Rating: 
Summary: A Required Taste
Review: A very moving and emotional show with amazing acting and beautiful music. Like a lot of Sondheim's work you have to require a taste for it. It is not an entertaining show with large sets and it certainly is not the Beauty and the Beast type of musical. Donna Murphy's acting is superb as she stays on the verge of tears the entire show, and her voice is great also. Like the musical ASSASSINS a true appreciation for Stephen Sondheim must be had in order to enjoy this production.
Rating: 
Summary: An Absolute Marvel!
Review: A wonderful, lyrical digression on the force of love, enlivened by a peerless score and terrific performances by Donna Murphy, Jeri Shea, and Marin Mazzie. Praiseworthy for its production values and the near-perfect rendering of the original production, the video is an enduring testament to not merely the genius but the heartfelt insights of Sondheim and Lapine.
Rating:
Summary: No show is perfect but his comes pretty damn close!
Review: All three of these main performers,Marin Mazzie-Jere Shea-and Donna Murphy, can stand on their own. When you put them all together you get a masterpiece no matter how terrible the material is. But with this show, the material is another star in itself with music and lyrics by the one and only Sondheim and a book and direction by James Lapine. A wonderful supporting cast rounds it all off to make one of my all time favorite movies.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible! Thank God for DVD's!
Review: As soon as I discovered that the DVD version had been released, I searched at every local bookstore/video store for it. I finally found a copy and bought it. I could've waited for [Amazon.com] to deliver it, but I was too impatient. Sondheim has never sounded better. This is truly a different type of musical that should be appreciated and expereinced by every musical fan. The production is top notch, the sound Incredible. The close ups, the direction is much better than being there live. But the Audio commentary alone is worth checking out this DVD. You learn and discover so much from hearing the lead cast and Sondheim discuss the troubles and issues that had to be dealt with. Please, give this one a chance.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible! Thank God for DVD's!
Review: As soon as I discovered that the DVD version had been released, I searched at every local bookstore/video store for it. I finally found a copy and bought it. I could've waited for [Amazon.com] to deliver it, but I was too impatient. Sondheim has never sounded better. This is truly a different type of musical that should be appreciated and expereinced by every musical fan. The production is top notch, the sound Incredible. The close ups, the direction is much better than being there live. But the Audio commentary alone is worth checking out this DVD. You learn and discover so much from hearing the lead cast and Sondheim discuss the troubles and issues that had to be dealt with. Please, give this one a chance.
Rating:
Summary: An incredible story told by an incredible composer.
Review: Every fan should own this video. The passion comes through very well. I didn't enjoy this as much as Sunday In The Park With George, or Into The Woods, but it is worth it. Someone said that Sweeney Todd is on video. Where do I get it! Mail me with the answer please!!
Rating:
Summary: wonderful transfer from stage to film
Review: Filming a stage production doesn't always come off very well, but PASSION is exceptional. And the audio commentary alone is worth buying the DVD for! Fascinating and funny - you won't be sorry you bought it!
Rating:
Summary: Back at Last (and not a minute to soon)
Review: For a long time, both the original Broadway cast recording and the taped version of Sondheim's chamber opera masterpiece, "Passion", were out of print. I wore out my VHS copy sometime in the late 1990s. I have an original print of the CD. I've heard stories that copies of the CD went on eBay for upwards of $100. Now, within the span of a year, the CD was rereleased, and the film was transferred onto a fantastic DVD, which all Sondheimite's should own.
"Passion" tells a devestating story: Giorgio (Jere Shea), an Italian soldier in the mid 1800s, is transferred from Milan to a small provincial town, leaving behind his married lover, Clara (Marin Mazzie). When he reaches the town, he meets Fosca (the absolutely unbelievable Donna Murphy, in the best musical theatre performance of the latter half of the 20th century), the sickly and ugly cousin of his superior (Gregg Edelmann). She falls instantly in love with him, but he wants only to be friends. His heart belongs to Clara, who will never leave her husband. What follows is one of the most beautiful scores in recent memory, and Sondheim's most accomplished score to date.
Mr. Shea is terrific as Giorgio, and Ms. Mazzie knocks it out of the ballpark as Clara. In smaller roles, Mr. Edelmann, Tom Aldredge, and Linda Balgord also shine.
On October 20, 2004, at the Ambassador Theatre in NYC, "Passion" was reproduced for one night only. Ms. Murphy and Ms. Mazzie reprised their roles, and the excellent Michael Cerveris, who starred in the Kennedy Center production in 2002, played Giorgio. It was magical. Let's start lobbying today for a recording of this performance!
Rating:
Summary: Passion shines on DVD! And Sondheim!
Review: Grab this DVD now... I had the VHS, but the transfer for the DVD is well done. Plus you get a commentary track with Sondheim, James Lapine, and all three lead actors! It's a conversational track with a lot of information about the development of the show and how it was performed. And surprisingly, it's funny! The show itself is a rare musical that deals with the nature of love. Many say it is an acquired taste, but any fan of musicals should appreciate the show. It's beautiful - costumes, staging, and songs. It won several Tonys! You can't ask for a more enjoyable musical. Fans of Moulin Rouge will love the tragic ending! Take a chance!
Rating:
Summary: I am overcome.
Review: I am mesmerized by this production. I must first say that I was not familiar with the more recent Sondheim works, and on first viewing I found some of the melody inaccessable / difficult - but only on first viewing.
My main reason for the purchase was the chance to see Marin Mazzie in her role. I had heard her clear, lovely voice on radio, and so I thought it was fair to gamble on the higher than average purchase price. This production was filmed for PBS shortly after the Broadway run of the show closed, and all of the principle cast are captured here. Marin, along with Donna Murphy and Jere Shea have all earned a place in my heart - they truely and deeply touched me.
The consequences of filming the staged presentation are that, in order to preserve the flow of the presentation, several cameras were used, and this resulted in an abundance of narrowly framed sequences and claustrophobic compositions. This is not entirely inappropriate given the subject matter. It was not possible to pull back for full vista views of the stage without revealing other cameras. The company comments on this in a lively and humourous commentary track.
The music, the voices, are uniformly glorious. After I identified the themes associated with the principle characters, and after I understood their intertwining magic, I succumbed (like Fosca?)to the rhapsody. This is more than a DVD. This is beguiling and beautiful performance captured for all time.
You owe it to yourself.
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