PipingHotPiccolo said: "this was like an odd little buffet that i was thrilled to attend even though the food on it was hit/miss. i know Ives/Mantello insist the second act was meant to be devoid of music, that the score was mostly finished, but this piece really does feel incomplete. and i know its meant to be absurdist and odd but it also feels redundant at times. im convinced Sondheim would have wanted alot more done here.
THAT SAID how can anyone not enjoy this cast saying these words? Act 1 is infinitely more enjoyable than Act 2, and I thought all of the Act 1 ditties were laugh out loud funny. The insanity of these people trying to find a brunch to eat was just a hoot, and the comedy/lyrical genius is just thru the roof here. Denis O'Hare walks away with his scenes, and Micaela Diamond is given a real Sondheim-esque lyrical nugget that I really hope gets recorded.
Act 2 was.... slower, and I found myself somewhat bored which feels like an admission of a crime. But if Rachel Bay Jones is a delight in Act 1, she turns in an award-worthy perfect performance in Act 2 that was so utterly moving in a way that was so uniquely HER. She was great in Pippin, and I missed her in Dear Evan Hansen, but shes giving a firmly pitch perfect performance here that is the heart of this weird show. BRAH-vo. (Everyone was great, top notch, this cast is stacked, but Cannavale and Hyde-Pierce should get special mention here, And please give Jin Ha every leading musical role going fwd please, thanks.)
I cant imagine this show working without the bells/whistles of this specific production and with this specific cast, but i sure am glad Ives and Mantello made sure we got to see this."
A few thoughts:
- Rachel Bay Jones. I think Jones’ performance in this show is one of best I’ve had the privilege to see. The writing is funny and unexpectedly moving, but Jones makes it work so marvelously well. It’s even better in retrospect.
- ‘Incomplete.’ No and yes. This is the show, with director Joe Mantello and book writer David Ives pulling together a stylish piece of theater with what Stephen Sondheim left behind. I didn’t leave unsatisfied, but a part of me - knowing how Sondheim worked in his prime, especially when shows were cast and he was writing for particular actors, wonders if he wouldn’t have been inspired to write a few more songs. There were certainly moments that seemed to call out for songs. But the man was in his 90s by the end; it’s probably too much to expect.
- Act 1. I don’t think there are any great Sondheim songs in the first act, but he and Ives were working hand in glove in a such a playful way that it didn’t matter. The first act is very funny and ends with David Hyde Pierce stealing the show for a bit before its concluding flourish. Denis O’Hare did a fair amount of show-stealing himself throughout first act.
- Act 2. I concede the second act’s flaws, but it feels like many of them come from a humane place. More importantly, the most memorable parts of the show are in that second act: some fine songs, Jones and a certain animal, the much- praised Jones-Hyde Pierce scene (and its follow-up), an ending that felt right (even if many of the preceding monologues felt unearned).
I’ve read enough odes to the original versions of Sondheim’s musicals that it feels like an incredible gift that we are getting not just a terrific production of Here We Are that I cannot imagine will ever be matched but a revival of Merrily We Roll Along that is the best version of that musical. And I got to see them on consecutive nights. Sometimes you can’t complain. Those were two special evenings.
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