Ode to Passion

From the Theater Pizzazz review by Carole Di Tosti:

Ode to Passion, is a movie musical of sophistication, heat and light. The film, though a musical, is actually a genre hybrid, a drama which begins and ends with the protagonist’s poetic lament. Indeed, the film is a cautionary tale about the excesses of passion and misguided perceptions we have of love which can only be learned through profound moments of suffering.

Written, produced and directed by the talented Jack Danini who also wrote the lyrics, music and dialogue which is in rhyming couplets, the love story of a writer and an actress seems typical. However, the versification adds a unique coherence that heightens the characterizations and makes them unique. I found myself anticipating the rhymes then being surprised at the twists of phrase which always strengthened the concepts and themes of the film.

With this work, Danini proves himself to be a veritable Renaissance Man, whose passion for rhyme and rhythm, love’s heartbreak and New York City nights of beauty spins gold in this Broadway-styled pop musical that is cinematically on point and lustrous. The film debuts on Amazon Prime video on the 10th of July and shouldn’t be missed if you are up for 18 original rock/pop tunes and a well-integrated story that has echoes of Shakespeare but is far too modern not to identify with.

More specifically, Danini’s film is an ode to love’s heartbreak, New York City and what fuels the creative drive of the artist. Writer Michael Fiorelli (played by the exquisite voiced and fine actor Giuseppe Bausilio) and the women he meets and whose addiction breaks his heart, actress Sarah Andrews (Bausilio’s matched equal Julia Nightingale) attempt to make their New York dreams come true. Their relationship burgeons, though there are dark clouds on the horizon. Sarah infers that her previous relationships have ended unsatisfactorily. More importantly, she implies she has an obsessive compulsive personality susceptible to...