Review: ‘Here We Are’ Is Stephen Sondheim’s Fractured Farewell

Of course it is impossible to separate Stephen Sondheim and his death, at 91 in November 2021, from Here We Are (The Shed, to Jan. 21). This is the final work he wrote music and lyrics for; for one, death interrupted its completion, so it is a specter at the feast in a musical about an ever-deferred feast.

And then, well, this is Sondheim. Theater-makers often talk about the important role of an audience when it comes to the performance of a work, and that invisible cord to the stage is even more tangible and freighted here as his fans and appreciators take their seats to watch the final artistic expression of the master of musical theater. If one cannot attend a funeral or wake or reception, this is an ideal and active way to pay your homage. Indeed, at one moment during Here We Are a character describes having a dream, of being on stage and being watched by an audience. The lights come up. Suddenly both cast and watchers blink at each other directly and nervously, the comfortingly separating screen of fiction momentarily blasted away.

Because of Sondheim’s death, the musical component of Here We Are itself was left unfinished (its book is by David Ives, Joe Mantello directs). The songs peter out meaningfully at the beginning of the second act, and from then on we just have the book and attractive underscoring by Jonathan Tunick (Alexander Gemignani oversees musical supervision and additional arrangements). Another intriguing knot to untangle is that this is based on two Luis Buñuel films, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and The Exterminating Angel.

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