HERE WE ARE heads to the recording studio- Page 3

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 1:30pm

I

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 1:31pm

It sounds wonderful!

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 1:50pm

Yeah, I love that exit music. Feels like classic Sondheim.

[jkcohen626]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 2:17pm

I do kinda wish that they'd released a song with lyrics (maybe the Soldier's song?). But, the exit music is beautiful.

All I can think about listening to this is that, if this show somehow had transferred, it would probably be the frontrunner for Musical, Score, Book, and Lead Actress at the Tonys, along with noms for director and every technical category.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 2:20pm

jkcohen626 said: "I do kinda wish that they'd released a song with lyrics (maybe the Soldier's song?). But, the exit music is beautiful.

All I can think about listening to this is that, if this show somehow had transferred, it would probably be the frontrunner for Musical, Score, Book, and Lead Actress at the Tonys, along with noms for directorand every technical category."

 

It's hard for me to fathom that this show was so slept on while it was running. I feel humiliated for anyone who missed this treasure.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 2:22pm

In what world was this slept on at the Shed?? It was the theatrical event of the fall for anyone serious about theatergoing.

[TimeToDither]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 2:27pm

jkcohen626 said: "I do kinda wish that they'd released a song with lyrics (maybe the Soldier's song?). But, the exit music is beautiful.

All I can think about listening to this is that, if this show somehow had transferred, it would probably be the frontrunner for Musical, Score, Book, and Lead Actress at the Tonys, along with noms for directorand every technical category."

Maybe it'll transfer once it’s finished. Someone like LMM could finish the second act AND star in it. Or Shaina Taub. Or anyone really. 

[ChiDoc]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 2:31pm

jkcohen626 said: "I do kinda wish that they'd released a song with lyrics (maybe the Soldier's song?). But, the exit music is beautiful.

All I can think about listening to this is that, if this show somehow had transferred, it would probably be the frontrunner for Musical, Score, Book, and Lead Actress at the Tonys, along with noms for directorand every technical category."

I would think that Rachel Bay Jones and David Hyde Pierce would both have good chances at Tonys just for their scene together in Act II.

[willep]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 2:31pm

What I saw was finished. 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 2:35pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "In what world was this slept on at the Shed?? It was the theatrical event of the fall for anyone serious about theatergoing."

 

You're acting like it was a sold out hit. Many people had an "it's not finished so I'm not seeing it" attitude, similar to the poster above.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 2:45pm

Why is it "unfinished" just because there are fewer songs in the second act? Plenty of musicals have unconventional structures and plenty of musicals have fewer songs in the second act than the first. The NYT article made it seem as though Sondheim was on board with the singing ending at that point in the second act where the characters are in the room.

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 2:49pm

willep said: "What I saw was finished."

I agree with this. Both technically and semantically, it's finished. Sondheim had his lawyer approve the show for production prior to his death, and he agreed with Mantello and Ives' argument that the second act should be light on music. Long Day's Journey Into Night was written just as Eugene O'Neill started to suffer from tremors that made him unable to write for the last decade of his life, and it wasn't performed until 3 years after his death, and no one argues that it's an unfinished work.

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 2:49pm

I think one of the main reasons it could be called unfinished is because Sondheim famously made big changes over the course of previews in a lot of his shows, and since he never saw it performed with an audience, we don't know what things he might've adjusted had he been around.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 3:31pm

 

• The lengthy New York Magazine piece put to bed any good-faith argument of the show not being "finished" (though I hope that poster is enjoying their first week on the message board)
• It had some of the best reviews of any Broadway or Off-Broadway musical this season.
• The first half of the run sold incredibly well, the second half was softer but still decently-sold. I don't know if it recouped, but I doubt the commercial investors behind it had much expectation of recoupment considering the nature of the venue and the limited run. It was always a prestige project for the bragging rights to say "I worked on Sondheim's final show."
• It was a must-see show for serious fans of musical theatre. It was never going to appeal to the casual buyer who doesn't care about Sondheim.
• It is, anecdotally, viewed as a better show than Road Show/Bounce (the previous "final" Sondheim musical).

Sounds like a success to me and not something that was slept on!

Updated On: 4/26/24 at 03:31 PM

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 3:36pm

I didn't say it was a desolate wasteland with two people in the audience, I was simply saying anyone who missed this (and there were many who did) made a foolish decision.

[ChiDoc]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 3:57pm

chrishuyen said: "I think one of the main reasons it could be called unfinished is because Sondheim famously made big changes over the course of previews in a lot of his shows, and since he never saw it performed with an audience, we don't know what things he might've adjusted had he been around."

This is exactly how I think of it.  It is both a finished work and a tantalizing "What if?"  Did I like what I saw and feel satisfied by it?  Yes.  Do I believe that perfectionist Sondheim, had he been there to see it put up, would have made revisions?  Also yes.

[TimeToDither]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 4:15pm

It was just a joke as many people who didn’t like the production would often argue with this.

I personally think it wasn’t finished, however, I still consider it a masterpiece. Many celebrated works of art are essentially unfinished and yet we keep coming back to them for various reasons. I dare to say that Sondheim wouldn’t have left it like this if he had more time to work on it, that’s my reasoning behind this statement.

[Hey, Zelda!]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 4:31pm

To think that in seventy years (or whenever depending on what becomes of copyright law), Here We Are could very well become Sondheim's Turandot.

[TimeToDither]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 4:54pm

Hey, Zelda! said: "To think that in seventy years (or whenever depending on what becomes of copyright law), Here We Are could very well become Sondheim's Turandot."

I do wonder what discussions happened about the unusual form of it before the production started taking any shape and if anyone on the producing team ever suggested the second act should be finished/rewritten by someone else. Probably not but I find that idea quite entertaining.

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 5:22pm

I thought it was a complete night of theater with a compelling story that resolved in a way in which I was satisfied. I *do* think that last moments seemed to want a song, but I don't think one was necessary. I just didn't think the running around the stage was the solution. 

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 5:47pm

The show's second half is definitely diminished by the lack of a score. I don't think it's technically unfinished, and the creators have a lot to celebrate, but it shifts from being one of the most thrilling musicals I've seen in years to being "just" a good stage adaptation of the movie. The way Sondheim was able to musically embody and expand on the picaresque surreality of Discreet Charm blew me away and the what-if element cast a long shadow.

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 7:42pm

Charley Kringas Inc said: "The show's second half is definitely diminished by the lack of a score. I don't think it's technically unfinished, and the creators have a lot to celebrate, but it shifts from being one of the most thrilling musicals I've seen in yearsto being "just" a good stage adaptation of the movie. The way Sondheim was able to musically embody and expandon the picaresque surreality of Discreet Charm blew me away and the what-if element cast a long shadow."

It's kinda what I imagine it was like to see Sunday In the Park With George back at Playwrights Horizons, when the 2nd act didn't have "Children and Art", "Lesson Number 8", or "Move On." A blank canvas... so many possibilities.

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 4/26/24 at 8:38pm

TimeToDither said: "jkcohen626 said: "I do kinda wish that they'd released a song with lyrics (maybe the Soldier's song?). But, the exit music is beautiful.

All I can think about listening to this is that, if this show somehow had transferred, it would probably be the frontrunner for Musical, Score, Book, and Lead Actress at the Tonys, along with noms for directorand every technical category."

Maybe it'll transfer once it’s finished. Someone like LMM could finish the second act AND star in it. Or Shaina Taub. Or anyone really."

No. Your choices also seem dreadful.

[binau]

Posted: 4/27/24 at 4:59am

I kind of feel the time for fan imagination has passed. The show has been done. It’s written. It’s recorded. There will be nothing else. This is it. As Sondheim himself said in the show ‘it is what it is’. Trust me let’s just enjoy what we have and move on! 

[TimeToDither]

Posted: 4/27/24 at 5:44am

Dancingthrulife2 said: "No. Your choices also seem dreadful."

As they were meant to. Sigh.