Sondheim and Ives' HERE WE ARE at The Shed — Page 35

BoringBoredBoard40 said: "Right which means Sondheim didn't think it was finished to his standard but got talked into it by other people and at this point he is dead so who knows what is actually the real story"


In his own words, writing a musical is solving a series of problems.

The impression I've got from the articles (and other intel) is that Sondheim was stuck, facing writer's block, and slowing down. When Ives and Mantello had this idea of doing Act 2 with very little (no?) music, he jumped at the idea. I think he wanted the show to be finished, and if him not having to write a score for the second act means it could be finished, that's a win for him...and it solves an aforementioned problem.

There is much to unpack, and I don’t know that I’ll be able to do that on the train platform waiting for the A, but these are my fresh thoughts.

I can’t help but wish we had gotten the full show Sondheim had intended. As it is, it doesn’t feel incomplete - per se - but it feels like a show divided. Based on my understanding of Frank Rich’s interview with Ives and Mantello, they found a sort of dramaturgical connection between Sondheim’s writer’s block (and obviously, later, death) and the lack of much music in the latter half. Whether that artistic “choice” pays off, your mileage may vary. But for now, we have a pretty great Sondheim score in act one, and a fairly book-heavy act two that doesn’t fully stick the landing.

The good:

• Sondheim’s. Act one. Score. It may not be a masterpiece, but it has all of the stuff that makes his work unmatched in the musical theatre canon. It’s chaotic, funny, clever, suddenly gorgeous, and brimming with life. He writes music the way people speak and feel, in different tempos and colors and styles. It’s never not fascinating, and there’s much of it I can’t wait to revisit - particularly Denis O’Hare‘s “Café Everything” number and Jin Ha and Micaela Diamond’s duet. If you’re coming for the Sondheim, act one gives you more than the price of admission‘s worth.
• The cast. They are all clearly having a blast together, and with how much comedy there is to mine, it’ll only get more fun the more they relax into it. Rachel Bay Jones is giving the Jennifer Coolidge/Jennifer Tilly fantasy I didn’t know I needed; Tracie Bennett is nearly unrecognizable scene-to-scene, playing what I believe was 4 different characters (all hysterical); and Denis O’Hare is at his malevolent best. Everyone else is excellent, but those three are operating at their peak.
• The design. I loved the consistent surprise of how we would get from place to place. Some of the most ingenious stage design I’ve seen in quite some time. To say much more would be a spoiler, but the reveals on reveals continuously pay off. It’s both elaborate/ornate and modern/sleek. Very cool.

The less good (no bad):

• David Ives’s book. I much preferred the quick zaniness of act one to the talky, exposition-laden second act. The jokes and plot mechanics flow so much better and get to the emotional point more satisfyingly, and suddenly there’s logic. It’s lopsided and needed Sondheim’s touch more. There’s still a lot to like, and I’m making it sound less satisfying than it is, but I can’t help but wonder “what if?”

It is a wonderful evening of theatre that will only get better and funnier with some time and a little editing. It was a genuine thrill to be in that room, and I’m so excited for people to experience it.

Updated On: 9/29/23 at 11:31 PM

That was really something special. The cast were uniformly pretty excellent. Sleek stylish production that seemed to make perfect use of the space.

As for the elephant in the room - yes only 10-15 mins of Act Two are composed, and yes it does feel like there is missing music. It doesn't matter. Act One is excellent and reveals Sondheim in pretty peak form. He's playing with motif in interesting ways. He's still experimenting rhythmically. The wordplay gets laughs. And yes - the Jin Ha/Diamond duet is just gorgeous.

The big regret of the evening is that we don't have another 2 or 3 Sondheim/Ives musicals because Sondheim and Ives are a match made in heaven. They speak the same language and bring out exciting visceral work from each other.