Passion

I was very excited for Tuesday’s opening of Blank Theatre Company’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s Passion. First, I am an enormous Sondheim fan, and this is on the short list with Pacific Overtures of Sondheim shows I had never seen done live. Second, I absolutely love this theater company and still think about their wonderful productions of She Loves Me and On the Twentieth Century. They seem to have the knack for tackling complicated or rarely produced shows, so I had high hopes and expectations when I sat down. I am happy to report that Blank Theatre has once again knocked it clean out of the park.

Passion, adapted from a 19th-century Italian novel, tells the story of Giorgio, a handsome if somewhat shallow Army captain, Clara, his lover, and Fosca, the sickly and isolated cousin of his commanding officer. Sondheim, along with frequent collaborator James Lapine on book, adapted the novel into a musical in 1994. It won the Tony for Best Musical, but holds the somewhat ignoble record for being the Best Musical with the shortest original run, 280 performances. This is a long way of saying this is one of Sondheim’s more challenging shows. Critics loved it, but audiences were a little perplexed at this tale of the line between love and pity and obsession. While this may not be the first Sondheim show that I took a theater newbie to see, this is a rich and beautiful piece that, in the hands of this cast, is moving as it is haunting.

Brittney Brown plays the mercurial, obsessive Fosca. I last saw her as the Beggar Woman in Kokandy’s excellent Sweeney Todd. She has a very difficult role. She has to portray a woman universally held, by herself included, to be unattractive and a little repulsive, but make us care about what happens to her. Brown has a gorgeous voice and handles Sondheim’s signature complicated melodies with ease. More importantly, she makes Fosca compelling. Her love for Giorgio is not the sweet fairy tale love that Clara has. Her obsessive love doesn’t care about pride or shame or even if Giorgio loves her back. It’s darker, but in it’s own way, it’s more honest, and as loath as an audience member might be to admit what parts of themselves they see in Fosca, they also can’t dismiss her. In lesser hands, Fosca’s histrionics might appear simply comical, but in Brown’s hands and voice, they are tragic. The rest of the cast is also excellent. Evan Bradford and Rachel Guth round out the unexpected love triangle as Giorgio and Clara, and both brought beautiful voices and excellent acting skills to their roles. Like I said, this is one of Sondheim’s more complicated shows and if any one part doesn’t work, I think the whole show falls apart. Happily, this show is in excellent hands.

The set, designed by Hayley E. Wallenfeldt, is spare but highly effective. Combined with the musical direction of Aaron Kaplan, the show is presented as an intimate chamber piece, and I think it serves the material really well. I think a larger theater would overwhelm the intimacy this production achieves. Presented in one act without an intermission, the show quickly and effectively cast a spell on me that didn’t break the entire evening. I can’t recall the last time that a show held my attention so completely, so effortlessly for the entire run time.

Blank Theatre Company has really outdone themselves with this show. I loved the sweet sincerity of their She Loves Me and their boundless energy in On the Twentieth Century. This show impressed me with how they executed such a complicated story and score with apparent ease. The show was truly beautiful and it’s stayed with me in the days since I saw it. They should be incredibly proud of themselves for the show they have made, and you should absolutely make a point of seeing it.

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Kevin Curran

Presented July 11th through August 10th by Blank Theater Company at Greenhouse Theatre, 2257 N. Lincoln, Chicago.

Tickets may be purchased here.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.

Photos: Steven Townshend | Distant Era