Stephen Sondheim’s Final Musical, Here We Are, Debuts with a Starry Cast — See an Exclusive First Look

Stephen Sondheim’s last musical, here we arewill have its world premiere in New York on Sunday, and ahead of its Off-Broadway opening, PEOPLE has a first look at Bobby Cannavale, David Hyde Pierce and other members of its star-studded cast in the theater’s anticipated production of the late legend.

Inspired by the films of director Luis Buñuel, 1962 Exterminating Angel and in 1972 Discreet charm of the bourgeoisie, here we are tells the story of a surrealist dinner gone wrong as the show satirically depicts the dark secrets that aristocrats hide behind glamorous facades.

The first of the two acts is said to be an adaptation Exterminating Angelwhile the other is based on Discreet charm of the bourgeoisie.

The cast of ‘Here we are’.

Emilio Madrid

According to Playroomthe musical is about “trying to find a place to have dinner,” Sondheim said before he died at age 91 in November 2021, with the first act dealing with dinnertime interruptions.

The second act focuses on “people who dine and cannot leave”, which was Sondheim’s “cheerful view of the world today”.

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The cast of ‘Here we are’.

Emilio Madrid

The musical stars Emmy winner Cannavala and Emmy and Tony winner Pierce, seen onstage as Leo Brink and Bishop in exclusive PEOPLE images.

Other images also show the rest of the cast, including Francois Battiste as Colonel Martin, Tracie Bennett as Wife, Micaela Diamond as Fritz, Amber Gray as Claudia Bursik-Zimmer, Jin Ha as Soldier, Tony winner Rachel Bay Jones as Marianne Brink, Tony winner Denis O’Hare as Man, Steven Pasquale as Raffael Santello Di Stanticci and Jeremy Shamos as Paul Zimmer.

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The cast of ‘Here we are’.

Emilio Madrid

The production features a book written by David Ives with music and lyrics by Sondheim.

Joe Mantello directs with choreography by Sam Pinkleton, set and costume design by David Zinn, lighting design by Natasha Katz, sound design by Tom Gibbons, orchestration by Jonathan Tunick, music direction and supervision by Alexander Gemignani, and hair design by Wigmaker Associates.

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The cast of ‘Here we are’.

Emilio Madrid

An icon of musical theater, Sondheim wrote music and lyrics for 16 musicals, including A funny thing happened on the way to the forum, nonsense, Pacific overtures, Sunday in the park with George and Road Showwhich marked his last original production while he was still alive.

He also wrote texts for Gypsy and story from the west side.

Currently, revivals of We roll happily (starring Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Tony winner Lindsay Mendez) and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (with Josh Groban and Tony winner Annaleigh Ashford) are running on Broadway. Additionally, Into the forest had a successful run in 2022 and a gender-swapped version Society he ran in 2021. Killersmeanwhile, it was revived Off-Broadway last year.

The cast of ‘Here we are’.

Emilio Madrid

In an extensive interview with Sup of the creation of Sondheim’s latest musical, Mantello said, “His shows are so profound that they really demand that you come to grips with them in some way. And that’s why in some sense what the world makes of Here We Are at this particular moment is irrelevant , at least to me.”

The director added: “I want him to be celebrated and I’d like his work to be appreciated. But in some ways I don’t think we’ll know in 20 years where it fits into the canon of his work.”

here we are officially opens at The Shed’s Griffin Theater on Sunday, October 22. Originally scheduled to run through January 7, 2024, production dates have been extended to January 21.

The cast of ‘Here we are’.

Emilio Madrid

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Source: HIS Education