HERE IT IS
The Original Cast Recording of Here We Are, the new musical from David Ives and Stephen Sondheim, will be released on CD and digital platforms worldwide on Friday, May 17, 2024. The album will be available on 2-LP, 180g baby blue vinyl on Friday, September 6 on Concord Theatricals Recordings. And I couldn’t be happier because, if for no other reason, the long exit music was one of Sondheim’s most stellar works.
Preorder the album on CD and vinyl HERE. Watch a sneak preview from the recording session HERE.
The album features the cast of Joe Mantello’s celebrated world premiere production: 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.
Here We Are — inspired by two films, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and The Exterminating Angel by Luis Buñuel — had its world premiere at The Shed’s Griffin Theatre in New York City, which opened on October 22, 2023 and ended its limited engagement on January 24, 2024 after 129 performances. The production was directed by Joe Mantello.
The album is produced by Sean Patrick Flahaven and Bill Rosenfield. Flahaven, who is Chief Theatricals Executive for Concord, worked with Sondheim for 25 years in various musical capacities, including on over a dozen albums, and won a GRAMMY for producing the 2022 Broadway revival cast recording of Into the Woods. Rosenfield is responsible for the original recordings of Sondheim’s Assassins and Putting It Together, as well as over 60 other original cast recordings.
“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. ”It was a privilege and genuine pleasure to record it.”
Here We Are (Original Cast Recording) has music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick, and music supervision and additional arrangements by Alexander Gemignani, conducting a 14-piece orchestra. The album was recorded and mixed by Ian Kagey and mastered by Oscar Zambrano. The album packaging was designed by Derek Bishop.
Album Track List:
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