Sondheim and Ives' HERE WE ARE at The Shed- Page 52
Sondheim and Ives' HERE WE ARE at The Shed
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#1275Q
Posted: 11/5/23 at 4:41pm
It's one thing to leave because you HATED what you saw - no matter what your ticket cost, but to leave something you were enjoying, because some people said act II wasn't AS good??!!! Interesting, in the weirdest way.
We decided to go see this a second time, but found what I suspect will be excellent seats for only 99 bucks. They are in the last row of the side seating (only 5 or 6 rows?) and on the end closest to the main seating. We were on the opposite side last month, but in the main "orchestra" seating.
Looking forward to seeing more nuances, things we missed etc.
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
#1276Q
Posted: 11/5/23 at 4:55pm
I finally got down to The Shed this afternoon to see this. This is some absolutely exquisite theatre. It’s fun and zany yet still incredibly deep and profound. Everything is of the highest caliber - the acting, the singing, the design elements. Just truly a top notch production in every sense. After sitting through Harmony, Hell’s Kitchen, and Spamalot over the last couple of weeks, this was such a delectable treat. I can’t recommend this one highly enough.
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
PipingHotPiccolo
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/22
#1278Q
Posted: 11/5/23 at 5:58pm
Question for those who have seen it (possible spoilers, but more of an interpretation question):
Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content
What was with the false starts in Act I every time they got into the “car” and before they started singing? They’re staged almost as if the actor themself is messing up, complete with a knowing laugh to the other actors. This happened twice that I remember, once with Jeremy Shamos moving forward, realizing he was wrong, then getting back in line and sort of chuckling about it and then Amber Gray did it another time. Both my wife and I couldn’t figure out what was intended because it looked so much like a mistake but including it several times indicates that it is not.
#1279Q
Posted: 11/5/23 at 6:11pm
TheQuibbler said: "Question for those who have seen it (possible spoilers, but more of an interpretation question):
Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content
What was with the false starts in Act I every time they got into the “car” and before they started singing? They’re staged almost as if the actor themself is messing up, complete with a knowing laugh to the other actors. This happened twice that I remember, once with Jeremy Shamos moving forward, realizing he was wrong, then getting back in line and sort of chuckling about it and then Amber Gray did it another time. Both my wife and I couldn’t figure out what was intended because it looked so much like a mistake but including it several times indicates that it is not.
"
I was also confused by this. Someone on Reddit suggested that it was the point when the characters are drawn into the "curse" and start acting not of their own free will, but of whatever guides the show.
bear88
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/26/16
#1280Q
Posted: 11/6/23 at 1:42am
TaffyDavenport said: "I think I'm in the minority, but I preferred the second act.
I suspect you are in the minority, but one of things I told my wife is that, despite what I perceived as its flaws, my favorite scenes (one involving music, the other not) were in the second act. It’s what I will remember most about Here We Are.
akhoya87
Featured Actor Joined: 4/22/18
#1283Q
Posted: 11/6/23 at 8:54am
A Justified Bean said: "Forgive me if this has been asked and answered - I was combing through the thread and didn't see it -
Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content
Did anyone catch what it was Marianne was supposed to do today?
"
It's not specifically mentioned, but I like to think ---
Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content
she remembered to be just 'be here.... until we are not', like the bishop told her.
To be.....continued, until otherwise notified
Slotted spoons don't hold much soup
Updated On: 11/6/23 at 08:54 AM
#1284Q
Posted: 11/6/23 at 8:57am
I think the whole point is we're not meant to know - and in fact the way it was delivered/after going through her journey I'm not sure we're even sure it's the same thing as even initially intended.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
Voter
Broadway Star Joined: 5/19/20
#1285Q
Posted: 11/6/23 at 9:11am
PipingHotPiccolo said: "as noted, some ppl preferred Act 2. Some didnt. To leave at intermission because you heard that people didnt like Act 2 is a level of ignorance and clout-chasing that is hard to fathom."
Someone on Twitter was bragging about leaving at intermission for Titanique and was DRAGGED for it so I’m glad this board addressed it before I made it by!
There are like 3 other people called Voter on here, FYI.
Deleted comment count: 12
willep
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/08
#1286Q
Posted: 11/6/23 at 9:49am
I saw it yesterday, and count me among those that preferred act two. I thought the singing disappearing when they found themselves locked in worked perfectly well. I never found myself missing it or wanting them to be singing in there. Overall I thought it was really quite a beautiful piece.
ETA: Unlike most people here, I went in not as a Sondheim die hard. I do enjoy his work, but I couldn’t tell you any moments in here that were derivative or anything like that. So I wasn’t necessarily going in for a “Sondheim show”, and I wonder if that is why some people aren’t as taken or feel like i is unfinished, because they are expecting a “Sondheim show”, when his contributions largely disappear for the second half.
henrikegerman
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/29/05
#1287Q
Posted: 11/6/23 at 11:14am
Agree Act 2 has exquisite moments. The way the inert inability to exit is staged and underscored is marvelous. The beautiful scene between DHP and RBJ is a pure hypo shot of love. I also loved the bear!
But it is not as fully realized as Act 1--and I don't mean the absence of songs, which I think is spot on! And as a great movie adaptation, loose but still evoking the joy, brilliance and essence of the source, light years away from Act 1's delightful take on Discreet Charm. Act 2 fails to distill Angel Exterminador for gold in this tasty two act concept.
Mr. Ives, I'm a big fan, please because I know you have it in you, rework Act 2! Rewatch the movie and please dump the banal triteness of the class conflict as it now appears onstage? More Exterminating Angel, less The Menu!
MrBroucek
Swing Joined: 8/20/23
#1288Q
Posted: 11/6/23 at 11:48am
henrikegerman said: "Agree Act 2 has exquisite moments. The way the inert inability to exit is staged and underscored is marvelous. The beautiful scene between DHP and RBJ is a pure hypo shot of love. I also loved the bear!
But it is not as fully realized as Act 1--and I don't mean the absence of songs, which I think is spot on! And as a great movie adaptation, loose but still evoking the joy, brilliance and essence of the source, light years away from Act 1's delightful take on Discreet Charm. Act 2 fails to distill Angel Exterminador for gold in this tasty two act concept.
Mr. Ives, I'm a big fan, please because I know you have it in you, rework Act 2! Rewatch the movie and please dump the banal triteness of the class conflict as it now appears onstage? More Exterminating Angel, less The Menu!"
Apart from the class conflict what would you like to be changed, added or deleted ?
I found the last 45 mins 15 minutes too long but i dont know how i would change it
#1289Q
Posted: 11/6/23 at 11:53am
binau said: "I think the whole point is we're not meant to know - and in fact the way it was delivered/after going through her journey I'm not sure we're even sure it's the same thing as even initially intended."
I’m probably wrong but I though she was supposed to remember that she was in the show?
berniesb!tch
Stand-by Joined: 5/23/21
#1290
Posted: 11/10/23 at 10:07am
Saw this two nights ago after winning the rush. I adored it. Was it my favorite Sondheim? No. Will it be a show I will think about for a long time? Absolutely. Very excited to see it again next week when my original tickets were for.
Everything about the show was in top form in my opinion. The cast is firing on all cylinders. It didn't feel unfinished to me at all, but I do agree with those that said the maid seemed like she could have a song. Also the scene between RBJ and DHP in Act 2 could have been a lovely song, but I loved the scene as it was so I didn't mind too much.
Where has Jin Ha been all my life??? That voice! Also extremely hot.
Michaela Diamond has a very interesting speaking voice and is truly a superb performer.
Special shoutout to Natasha Katz for some exquisite lighting.
Some of my favorite lyrics:
"If it isn't the sun it's the birdsong. If it isn't the air, it's the view. I'm completely undone by the endless abundance of life, aren't you?"
"I have no charisma"
"I looked in your eyes and thought it's the end of the world"
"Why can't I be free to like what I see, and not what I know?"
Excited to see what else I pick up on a second watch.
Fordham2015
Broadway Star Joined: 4/3/17
#1291
Posted: 11/10/23 at 10:14am
"Where has Jin Ha been all my life??? That voice! Also extremely hot. "
It seems like I was the only person who saw M Butterfly, but I loved him in that
berniesb!tch
Stand-by Joined: 5/23/21
#1292
Posted: 11/10/23 at 10:23am
Fordham2015 said: ""Where has Jin Ha been all my life??? That voice! Also extremely hot. "
It seems like I was the only person who saw M Butterfly, but I loved him in that"
I was only 17 at the time of M. Butterfly and pretty unaware of that production, but am now kicking myself for not knowing him sooner.
#1293
Posted: 11/10/23 at 10:24am
I, too, saw this Wednesday evening. I went in with my guard up, expecting some bittersweet disappointment. What I wasn't prepared for was how overwhelmed I felt by the end. Did this piece feel unfinished? No. A resounding no. It is so absolutely complete in its concept and execution. I actually think Sondheim found his best book writer at the end of his life...David Ives.
Are there numbers in the first act that feel familiar and 'Sondheim-ian.' Yes. But the function of these songs is so different than anything else he's done before. He's a master at commentary, but I didn't know he could master absurdism. I didn't know there could be a truly successful absurdist musical. And yet...he we are.
Everything about the production is top notch. The cast is astounding, the design is smart and, in the opening of the second act, provides a wow. The sound design is stunning and the orchestra is divine.
What made it so satisfying to me, funnily enough, is that it doesn't feel like a Sondheim musical...a fabulous score bolstering lesser (though still high quality) parts. This is a true collaboration between Sondheim, Ives and director Mantello. Each of these men provided equal, brilliant work to make this weird, insane, tricky, wonderful piece shine.
Is it my favorite Sondheim musical? Not at the moment. But is it a stunning piece of theater that is speaking to who we are at the moment. Yes...very much so. Isn't it something that a man in his 80s into his 90s...a man who was afraid that he could write nothing good past the age of 50..continued to push the form even further? What a f*cking epitaph.
KevinKlawitter
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/21/20
#1294
Posted: 11/10/23 at 12:18pm
berniesb!tch said: "Fordham2015 said: ""Where has Jin Ha been all my life??? That voice! Also extremely hot. "
It seems like I was the only person who saw M Butterfly, but I loved him in that"
I was only 17 at the time of M. Butterfly and pretty unaware of that production, but am now kicking myself for not knowing him sooner."
I first noticed him on NBC's Jesus Christ Superstar Live where he was great as a Pharisee opposite Norm Lewis.
Jumpin_J
Stand-by Joined: 12/5/07
#1295
Posted: 11/10/23 at 6:25pmI saw it a few nights ago. It was interesting. Act I is based on the "The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie" and Act II is based on "The Exterminating Angel", both movies I saw before seeing the show which definitely helped as it was clear they hit the major plot points in both. The music in Act I I thought was, to quote Sondheim, nice. Not good or not bad but just nice. The problem for me was the lack of music in Act II. It's hard to call it a musical when only about 50% has actual songs, and even then it's only a few fully developed ones. I will give credit how they were able to meld the two story lines into one, but that's also partially because both movies were directed by Luis Buñuel so there's a through line. I didn't feel completely cheated. I'll listen to Rachel Ray Jones sing the phone book in a cabaret room, but generally speaking, I wasn't wowed by it.
#1296
Posted: 11/10/23 at 10:47pm
Fordham2015 said: ""Where has Jin Ha been all my life??? That voice! Also extremely hot. "
It seems like I was the only person who saw M Butterfly, but I loved him in that"
I did too!
"Anything you do, let it it come from you--then it will be new."
Sunday in the Park with George
#1297
Posted: 11/11/23 at 2:38pm
FYI, TodayTix is having a no-fee sale right now, and the 1 p.m. performances on Wednesday, 11/22, and Friday, 11/24, are so undersold that they've reduced prices on them, as well, with every seat $79-149.
jbird5
Broadway Star Joined: 12/20/15
#1298
Posted: 11/12/23 at 9:59am
The first act of this was the best thing I saw this weekend. Sondheim, goofiness, a first-rate cast. Yes please. Okay the second act. Not the worst I’ve seen. Most musicals lose steam after intermission. And the lack of songs is a problem.
I think this is the only show I’d see again (Danny, Here Lies Love are the others).
Micaela Diamond USA is a star. Please find a show for her.
Rachel Bay Jones and David Hyde Pierce should go on tour together.
Dennis O’Hare will probably leave the country when Trump wins the election.
I didn’t recognize Amber Grey in contemporary dress. She slays anyway.
I think this show can do well regionally. Lots of juicy parts. And Sondheim.
#1299
Posted: 11/12/23 at 1:10pm
Selling two tickets to this Wednesday matinee on November 15 at 1:00pm. The seats are on the left side, Row GG, Seats 101 and 102. Looking to recoup what I paid: $129 + $5 per ticket, so selling the two for $268. DM me if interested, thanks!
Updated On: 11/12/23 at 01:10 PMVideos