Passion [Paperback]

Stephen Sondheim (Author), James Lapine (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1994

1994 Tony Award Winner -- Best Musical and Score! The titles are: Happiness * I Read * Love Like Ours * They Hear Drums * I Wish I Could Forget You * Loving You * No One Has Ever Loved Me. Includes four pages of color photos.

--This text refers to the Sheet music edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Passion is--even for Stephen Sondheim--a remarkable musical, a brooding meditation on love and passion that is at once simple and deeply moving. In it, Sondheim, often criticized for being cerebral, proves he can write a show's worth of lush, emotionally honest songs. Moreover, a close reading of Lapine's book reveals how much his work contributes to the show's power. Based on Italian filmmaker Ettore Scola's Passione d'Amore (1981) and its source, the novel Fosca (1869) by I. U. Tarchetti, Lapine's book has a polished singleness of purpose rare in musical theater. The dialogue is spare, and the story--about an army officer torn between two lovers, one pretty but shallow the other plain but deep--advances with breathtaking economy. It must, to make way for the songs. Yet the book does not feel incomplete; read without Sondheim's music, the libretto (Lapine's book and Sondheim's own beautiful lyrics) registers as a fully engaging, if somewhat poetic, work that stands complete in its own right. Jack Helbig --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Theatre Communications Group (September 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559360887
• ISBN-13: 978-1559360883
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,003,201 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is one of the most beautiful shows ever written!, January 6, 2000

By 

"jbhapgood2" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Passion (Paperback)

While this book is simply amazing... you should either get thecd to listen to while reading this script or watch the movie tohear/see the fabulous performances and Sondheim's glorious music. This book is still worth buying even if you aren't able to hear the score. This play works in mysterious ways and bring out many passionate feelings in anyone with a heart. It conveys and brings forth emotions from anger to pity with Fosca, love and hate, hapiness and depression... This is a truly beautiful book!

4.0 out of 5 stars Needs to be listened to as well as read, September 23, 2011

By 

Garrett C - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Passion (Paperback)

As with all of Sondheim's shows, with the possible exceptions of Follies and Sweeney Todd, the book is very hard to read without some sort of knowledge of the score, because that's what dominates the show. Other than a few scattered spoken passages, PASSION is completely sung-through. My recommendation would be to listen to the original cast recording as you read, so you can better understand the action.