Passion

Now that my Elaine Stritch series is complete I'll be catching up on some requests. First up Passion. 

Stephen Sondheim: "'Passion' is about how the force of somebody's feelings for you can crack you open and how it is the life force in a deadened world."

David Richards (NYT): In "Passion," however, Mr. Sondheim has dropped his defenses. With the playwright and director James Lapine, he has written an unalloyed love story, one that wants to penetrate the heart's deepest mysteries. Ironically, he has come up with his most somber musical since "Sweeney Todd."

Charles Isherwood (NYT): Indeed, arguments surrounding "Passion" have often focused on whether Giorgio is redeemed or destroyed by Fosca's love. Look for the answer in Mr. Sondheim's music, and you'll find only more questions. The musical's final trio has a soaring, rhapsodic sound, but the very last note reverberates with doom.