Photo: Emilio Madrid
By Brian Scott Lipton
Here we are indeed, at the day many of us dreaded: Watching the last musical for which the late, great Stephen Sondheim composed an original score. Or in the case of “Here We Are,” now having its world premiere at The Shed, watching an inventive, ambitious, brilliantly acted musical without a full score by the master – and with almost every note confined to the mostly jaunty act.
But sing no sad requiem, because what’s here is choice – echoing both melodically and thematically many of Sondheim’s past scores, including “Company,” “Passion” and “Into the Woods,” and reminding us (as if we needed it) of his gift for creating ultra-clever rhymes and allowing his characters to express overwhelming feelings through song. That said, these are not tunes you are likely to hear in any upcoming cabaret act; they flow organically from David Ives’ script, sounding more like dialogue set to music than a stand-alone showstopper. Continue reading...
