Sondheim and Ives' HERE WE ARE at The Shed- Page 43

[northlandfan]

Posted: 10/6/23 at 9:11pm

First three rows are too close in my opinion

[spicemonkey]

Posted: 10/6/23 at 9:45pm

northlandfan - glad to hear that you enjoyed the show : )

 

may I ask where the stage door is? Is it the lobby where they sell books? 

 

Thank you

[northlandfan]

Posted: 10/6/23 at 9:49pm

Stage door is to the left of the exit of the main entrance. Very informal and we only had about 20 people waiting and they came out proximately 30 minutes after the show was finished. Bobby personally told me that they will be not making any more changes to act 2 (in other words no additional music will be added to the show)

We saw the show with the understudy for Denis O’Hare as he was out due to Covid according to his cast members. His understudy was fantastic!

[artsygal]

Posted: 10/6/23 at 10:44pm

I sat front row these evening and I thought it was perfection! You’re all in the action but the seating is comfortably far enough that you’ll actually enjoy the experience. Highly recommend! 

[quizking101]

Posted: 10/6/23 at 10:54pm

I saw it tonight and…I have thoughts that I cannot exactly process. My IMMEDIATE visceral thought is that this is the the intellectualized version of “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown”

…as in I need to process what I just saw, but I know I enjoyed it

[Jesse St. James]

Posted: 10/6/23 at 10:58pm

can you let me know how high the stage is for front row? Can you still see the floor of the stage?

[quizking101]

Posted: 10/6/23 at 11:30pm

Jesse St. James said: "can you let me know how high the stage is for front row? Can you still see the floor of the stage?"

To fully see the floor, you’d have to be about 3 rows back. I’m tall and the platform is high, but I was only able to see a little of the stage deck itself

[Robbie2]

Posted: 10/7/23 at 12:19am

Jesse St. James said: "can you let me know how high the stage is for front row? Can you still see the floor of the stage?"

Here's a view from front row AA20 

 

[bear88]

Posted: 10/7/23 at 12:56am

I have read a few comments from people who prefer the front-facing seats than the sides because the show isn’t really staged in the round. For anyone who has seen it on the sides, what’s the experience like? (We will be in HH 101 and HH 102.) Just curious what to expect.

[binau]

Posted: 10/7/23 at 4:52am

I can't speak from experience sitting there but at least from what I observed I would say HH101 and HH102 would probably be ok, similar to sitting side orchestra (and it may not be staged 'in the round' but I think you'd have a full view, especially of all the actors and performances). Looks a little rough as you head towards 108/208. 

[jakebloke]

Posted: 10/7/23 at 7:39am

I sat in FF 208 and on the whole it was great.  There are a few things that happen at the back of the stage which I missed…..mostly in the first act.  But for $40 I can’t complain given the prices of more central sets.  The HH 101 102 seats will have a better view I think.

[quizking101]

Posted: 10/7/23 at 10:20am

northlandfan said: "Stage door is to the left of the exit of the main entrance. Very informal and we only had about 20 people waiting and they came out proximately 30 minutes after the show was finished. Bobby personally told me that they will be not making any more changes to act 2 (in other words no additional music will be added to the show)

Same. About 20 of us waiting, thought it winnowed down over about an hour and change. There were lots of special guests in the audience (Wilson Cruz, Jayne Houdyshell, Philippa Soo, Michael Arden, Andy Mientus, and Jay Armstrong Johnson from what I quickly observed. Everybody came out little by little except for Francois and Jin and they were all super chill. 

[Up In One]

Posted: 10/7/23 at 12:35pm

I sat to the far side E3 stage facing,  not side, and it was a great seat, a perfect view. A really nice take for the moment they break the 4th wall and a great view of the set changes, especially the act two reveal. 

[suicidalmickeymouse]

Posted: 10/7/23 at 12:43pm

A friend said Dennis O’Hare was back in last night. How many did he miss?

[Robbie2]

Posted: 10/7/23 at 3:53pm

For those on a budget cheap seats tonight only $89 for center orch row N - grab them!

[Aik1099]

Posted: 10/7/23 at 4:26pm

For anyone that has seen it, is sitting on house left or right better or does it even matter?

[schubox]

Posted: 10/7/23 at 6:04pm

Saw the matinee today. I was in the center row M which is the second to last row. Was worried it would be too far back but it was great. As for questions about the side, there are a couple short sections that took place at the back of the stage that I wondered if the people in the sides could see clearly. And it’s definitely played to the front and not in the round as someone else noted. 
 

As for the show, I’m not sure how I feel yet. My wife really enjoyed it, I had mixed feelings. It’s very odd in a lot of places, and I’m not totally sure what it was trying to say or even what the hell was going on for portions of it 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 10/7/23 at 10:51pm

I was in HH 202, so the right side opposite 101/102. (Will post a bigger version of this on View from My Seat.) The view was fine, especially for the price. There was one reveal (from behind a curtain) that I couldn't see clearly and had to infer what it was because people were standing in the way, and there are a few times people disappeared into the back corner, but nothing major to complain about. In terms of house left vs house right, I liked being in house right, only because there were some doors on stage right that the O'Hare/Bennett characters used from time that I would have otherwise missed...but for all I know the same doors were on stage left too. It's a fairly minor thing anyway.

eta: I also had mixed feelings, to say the least, and will need to think about it a bit. Updated On: 10/7/23 at 10:51 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/7/23 at 11:00pm

Seems like everyone i know is there tonight, along with Patti LuPone. 

[Mskuphantm]

Posted: 10/7/23 at 11:24pm

Thoughts... The songs and book deliver equally, the show delivers the absurdity surreal existential that it is based on.    The songs I can only say it is as if you take all of his catalogue throw it in a hat and randomly blend them  from EVERY show he has composed.  I heard Frogs, Funny Thing, Assassins, Sweeney, Pacific Overture, Anyone Can Whistle, Merrily, Saturday Night, Hint of Follies, Company. PassionInto the Woods, Sunday in the Park, a dash of Evening PrimroseRoad Show/Bounce, A little night music.   Literally ever show, plus new evolved music as well. And the wit of Sondheim in his  lyrics are just as spry as earlier in his career.  The second half worked IMO, almost like it may have been exactly as it is had he been able to finish. Maybe that was why it took him longer.   Remember he made suggestion to Richard Rogers during Do I Hear a Waltz that Leona shouldn't sing until act 2 when she finally hears the music/the emotion.  

 

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Act two for me was cathartic.  The characters could have been trapped in a room existing in sondheims mind, it shows the "what happens when creating music for a character for a musical, at some point you get stuck in a mind block". When the piano breaks of course no music is sung from the characters, they dont hear it anymore, but the world and universe of that room is sondheim, so the scoring is what the audience hears its his universe singing without words.  When they break the cycle, and ascended/learned lessons from the room they have evolved to where their speech becomes their singing with a gorgeous accompaniment underneath.  

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

 

Updated On: 10/8/23 at 11:24 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/7/23 at 11:37pm

I definitely hear a fair amount of ITW in the "Perfect Day" theme. The main vamp is quite similar to parts of ITW and "Country House" from the London production of Follies which was written during the time of ITW. 

[bruzson]

Posted: 10/8/23 at 7:45am

After seeing a wonderfully staged Sweeney at the matinee, we saw Here We Are last night.  Also wonderfully staged but a completely different beast.  Snippets of music from 'Ariadnea' (sp?) in the LTC Frogs, Sunday, Road Show and others, I think, but lyrically quite fresh. I'm puzzled by the notes of almost no music in the second act.  I think the 'song' in the beginning of the second act goes on for nearly 10-15 minutes before things go silent.  And then there are the times of underscoring in the musical interludes. The reason for the silence, in terms of song, but certainly not music, is explained vis a vis the piano.  There is no song at the end and I can't imagine how one would fit in well so I'm pretty sure this was the intention.

Now for the SPOILERS.  What does it mean?  That seemed to puzzle many folks I heard chatting on the way out.  To me, it was clearly about consequences faced by the upper class (which is very Bunuel) and how it can be difficult to escape those consequences, hence back to square one.  For the others who join the original 6 (5?) brunch seekers, it's about lessons learned in interacting with the upper class.  So class warfare, as personified by O'Hare and the Fritz character.  It's an absurdist work so no easy, obvious take-aways but I think the message is there.

Mantello was there in the audience last night (last row center but chatting with an audience member during the pre-show 'cleaning'.  Did not see other celebs.

Is this show a masterpiece like Sweeney?  No, but a fascinating coda to a career that defied convention.  Many, many thanks to all of those who made this happen!  I'm not betting on a transfer so see it now.

[Listener]

Posted: 10/8/23 at 10:26pm

jakebloke said: "I sat in FF 208 and on the whole it was great. There are a few things that happen at the back of the stage which I missed…..mostly in the first act. But for $40 I can’t complain given the prices of more central sets. The HH 101 102 seats will have a better view I think."

How did you get a 40$ ticket?

Also, and feel free to be brutally honest here, is it worth going out of the way to see this production/this cast, or would you suggest catching a Broadway transfer?

Maybe a Bway transfer would be in a bigger venue with more varied ticket prices or improvements based on the lessons learned in this run...so is this a "must-see now" or "catch it later maybe" situation?

[n2nbaby]

Posted: 10/8/23 at 10:33pm

Call me crazy, but I just don’t see this transferring but, hey, crazier things have happened. 
 

It is worth seeing 100% if you’re a fan of this cast and/or Sondheim. 

[inception]

Posted: 10/8/23 at 11:32pm

Listener said:

How did you get a 40$ ticket?

https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatre-news/news/here-we-are-offers-off-broadway-rush-and-lottery-tickets-on-todaytix