Updating my Sondheim spreadsheet this morning (because of course I have a Sondheim spreadsheet), I have now seen ten of the
17 musicals for which he wrote music and lyrics, in a total of 31 productions (
most of which you can read about here). Can you guess which theater company I've seen do Sondheim the most? Theater Latte Da of course, whom I've seen do seven different shows (they've done more, but a few were before I "discovered" them). I was able to check Sondheim show #10 off my list* this morning thanks to their new production of the rarely done
Passion, which Latte Da's Artistic Director and director of this piece Justin Lucero calls "one of the most divisive works in the American musical canon." I can see why it's not done as often as, say,
Into the Woods (the Sondheim musical I've seen the most productions of). It's a messy love triangle with not very likable or even at times understandable characters. As Justin notes, it's "not a traditional love story - it's a meditation on obsession, vulnerability, and the aching rawness of human need." It's not a pretty love story, but the score is very pretty, the characters are fascinating and compelling, and Latte Da's production is all-around gorgeous. It's an unusual musical for sure, but that's not a bad thing, in fact in this case it's a very good thing, and I'm grateful to Theater Latte Da for the chance to experience yet another intricate creation by arguably the best musical theater creator of the 20th Century.
The messy, tragic, gorgeous Passion continues through July 13 at the Ritz Theater.
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the love triangle: Clara (Iso Condo-Olvera), Fosca (Erin Capello),
and Giorgio (Dylan Frederick, photo by Dan Norman) |
The 1994 Tony winner for Best Musical is based on an Italian film and novel and tells the story of a soldier named Giorgio and the two women who love him. Giorgio and Clara's love is seemingly perfect and beautiful, except that she's married. When Giorgio is called to serve in another town, they write beautiful and passionate love letters to each other. In the town where he's stationed, Giorgio soon meets Fosca, the cousin of his superior who is suffering from any number of physical and mental ailments, not the least of which is not meeting the societal standards of beauty. Giorgio takes pity on her and offers her kindness, and she falls desperately, obsessively in love with him. He tries to push her away (but not very hard), to no avail. I couldn't help but be reminded of the
recent award-winning Netflix series Baby Reindeer, because this too is a story of a stalker, albeit with a different ending. Desperate people doing desperate things for love, or their idea of love.
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Clara (Iso Condo-Olvera) and Giorgio
(Dylan Frederick) in their dreamlike bed
(photo by Dan Norman) |
Director Justic Lucero has framed this production as a memory play. It opens with Giorgio sitting in bed reading a letter, and then we see all of these scenes play out in his memory, before ending up back in that bed, when we find out what's in the letter. It works well and gives the story a dreamlike feel. Gauzy white curtains frame the scenes, which take place on platform in the center of the stage, with most of the cast sitting on the sidelines when not in the scene. A backdrop of a windswept landscape is occasionally revealed as the curtains are drawn aside, with lighting changing from green to grey to rosy as suits the mood of each scene, and some inventive use of shadows. Most of the furniture is imagined, other than a simple iron bed and some chairs. All of the design elements support the memory theme (scenic and lighting design by Paul Whitaker).
Unlike most Sondheim musicals that feature a large cast with a song or a featured moment for each, this musical is mainly focused on the love triangle, who sing the majority of the songs, although with support from the other seven members of the cast. Dylan Frederick, who played Frank in Theater Latte Da's 2022 production of Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along, returns to play Giorgio, which I didn't realize until reading the program this morning, so different is his performance in this role. He's strong and believable as the love-torn soldier. Isa Condo-Olvera is the embodiment of the good and pure love, with the voice of an angel. Erin Capello digs deep into her dark side to play the tortured Fosca, but also makes her sympathetic and relatable in her desperate need to be loved. Making the most of small but important roles, Bradley Greenwald plays the Doctor and Eric Morris the Colonel, Fosca's cousin (and treating Erin much better than he did recently as the abusive husband in Waitress). Rounding out the cast as the gossipy soldier quintet are Phinehas Bynum, Theo Janke-Furman, Riley McNutt, Rodolfo Nieto, and Adan Varela, commenting on the action, filling moments between scenes, and singing in gorgeous harmony, "I'll Say!"
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the soldier chorus (Phinehas Bynum, Theo Janke-Furman,
Rodolfo Nieto, Riley McNutt, and Adan Varela, photo by Dan Norman) |
I had never heard any of the music before, but I found the score to be quite beautiful and romantic, and as per usual Music Director Jason Hansen does a wonderful job leading the five-piece onstage orchestra, making everything sound dreamy. This is not a dance-heavy musical, but Movement Director Emily Michaels King adds some military movement for the soldiers and other elegant touches that help with scene transitions. The costume design (by Amber Brown) is simple but effective, with the soldiers in matching uniforms, Clara in a pink confection of a dress contrasting with Fosca's somber grey gown.
If you're a fan of Stephen Sondheim, or musical theater in general, do not miss this production of Passion, because who knows when you'll have another opportunity to see it. To quote Justin Lucero again, "this is a show that doesn't ask to be liked; it asks to be felt." That perfectly describes my experience with the show. Did I like it? That's too simple of a question for this complex show, but I found it to be beautifully done, and a fascinating exploration of love and obsession. Passion is Theater Latte Da's 12th production of a Stephen Sondheim musical, and their 99th production overall, and I can't wait to see what the next 100 shows bring!
*I'll be able to check Sondheim show #11 off the list soon thanks to Minneapolis Musical Theatre, which is doing a concert version of Anyone Can Whistle this fall.
