Here We Are (was Square One) Sondheim & Ives - Off-Broadway

To your two questions: Could be and could be depending on how one chooses to view the second act.

And here we are!

playbill.com/article/production-photos-get-a-1st-look-at-here-we-are-the-final-sondheim-musical

Here's the Guardian's three-star take, or rather Gloria Oladipo's. Odd choice - she's not reviewed anything for them before and she's described as a 'breaking news' reporter. www.theguardian.com/stage/2023/oct/24/here-we-are-musical-review-stephen-sondheim

I am lucky to have seen this twice and basically, i love the first 2 thirds of it, upto where Sondheim put his pen down.

HWA has the surealism and energy of Whistle. Act 1 has a white set and zips by. Act 2 with its black sets unfortunately lags towards the end.

The piece is Monty Pythonesque and it magically decontructs before our eyes. With its themes of perception, power corrupts and Pirandello has Sondheim finally come round to embracing Brecht ?

The score is great and echoes Rich and Happy, The Blob and Passion. 3 songs are at the start of the second act and then we have a few interludes and some underscore. For the none singing finale the jaunty 'rich and happy' vamp returns from act 1. I loved the beauty and stillness of the Marianne's songs infact i loved it all and i cant wait for a cast recording

The dramaturgical reason for no songs beyond a certain point makes sense but when the piano starts working again
shouldn't the characters sing again? The piano is not my only issue with Ives writing in the second half, he makes his point and a good one at that but it overstays its welcome. Chopping 15 mins of text fom the second act and merging it into a 1 act piece would make it fabulous, but what do i know!

Cast, direction, design, movement and band are all perfect. So good, infact some of the best I've seen.

Seeing an orignal Uncle Steve in NY was a lifelong ambition and Im not disappointed with this beautiful piece of theatre.

There's rumblings that the cast recording might appear this week - as early as tomorrow in fact.
I'm off to see this in 3 weeks and can't wait.

Saw the matinee performance of this today and thought it was ok rather than anything if rush to see again but it wasn’t helped by a 🍆head sitting down 5 minutes before it started and then telling his theatre companion about all the dreadful roles he had been auditioning for really, REALLY loudly then laughing at every f’in line in an aggravating high pitch laugh fit the duration. Overall, I thought it was too long and could have done with some editing in the second act, the theme does go a lot darker in the second act which is maybe why there wasn’t a surfeit of songs but there were a couple of nice nods to The Ruling Class and Young Frankenstein (among others) which I thought was a nice touch.

I dont know if this will go to the UK (but I bet it does) but I’m glad I can say I saw it with the original cast, and I was impressed it was a full turnout from the cast on a matinee 2 days before Christmas.

Any more news on a cast recording?

This is very exciting news! I don’t know if I can contain myself until the Spring though.

All we need now is a London production!

Fun article that finds similarities with previous works

www.nypl.org/blog/2024/03/14/sondheim-easter-eggs-here-we-are?fbclid=IwAR0SaKcQnB-fUOLHqM5NNzsrngU3pG_CbxnC_kzgYm_8m6Z3AoELtMmMggU

Here is the track listing.
A lot of singular titles.
Track 23 really appeals

1. Here We Are (Overture)
2. The Road 1 (Part 1)
3. The Road 1 (Part 2)
4. The Road 1 (Part 3)
5. Café Everything (Toast 1)
6. Waiter’s Song
7. The Road 2
8. Bistro à la Mode (Toast 2)
9. It Is What It Is
10. The Road 3
11. Osteria Zeno (Toast 3)
12. The Soldier’s Dream
13. The Road 4 (Part 1)
14. The Road 4 (Part 2)
15. Oh, Look, Here's The Embassy!
16. Bishop’s Song
17. End of Act One
18. Entr’acte
19. Digestion
20. Shine
21. Hesitation
22. Double Duet
23. Interlude 1: Marianne And The Bear
24. Interlude 2: Wandering
25. Interlude 3: Snow
26. Hesitation (Reprise)
27. Exit Music


I am VERY excited

There must be a lot of incidental music and dialogues, since act too is almost score-free