Information

Show Credits: Music by Stephen Sondheim
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by James Lapine

Description: No less than the wondrously complex landscape of the human heart is the subject of this haunting, intensely emotional one-act chamber opera by the uncompromising creators of SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE and INTO THE WOODS.

A remote military outpost in 1863 Italy, a handsome army captain, separated from his beautiful – but married – mistress, is forced to re-evaluate his beliefs about love when he becomes the object of the obsessive, unrelenting passions of Fosca, his Colonel’s plain, sickly cousin.

Bold, unexpected and thrilling, PASSION is one of Stephen Sondheim's most emotional works. Intimate, raw, erotic and dark, it explores universal yet often unspoken truths. The sweeping, romantic score (Sondheim describes it as one long rhapsody) accompanies an intelligent, thought-provoking book which bears James Lapine’s trademark lyricism and a host of well-drawn characters. As with all of Sondheim and Lapine’s works, PASSION requires (and highlights) a cast of accomplished singing actors.

Accolades/
Awards: Nominated for 10 Tony Awards, winning Best Musical, Book, Score and Actress (Donna Murphy as Fosca

Insight from the experts Staging Tip: All can be suggested: inside and outside a drab Italian villa (including a dining room and pool table); a hilltop; a lush bedroom; a park in Milan; a train compartment. Important prop: A bed (used in two different sets)