Sondheim's Passion at Chicago Shakes

We thought that Gasteyer, the SNL alum who played Wicked’s witch, who portrayed Fosca, shown in the picture here, was terrific. (Even though Timeout Chicago didn't.) Great to see this show in the Chicago Shakes small space.

From Timeout Chicago's review: "In Sondheim’s 1994 musical, a handsome young soldier, Giorgio, must leave his beautiful, married mistress Clara for a military assignment; among the tiresome men there, the only woman is the ugly, near-death Fosca, whose passion for Giorgio is relentless. Set in 19th-century Italy, Passion has the veneer of a bygone era: letters, rendezvous, even a duel. But beneath that veneer is a musically complex masterwork. More than plot devices, the letters formally advance the theme: Giorgio sings Fosca’s missive to him in the first person; and so, as her passion overwhelms him, their identities blur. And a female protagonist whose forceful, not-psycho desire is the plot’s driving force is, even now, an anomaly.