This is the third in a series of articles analyzing the work of Stephen Sondheim.
Letters feature prominently in Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s musical, PASSION, which is set in 1863 Italy. The letters exchanged between soldier Giorgio and his lover, Clara, reflect their physical distance; letters between Giorgio and the invalid Fosca, however, express the emotional distance he feels for her. Yet by the end of the show, the letters’ significance has switched, as Giorgio is both physically and emotionally removed from Clara, but has realized his love for Fosca.
As Giorgio has been transferred to an isolated army outpost, he and Clara exchange letters throughout the show - letters that mainly profess their love for each other.
“I close my eyes, imagining that you are there,” Clara writes, “Imagining your fingers touching mine/Imagining our room.” Giorgio and Clara sing each other’s letters, often while the writer sings his or her own. As Giorgio explains love to Fosca, for example, Clara sings his letter, which contains the same words:
“Love that fills
Every waking moment,
Love that grows
Every single day,
Love that thinks
Everything is pure,
Everything is beautiful,
Everything is possible.
Love that fuses two into one,
Where we think the same thoughts.”
Here, Giorgio and Clara are so in emotional sync that they really do think the same thoughts, even in different contexts.
Over time, however, their letters become less intertwined.  Immediately after Giorgio spends the night with Fosca - and right before Fosca tells Giorgio what to write in a letter to her - Clara speaks her letter without Giorgio’s aid or interruption. After this point, Clara and Giorgio don’t sing their letters together until their final one, when they break up. Their singing here signifies the confusion they both feel and emphasizes their disconnect:
CLARA & GIORGIO
I thought I knew what love was-
CLARA
I didn’t know love was a complication.
GIORGIO
I do know that it’s not a negotiation…
How sad-
CLARA
To wait is nothing.
We’re young, and time is nothing.
GIORGIO
-That what we have is nothing…
Now that their affair has ended, Clara and Giorgio are both physically and emotionally apart.

Michael Cerveris' Giorgio and Audra McDonald's Clara in the Lincoln Center concert--photo by Richard Termine for The New York Times
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MARRY ME A LITTLE

PUTTING IT TOGETHER


“Dreams don’t die, so keep an eye on your dream,” urges the opening lines of the Stephen Sondheim/George Furth musical, MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG. Originally opening in 1981 and undergoing revisions in the intervening years, the show is often perceived as a cynical look at the realities of being an artist. Its three main characters begin the show as former best friends whose careers are nothing like the ones they once wanted, making it easy to think that - despite those opening lines - their dreams have in fact died. But while MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG may seem pessimistic, its structure and themes make it an uplifting show.
At the beginning of Frank Loesser’s sprawling masterwork, THE MOST HAPPY FELLA, two characters are getting ready to move on. For Joe, traveling is a way of life; he’ll stay in one place for a few months, working in the fields, and then quit and go somewhere else. Amy, however, is a waitress who isn’t satisfied with her job, but has friends and is fairly well settled in San Francisco. Joe prepares to leave the family he currently works for in Napa Valley because he has no reason to stay, while Amy finally leaves because she now has a reason to move.
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