STEPHEN SONDHEIM’S FINAL MUSICAL
NOW AVAILABLE AT
THE NEW YORK LIBRARY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS’
THEATRE ON FILM AND TAPE ARCHIVE
The world premiere production of Here We Are, the new musical from David Ives and Stephen Sondheim that debuted at The Shed’s Griffin Theater in 2023, was filmed by the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (TOFT) at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, and added to its collection. The complete show was filmed by TOFT in December of 2023 and is now available and free to view by anyone with a library card. (Here We Are opened on October 22, 2023 at The Shed and performed its final show on January 21, 2024.)
Here We Are is directed by two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello, and features Francois Battiste, Tracie Bennett, Bobby Cannavale, Micaela Diamond, Amber Gray, Jin Ha, Rachel Bay Jones, Denis O’Hare, Steven Pasquale, David Hyde Pierce, and Jeremy Shamos.
The musical features a book by Tony Award nominee David Ives, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and is inspired by two films, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and The Exterminating Angel, by Luis Buñuel.
Here We Are includes choreography by Sam Pinkleton, set design and costume design by David Zinn, lighting design by Natasha Katz, sound design by Tom Gibbons, orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick, music supervision and additional arrangements by Alexander Gemignani, hair design by Robert Pickens and Katie Gell, and casting by The Telsey Office.
Oscar Arce serves as Associate Producer.
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts is dedicated to enhancing access to its rich archives of dance, theater, music, and recorded sound—to amplify all voices and support the creative process. As one of The New York Public Library’s renowned research centers—and one of the world’s largest collections solely focused on the performing arts—the library’s materials are available free of charge, along with a wide range of special programs, including exhibitions, seminars, film screenings and performances. The collection at the Library for the Performing Arts includes upwards of 8 million items, notable for their extraordinary range and diversity—from 11th-century music, to 20th-century manuscripts, to contemporary hip-hop dance.
Since 1970, the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (TOFT) has preserved live theatrical productions and documented the creative contributions of distinguished artists and legendary figures of the theatre. With the consent and cooperation of the theatrical unions and each production’s artistic collaborators, TOFT produces professionally-shot video recordings of Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional theatre productions, as well as dialogues between notable theatre personalities.
photos by Emilio Madrid
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
For all us Sondheim and theatre lovers, this is wonderful!!
That’s not fair… only people who live or pay taxes on property in NY can get a card to access this at this library. (I understand the concept of how public library cards work– I’ve been a librarian in a public library.) It’s not fair that so many people won’t be able to see this special show because it’s only available at this library.