What if the ugliest love was the truest? Sondheim's most disturbing romance will wreck you.
Passion is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Lapine. The story was adapted from Ettore Scola's film Passione d'Amore. Central themes include love, sex, obsession, illness, passion, beauty, power and manipulation. Set in 19th century Italy, the plot concerns a young soldier and the changes in him brought about by the obsessive love of Fosca, his Colonel's homely, ailing cousin.
Acting
LuPone's Fosca: grotesque, heartbreaking, absolutely unhinged.
Score
Sondheim's most relentless score—no relief, no mercy.
Director
Lonny Price
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Patti LuPone originated Fosca in 1994 and won her first Tony; this 2005 filmed revival captures her at peak power, fifteen years deeper into the role's madness.
Sondheim wrote Fosca's music in grinding 3/4 time to physically trap the listener—there's no escape rhythm, just her relentless need.
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