convincingly takes her character on the immense journey from self-loathing to the belief that she is worthy of love. Her portrayal is nothing short of astonishing.

Marin Mazie looks and sounds lovely, and Jere Shea seems to start out a little wooden (although he is paying a soldier and wooden is a desirable trait in soldiers) but has some beautiful and heartfelt moments at the end of the show.

If you are a fan of Sondheim, love stories, or excellent acting, this CD is well worth the price. I guarantee that you will think about the show long after it has ended--and that's the mark of good writing.

Sondheim's Worst!.......2005-04-23

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.

The Stephen Sondheim Collection (Into the Woods / Sunday in the Park with George / Follies in Concert / Passion / Sweeney Todd in Concert / A Celebration at Carnegie Hall)

Average customer rating:

A must-have for all Sondheim lovers
Worth every penny that my mom spent!
A TRUE FAN/COLLECTORS GEM
Sondheim Collection
Sondheim: Greatest Theatre Genuis of the 20th Century

The Stephen Sondheim Collection (Into the Woods / Sunday in the Park with George / Follies in Concert / Passion / Sweeney Todd in Concert / A Celebration at Carnegie Hall)
Starring: Bernadette Peters , Chip Zien , Joanna Gleason , Tom Aldredge , and Robert Westenberg
Director: James Lapine , Terry Hughes , and Michael Houldey
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Musicals & Performing Arts | Genres | DVD | Video

Musicals & Performing Arts | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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Original Cast Album - Company
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Broadway's Lost Treasures Collection (Broadway's Lost Treasures 1-3 & The Best of the Tony Awards - The Plays)
Putting It Together: A Musical Review

ASIN: B0000AKY5I
Release Date: 2003-09-23

Amazon.com

The six-disc Stephen Sondheim DVD Collection is pure Broadway gold, encompassing three original Broadway cast performances and three all-star concerts celebrating the work of musical theater's most important composer over the last half of the 20th century. Into the Woods is Sondheim's most popular show, an amalgam of fractured fairy tales and what happens after "happily ever after." Bernadette Peters heads the cast, joined by Tony winner Joanna Gleason and Chip Zein. Sunday in the Park with George was Sondheim's immediately preceding work, also a collaboration with writer-director James Lapine and also starring Bernadette Peters. She plays Dot, the mistress of brilliant French pointillist painter Georges Seurat (Mandy Patinkin), in a powerful work about the nature of art and the artist that gains substantially when you can see the staging elements. The third Broadway cast performance is Passion, which was shot on stage though not before a live audience. It's a story of obsessive love in which the romance between Giorgio (Jere Shea) and Clara (Marin Mazzie) is disrupted by a strange woman named Signora Fosca (Tony winner Donna Murphy).

Sweeney Todd is generally considered Sondheim's best work, and it's well performed by Patti LuPone and George Hearn (reprising his role as the demonic barber almost 20 years after he played it opposite Angela Lansbury in a 1982 video recording). Follies in Concert was an attempt to right a wrong created by a truncated original cast recording, so it's ironic that roughly half the program is backstage material combined with only 47 minutes of concert footage. There are some brilliant moments, though, from such performers as Barbara Cook, Hearn, Patinkin, and Lee Remick. A Celebration at Carnegie Hall is another all-star cast performance of both Broadway stars and operatic voices peppered with comedy from Bill Irwin. Highlights include the ensemble numbers, Daisy Egan's "Broadway Baby," and Patrick Cassidy and Victor Garber's "The Ballad of Booth," which is about as close as you'll get to an original cast performance of Assassins. All in all, this invaluable set preserves and celebrates an important body of work that may never again be documented this well. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews:

A must-have for all Sondheim lovers.......2007-05-08

This is an amazing collection, which showcases the breadth of Mr. Sondheim's talents. No one else combines his musical mastery with his sheer delight in playing with the English language.

Worth every penny that my mom spent!.......2007-01-15

After watching 3 of the 6 DVDs in this collection, all I can say is "amazing!" The winner thus far is Sweeney Todd. The cast is unmatchable. The only thing missing is the airing of A Little Night Music.

A TRUE FAN/COLLECTORS GEM.......2007-01-11

I had the chance to see on Broadway : Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, Passion and Into the Woods and Follies in London .It was a real treat to be able to behold the unforgetable experience in that fantastic DVD collection

Sondheim Collection.......2006-07-03

This is a must have in your collection Sondheim fans! This box set has titles that appeal to both the children and adults in a family. My children love Into the woods and the Carnegie Hall concert especially! One of the best purchases I've made this year.

Sondheim: Greatest Theatre Genuis of the 20th Century .......2005-11-30

I have been in love with the work of Stephen Sondheim since the age of 6, when I first memorized the lyrics to all of the songs from West Side Story. Mr. Sondheim has give us many, many wonderful pieces of theatre, and several of his best pieces are represented here.

Sweeney Todd: considered by many his masterpiece. I prefer the Angela Lansbury / George Hearn casting, but if they chose to star Betty Boop and Donald Duck it couldn't hurt this material. Brilliant.

Follies in Concert: Follies remains my favorite Sondheim musical and, unlike some other reviewers, I thought the ORIGINAL book was brilliant. The later revised version considerably weakened both characters and plot, and the "concert" version is even more woefully incomplete than the original cast album, but thank GOD they saw fit to include, "Too Many Mornings".

Sunday In The Park With George: Pulitzer Prize winning paean to the creative process; I can even forgive the casting of Mandy Patinkin, one of my least favorite actors. The recreation of Seurat's masterpiece during the first act climax still gives me chills.

Passion: the more I watch this achingly beautiful show, the more I think it's one of Sondheim's greatest scores. Subtle, yes, but if you allow it to, it will grow and grow on you until you can't get it out of your mind. This show is for anyone who has ever loved someone that they couldn't have.

Into The Woods: I saw both Broadway productions and had difficulty choosing which was better. I think the original cast, represented here, had a slight edge. Possibly the most "fun" of Sondheim's shows, this take on Grimm's fairy tales is clever, entertaining and highly satisfying.

The Carnegie Hall tribute is also wonderful.

I have long been of the opinion that Sondheim can do no wrong. His lyrics are thrillingly brilliant, witty beyond all expectations, and his music contains depth that other Broadway composers can only dream of. What is most amazing to me is how he can vary styles and musical periods from show to show to show - no two of his musicals are ever alike, which is more than I can say for many other composers. I don't understand those who like him only to a point; I have friends who love Sweeny, Follies and Night Music, but hate Sunday, Passion and Into the Woods. I think he gets better with each succeeding show.

This set is well worth the investment. Hurry and get it, as some of the individual videos are now unavailable, and who knows how long the boxed set will last.

DVD:

DVD

DVD

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Buying the Cow/Love Stinks

One/The 6th Day

D.O.A.

DVD: English Sacred Sites:Atlantis Connect

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