Here We Are, the final musical written by Stephen Sondheim, will have its script published by Nick Hern Books as the work makes its European premiere at London's National Theatre. Featuring lyrics by Sondheim and a book by David Ives, the script will be available May 22. The publication will also feature a "substantial" essay by Ives about his collaboration with Sondheim.
The book is currently available to pre-order at .
The show begins previews at London's National April 23 ahead of a May 8 opening night. Tony winner Joe Mantello is again directing after staging the work's world premiere at Off-Broadway's The Shed in 2023
The U.K. cast includes Tony winners Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Paul Zimmer, Jane Krakowski as Marianne Brink, and Paulo Szot as Raffael Santello Di Santicci; Chumisa Dornford-May (The Great Comet) as Fritz; Richard Fleeshman (Company) as Soldier; Harry Hadden-Paton (Downton Abbey) as Bishop; Cameron Johnson (Guys and Dolls) as Colonel Martin; Martha Plimpton (Sweat) as Claudia Bursik-Zimmer; and Roy Kinnear (No Time to Die) as Leo Brink. Reprising their work from the Off-Broadway world premiere will be Tracie Bennett (Follies) as Woman and Denis O'Hare as Man. Ensemble and understudies include Edward Baker-Duly, Alastair Brookshaw, Jack Butterworth, Molly Lynch, Amira Matthews, and Steven Serlin. Casting is by Bryony Jarvis-Taylor.
The two-act musical draws inspiration from the Luis Bu帽uel-directed films The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) and The Exterminating Angel (1962), both set at surrealist dinner parties. The musical, Sondheim said, is about 鈥渢rying to find a place to have dinner.鈥� The first deals with interruptions to dinner, the second is about 鈥減eople who have dinner and can鈥檛 leave,鈥� which 鈥渋s my cheerful view of the world today.鈥� The book is by David Ives, and music and lyrics are by Sondheim.
The musical has 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. Here We Are premiered at The Shed in 2023, with a cast that included Rachel Bay Jones, David Hyde Pierce, Bobby Cannavale, Micaela Diamond, Amber Gray, Jeremy Shamos, Steven Pasquale, Jin Ha, and Francois Battiste.
Mantello has reassembled his Off-Broadway creative team for the London bow, with set and costume designer David Zinn, choreographer Sam Pinkleton, lighting designer Natasha Katz, and sound designer Tom Gibbons all reprising their work. The musical features orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick and additional arrangements by Alexander Gemignani, who conducted the Off-Broadway premiere. Nigel Lilley will conduct the London production.
Tickets are available at .
