How To Play Fosca In Musical《Passion》

During the year of1994New York, Stephen Sondheim’s work,《Passion》(Passion) was undoubtedly considered one of the most minimalist and artistically prolific musical productions. It was produced and directed by James Lapine. The musicals portrayal of grace, melody and melancholy has shown this work to be deeply moving. How was Sondheim able to attract a contemporary audience while going against typical msuical production standards of that time? How can the main character Fosca be portrayed as a rather dramatic character? How was the timbre of her speaking voice, singing voice, and not to mention body language adjusted in order to capture the essence of her character? The author will touch upon many of these key points below.This thesis is divided into two chapters. The first chapter describes Sondheim’s life, major works, and a look into the artistic direction of 《Passion》. The second chapter analyzes the character Fosca, the development and direction of her character voice, body language as well as overall personality to create her unique aesthetic.The conclusion is:《Passion》 has found a way to remove the aspects of doubt and irony, as well as the typical europeanized, dark comedy, by amplifying love in order to portray the characters’ inner romantic entanglements, and all that which the audience can explore in our complex and emotional world. This approach has proven to capture the hearts and minds of a large audience and provided a kind of shock value by it’s contrast to the book.The author summarizes how <<assion>> had shaped a distinctive character in this particular drama, and the attempt to combine theory with practice, as well as to summarize the following conclusions:1. The actors’ character analysis was to find the characters’inner emotional resonance, as well as personality traits, in order to better shape the role of Fosca.2. How the utilization of changes in pitch and sound of an actors’vocal expression can affect different acts and scenes in the musical in order to capture a certain aesthetic or emotion to service the production.3. The necessary understanding of how to adjust and manipulate the use of body language in order to re-affirm a characters role and personality traits.