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.