Sondheim with passion
A NEW production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Tony Award-winning musical Passion is being staged at the Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne, this week.
Passion is set in 1863 around a handsome Italian army captain Giorgio (played by Kane Alexander) who lives in Milan and is having an affair with his beautiful mistress Clara (Silvie Paladino).
However, when Giorgio is transferred to a remote military outpost he becomes the object of the obsessive passion of Fosca (Therese Borg), his colonel’s plain-looking, sickly cousin.
Passion is one of Sondheim’s most emotional chamber operas and provides an intriguing love triangle for its principal cast.
Borg tells The AJN that when Passion first opened on Broadway, it was unusual to have a music theatre production with a character who was – initially – as unlikeable as Fosca.
“Since then we have had shows such as Wicked and the emergence of women in music theatre other than the cheerful soubrette, and it is a very relevant story.
“It’s a great role as Giorgio faces up to the possibility of love with this superficially unattractive woman.”
Also performing in Passion is fellow Jewish actor Troy Sussman, managing director of The Entertainment Store, a booking agency for live family entertainment, who has appeared in many musicals including Mary Poppins, Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera.
Borg is married to actor Anton Berezin, who helps run The Entertainment Store and is currently starring in the musical Once at the Princess Theatre.
She admits that with three children and their busy careers, it has become a major juggling act for both of them.
“So far it has been good and it means that we have to talk all the time! We have done juggling before when I was in My Fair Lady and Anton was appearing in Wicked.”
Passion, which will be directed by Neil Gooding with Guy Simpson as musical director, is the first mainstream theatre production for the Life Like Company, an offshoot of the Life Like Touring company that has been presenting children’s shows in Australia and overseas for the past 10 years. It recently staged Sesame Street Presents Elmo’s World Tour and is currently staging Peppa Pig Live! Treasure Hunt.
“We have made inroads into America, Europe and the Middle East with our children’s shows, and it has always been our plan to cater for different audiences, and so now we have moved into music theatre,” says Borg, who also writes and directs many of the shows.
“It’s a challenge to launch a new production company, especially with a show such as Passion which has not been professionally staged here for a long time.
“It has been a wonderful learning curve to be on the other side of the desk to administrate and plan shows, so we hope that experience can carry us forward successfully. We want to help the music theatre community and provide work for all our acting colleagues.”
Passion is at the Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne from November 5-8. Bookings: www.passionthemusical.com.au.
REPORT by Danny Gocs
PHOTO of Passion stars (from left) Silvie Paladino, Kane Alexander and Therese Borg.
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