This is truly one of the best productions of Sondheim's work to date.
It might not have everything you'd expect from the show typically, but like many have said, the simplicity works and forces the cast to mine the text to bring the show to life. Sondheim would be very proud.
The opening tonight was on fire, literally it was insanely hot in the St. James between the weather, crowd, and amount of pure energy in the room. Huge ovations throughout the whole night, and for the most part a very well behaved audience outside of a few gasps and oooh's which only added to the fun.
Bareilles is even stronger than at Encores, and I do think she'd have a good shot at the Tony if eligible. Julia Lester & Cole Thompson are both growing in these roles so nicely, particularly Julia who is truly on her way to stardom. Jason Forbach was on as The Baker, and my god, he was fantastic. I was honestly bummed to miss Brian, but Jason was truly incredible and had a truly grateful energy that brought even more emotion to the script. Gavin is also even better here, finding more in the text, making bolder choices. The new additions Joshua Henry, Patina Miller, Philippa Soo, Nancy Opel, Alysia Velez, and Aimee Garcia were all wonderful, with Patina and Aimee in particular having big shoes to fill, I feel they both did the roles justice without copying what was done previously.
Kennedy Kanagawa is a national treasure, and David Turner, David Patrick Kelly, Brooke Ishibashi, Tanika Gibson, Al Guerzon and Annie Golden fill out an unbelievable ensemble that bring it with every single line of text or song, and fill the beats in between with magic.
My only major complaint is the sound design, they have to crank it up!