Final Sondheim Musical Here We Are Releases Cast Album May 17; Watch David Hyde Pierce Perform 'Bishop's Song' | Playbill

Cast Recordings & Albums Final Sondheim Musical Here We Are Releases Cast Album May 17; Watch David Hyde Pierce Perform 'Bishop's Song'

Bobby Cannavale, Micaela Diamond, Amber Gray, and more starred in the Off-Broadway world premiere at The Shed.

The previously announced cast recording of Stephen Sondheim's final musical Here We Are releases on CD and for streaming and digital purchase May 17 via Concord Theatricals Recordings. A two-LP release is set to follow September 6. Both physical editions are available here.

Watch David Hyde Pierce perform "Bishop's Song" from the Stephen Sondheim score above.

The album is produced by Sean Patrick Flahaven and Bill Rosenfield.

“This show is Steve’s final gift to us all, a brilliant, hilarious, and always inventive collaboration with playwright David Ives and director Joe Mantello, performed by an incredible cast and band,” said Flahaven and Rosenfield in an earlier joint statement. ”It was a privilege and genuine pleasure to record it.”

The musical opened its world-premiere engagement Off-Broadway at The Shed October 22, 2023, finishing up its 129-performance run January 21.

The starry cast, all of whom recorded their performances for the album, featured Francois Battiste, Tracie Bennett, Bobby Cannavale, Micaela Diamond, Amber Gray, Jin Ha, Rachel Bay Jones, Denis O'Hare, Steven Pasquale, Pierce, and Jeremy Shamos.

The two-act musical draws inspiration from the Luis Buñuel-directed films The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) and The Exterminating Angel (1962), both set at surrealist dinner parties. The musical, Sondheim previously said, is about “trying to find a place to have dinner.” The first act deals with the interruptions to dinner. The second is about “people who have dinner and can’t leave,” which “is my cheerful view of the world today,” said the late maestro. The book is by David Ives, and music and lyrics are by Sondheim.

The album was recorded and mixed by Ian Kagey and mastered by Oscar Zambrano. Derek Bishop designed the album packaging.

See the full track list below:

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

The musical had been in the works since at least 2014 and was developed by The Public Theater in 2016. In 2021, The New York Times reported that Sondheim and Ives had abandoned the project, but conflicting reports in the months after reported that the pair was not done with the idea. Sondheim died in 2021, but reportedly sanctioned a staging of the musical and considered his compositional work on the project completed before his passing.

The Off-Broadway production featured choreography by Sam Pinkleton, set and costume design by David Zinn, lighting design by Natasha Katz, sound design by Tom Gibbons, orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick, music direction and supervision by Alexander Gemignani, hair design by Wigmakers Associates, and casting by The Telsey Office. Tom Kirdahy, Sue Wagner, John Johnson, and The Stephen Sondheim Trust produced, with Oscar Arce serving as associate producer. The Shed was the production's co-presenter.

Check Out Photos of Here We Are At The Shed

 
Today’s Most Popular News:
 X

Blocking belongs
on the stage,
not on websites.

Our website is made possible by
displaying online advertisements to our visitors.

Please consider supporting us by
whitelisting playbill.com with your ad blocker.
Thank you!