Sondheim's Final Musical: HERE WE ARE (Off-Broadway) - Critics' Reviews- Page 3

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 10/23/23 at 1:14pm

The Wrap

‘Here We Are’ Off Broadway Review: Stephen Sondheim Relishes Then Abandons Luis Buñuel

In a rendezvous negotiated by playwright David Ives, two legendary artists create both a wonderful hit and a curious miss

https://www.thewrap.com/here-we-are-off-broadway-review-stephen-sondheim/

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 10/23/23 at 2:44pm

Sutton Ross said: "especially the review stating "a sense of incompleteness diminishes its impact"."

Which can't be further from the truth for many theatergoers including me and quite a lot here. If anything, as Holdren aptly pointed out in her extremely well written review, it only advances the sense of ambivalence between the absurdity of the subjects it is showing and the inherent impulse of theater to humanize, which is leagues more intellectually satisfying than what you have on Broadway these days.

 

[Fordham2015]

Posted: 10/23/23 at 2:50pm

David Cote for the Observer: Sondheim’s Swan Song Is Goofy, Satirical, And A Joy to Hear

https://observer.com/2023/10/review-sondheims-swan-song-is-goofy-satirical-and-a-joy-to-hear/

[StylishCynic]

Posted: 10/23/23 at 3:27pm

Fordham2015 said: "David Cote for the Observer:Sondheim’s Swan Song Is Goofy, Satirical, And A Joy to Hear

https://observer.com/2023/10/review-sondheims-swan-song-is-goofy-satirical-and-a-joy-to-hear/"

This review was a DELIGHT to read. One of the best written reviews I've read in years. 

I normally enjoy Holdren's reviews, but I found hers at Vulture to be too long-winded and cumbersome in Sondheim history. It felt like two different assignments competing with one another in the same article, as opposed to simply reviewing this show as a standalone piece of theatre.

[binau]

Posted: 10/23/23 at 3:50pm

I just feel a discussion of whether it is incomplete or not is a red herring...the show is presented as a complete finished work from beginning to end. It's finished. It might feel odd for people that there is not much music in the second and it may not work for you/feel unsatisfying because it's basically unheard of in any other musical - but it's not like the show ends halfway through an act and we don't have any resolution.

One of the positive unintended consequences of how they approached this is that some of the quality of the writing in the second act is actually higher quality than you would typically see in a musical book (e.g. the poignancy of the DHP/RBJ scene - which somewhat underlines the whole purpose of the show). 
 

Updated On: 10/23/23 at 03:50 PM

[BETTY22]

Posted: 10/23/23 at 6:50pm

I'm surprised there are so many tickets still available after the New York Times Critics Pix!

I assumed this would be sold out. Maybe, it takes a few days to kick in........

[JasonC3]

Posted: 10/23/23 at 6:56pm

I doubt being an NYT Critics Pick is much of a factor for very many people who are willing to buy a moderately pricey ticket to a Sondheim musical based on two avant garde movies that features no sung tunes in the second at a venue some have never visited or no exists.

[Sutton Ross]

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

BETTY22 said: "I'm surprised there are so many tickets still available after the New York Times Critics Pix!

I assumed this would be sold out. Maybe, it takes a few days to kick in........"

That is clearly the only reason the entire run isn't sold out. Totally, Betty. 

 

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 10/23/23 at 8:04pm

BETTY22 said: "I'm surprised there are so many tickets still available after the New York Times Critics Pix!

I assumed this would be sold out. Maybe, it takes a few days to kick in........"

It has a 77 on Show-Score out of 417 ratings, which is a pretty good indicator that the general public is lukewarm on it. In a smaller Off-Broadway space, it would probably be selling out constantly, but, in a 500+ seat theatre, a divisive, offbeat show like this isn't going to be a Straight Line Crazy for The Shed, even more so since their prices are still pretty high. In this case, I don't see the Critic's Pick counting for much at all.

Updated On: 10/23/23 at 08:04 PM

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 10/23/23 at 9:14pm

Not to mention that the reader comments on the NYT review from people who've seen the show are very mixed at best, possibly more negative than not.

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/23/23 at 9:43pm

JasonC3 said: "I doubt being an NYT Critics Pick is much of a factor for very many people who are willing to buy a moderately pricey ticket to a Sondheim musical based on two avant garde movies that features no sung tunes in the second at a venue some have never visited or no exists."

There is about 15 minutes of singing in the start of act 2. We really need to stop perpetuating this myth that there is “no”singing in act 2, it is simply incorrect. 

[StylishCynic]

Posted: 10/23/23 at 10:13pm

ljay889 said: "JasonC3 said: "I doubt being an NYT Critics Pick is much of a factor for very many people who are willing to buy a moderately pricey ticket to a Sondheim musical based on two avant garde movies that features no sung tunes in the second at a venue some have never visited or no exists."

There is about 15 minutes of singing in the start of act 2. We really need to stop perpetuating this myth that there is “no”singing in act 2, it is simply incorrect."

I also found three of the movements of the act two opening (superficial, it’s only the end of the world, and Marianne’s dream) to be some of the most compelling, ethereal songs in the show. 

[JasonC3]

Posted: 10/24/23 at 12:02am

Apologies for my mischaracterization,  I don't see the show until Wednesday and was too sloppy in my inference of what I thought people here were saying.  I should have said "little" sung tunes or less music in act two instead of none.

But the rest of my reply to Betty22 still stands.

[Impeach2017]

Posted: 10/24/23 at 2:19am

Critics and commentators who get that this was never intended to be a blockbuster contender are the ones whose reviews I would follow.  The rest are just predictable flotsam.

[BJR]

Posted: 10/24/23 at 8:00am

Do people really think a ShowScore rating matters more than a Critic's Pick? The NYTimes may not have the power it was did, but the kind of theatre goers who pay full price still read the Times.

Now, unless you imply the rating means word of mouth isn't great, which may be so, but I imagine they'll get through their extension at very least.

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 10/24/23 at 9:57am

BJR said: "Do people really think a ShowScore rating matters more than a Critic's Pick? The NYTimes may not have the power it was did, but the kind of theatre goers who pay full price still read the Times.

Now, unless you imply the rating means word of mouth isn't great, which may be so, but I imagine they'll get through their extension at very least."

BETTY22 expressed surprise that the entire run hadn't sold out, simply based on the NYT Critic's Pick, and I gave a couple of reasons why I didn't think that would happen. I never suggested that the Show-Score rating matters more, but a Critic's Pick in a pack of mixed reviews for a show that is already divisive in the public isn't going to suddenly fill a large-ish venue, and I do think that the size of the space is the main reason it won't play to packed houses at every performance, with the higher prices ($299-349) for the prime seats adding to the situation. Like I said, in a smaller theatre it would be a hot ticket, but I don't doubt that it will run through January 21, as scheduled.

 

Updated On: 10/24/23 at 09:57 AM

[MezzA101]

Posted: 10/28/23 at 10:35am

A wonderful bottom banner ad with a lineup of the 11 actors in character graces the front page of tomorrow's NYT A&L. Still advertised as "Through January 21 Only."

[ljay889]

Posted: 10/28/23 at 11:19am

I think the reviews overall are more mixed-to-positive. Charles Isherwood wrote a major love letter in the Wall Street Journal, but it’s behind a paywall. 
This was nothing like the “meh” reviews Road Show received in 2008. 
No Sondheim show ever has received all raves in its original production, and the reaction to HWA is very fitting for a brand new Sondheim show that is challenging. 

[Robbie2]

Posted: 10/28/23 at 10:18pm

Stephen Sondheim’s Last Musical, “Here We Are,” Comes to the Shed

The writer David Ives and the director Joe Mantello continued without the late composer on an adaptation of two lacerating Luis Buñuel films.

By Helen Shaw

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/11/06/here-we-are-theatre-review

[binau]

Posted: 10/29/23 at 8:19am

If I were to nominate best and worst lyrics in Here We Are:

Best

"We do expect a little latte later/ But we haven't got a lotta latte now"

Worst

"Something doesn't fit and I don't like it, not one bit"