Sondheim and Ives' HERE WE ARE at The Shed — Page 55

Hearing the initial Lyceum rumors might actually come to fruition next season after My Son's a Queer ends its limited run.

Let's be honest. If Sondheim's name wasn't attached to it, no one would be saying anything remotely good about it. Just because it's Sondheim, people on here have to find something good to write even if it's minuscule. I didn't like it. There you go.

It would be great to record this to add to the archive of Passion, Sunday and Into the Woods videos.

djoko84 said: "Let's be honest. If Sondheim's name wasn't attached to it, no one would be saying anything remotely good about it. Just because it's Sondheim, people on here have to find something good to write even if it's minuscule. I didn't like it. There you go."

Oh, look, we've found the little boy stating that the emporer has no clothes.

You're allowed to not like it. But don't be dismissive of everyone else opinions. I'm perfectly capable of forming my own opinion.

Jordan Catalano said: "I’m starting to worry we won’t get a cast recording."

Surely not possible. I mean we got a cast album for Bounce (granted that was at the time when PS Classics wanted to have a cast album of every single Sondheim work as part of their catalogue...)

I'll be attending this show Jan 2. First time at The Shed. Couple of questions for those who have been there:

1. Any recommendations in the immediate area for an early dinner? One of the restaurants at Jose Andres Little Mercado? (Very convenient, and we know his food from his DC restaurants.) Ci Siamo (Good reputation, albeit pricey. How long a a walk is it from restaurant to the theatre?) Some other place?

2. When the show is over, how easy/difficult is it to get a cab or an Uber/Lyft back up Times Square area?

Thanks in advance.

TarHeelAlan said: "I'll be attending this show Jan 2. First time at The Shed. Couple of questions for those who have been there:

1. Any recommendations in the immediate area for an early dinner? One of the restaurants at Jose Andres Little Mercado? (Very convenient, and we know his food from his DC restaurants.) Ci Siamo (Good reputation, albeit pricey. How long a a walk is it from restaurant to the theatre?) Some other place?

2. When the show is over, how easy/difficult is it to get a cab or an Uber/Lyft back up Times Square area?

Thanks in advance.

"

Mercado is great and is just below the Shed. If you want to stroll down 10th Avenue, Bottino is very cute and offers good Italian.

Cabs on 10th will be readily available but you could also easily jump on the 7 train at Hudson Yards and take it one stop to Times Square

EricMontreal22 said: "bear88 said about the Brantley opinion piece:

"The whole piece had a strange, scolding tone - criticizing people for appreciating Sondheim for the wrong reasons. Is that even true?"

I got *exactly* this feeling from his sour piece. Also, after all this time and countless revivals, does he still not understand what the song No One Is Alone is saying?"



I did not get a scolding tone from this piece and found what he said about those lyrics to be pretty much on target. What I got from the piece is that there was/is a distinction to Sondheim's works that we may not experience again for a long time. (Fosse immediately came to my mind) And as mentioned in the piece, it could possibly be Miranda. (Although for me, I prefer Tesori but get why he sees Miranda possibly achieving the "passionate cult" that Sondheim has)

I found the piece to be almost a love letter to Sondheim and his work. JMO

Finally saw this last night. It's probably the only Sondheim show for which I feel the book outshines the score, which I found to largely sound like motifs from Road Show with glimmers of Sunday. However, the lyrics are easily Sondheim's funniest- actually laugh out loud funny, which is something I know he himself would say was never his strength. Ives' book is probably one of his best pieces of writing.

Rachel Bay Jones is giving a brilliant turn and David Hyde Pierce is perfect casting for the Bishop. Everybody is very strong- with my main caveat being Denis O'Hare, who is over the top in a different way than everyone else, particularly in act 2.

The piece is clearly unfinished regardless of what Ives and Mantello say and what we have is best efforts to make the show work without Sondheim. I don't know that anybody can fairly assess the show right now because Sondheim's death and what we know about the show's development loom so large over the piece. I'll be very curious to see what people say years in the future. Right now it seems to me the show represents what we lost and what we could've had more than anything else.

berniesb!tch said: "uncageg said:
I did not get a scolding tone from this piece and found what he said about those lyrics to be pretty much on target. What I got from the piece is that there was/is a distinction to Sondheim's works that we may not experience again for a long time. (Fosse immediately came to my mind) And as mentioned in the piece, it could possibly be Miranda. (Although for me, I prefer Tesori but get why he sees Miranda possibly achieving the "passionate cult" that Sondheim has)

I found the piece to be almost a love letter to Sondheim and his work. JMO

"



I agree I just read the article and expected a lot worse based off everyone's comments. I am not a fan of Brantley but found the article to be quite touching and thought he made some interesting insight.

Also, I don't think Brantley's comments on loneliness negate anything said in "No One is Alone", one can not be alone and still feel loneliness.
"

I didn't find the entire piece like a scold--just parts. He didn't seem to approve of how some fans have reacted to Sondheim's passing (and, y'know, I've been guilty of this too as I see an ever increasing number of fans suddenly crawl out of the woodwork.)

But... "Surely, he would have cocked an eyebrow at his apotheosis as the warm and comforting spirit guide that seemed to materialize at that recent performance of “Into the Woods.”

Surely? I am not so sure he would--in the last decade (if not longer) of his life, Sondheim was approving more and more productions of his work that he wouldn't have before, simply because he was happy that there was the interest and to have them done AND he would cry because he was so moved at the drop of a pin (he was always known as a crier, of course--infamously ruining Dorothy Hammerstein's fur while watching Carousel, but...)

As for No One is Alone, Brantley writes: "When he writes, “No one is alone,” it hurts so much precisely because we sense that it is ultimately a falsehood."

This is where I feel Sondheim would object. He wrote that song, or so Sondheim would always claim, completely for the context of the show. And the context of the song in the show is that no one is "truly" alone--in that just as we may gain strength realizing that we are not alone--and community, a big theme in ITW, can give us strength, the thoughts and, yes, people we who are against us also aren't alone in their actions and beliefs. That's simplifying it, of course, but I'm not seeing where the falsehood in the lyrics here are that Brantley sees?

Oh, I also believe Sondheim endorsed the idea of a second act without much music, or at least without conventional songs. In many ways, doing so is a culmination of an artistic career that embraced testing the bounds of traditional musical structure, going all the way back to Anyone Can Whistle and peaking with his works with Lapine (and then of course, entirely rejecting a second act at all with Assassins, Passion, and the final iteration of Road Show).

Kad said: "Oh, I also believe Sondheim endorsed the idea of a second act without much music, or at least without conventional songs. In many ways, doing so is a culmination of an artistic career that embraced testing the bounds of traditional musical structure, going all the way back to Anyone Can Whistle and peaking with his works with Lapine (and then of course, entirely rejecting a second act at all with Assassins, Passion, and the final iteration of Road Show)."

Beautifully said. (Which reminds me I know someone who saw it who was SO upset the program didn't have a song listing and--very oddly--claimed Sondheim would have been offended. He refused to believe me that Sondheim made sure that Passion had no song listings in the program either, although, I admit, the songs in Here We Are are much more isolated songs than much of the score for Passion is...)

I don't think this turned out to be a hot ticket, and they overpriced themselves. All these reports of people getting great seats through rush just makes me feel like a chump for buying early.