Video: HERE WE ARE, the Final Sondheim Musical, Celebrates Opening Night

Hi, Broadway World. I'm Katie Lynch here at the beautiful shed at Hudson Yards for the world premiere of Here We Are

Sondheim's final musical, and I'm going to talk to the cast and creative team after their opening night bow

How does it feel tonight to be here on such a historic evening of Sondheim's last musical

Yeah, it feels incredible. You know, it feels it only feels historic when people say it's historic, but then you

recognize that it is, but, you know, it's just this thing that we made and we get to present it

And it feels amazing that it's his last, and I wish he were here to see it

You know, I think about that every night. You know, there's so many significances and resonances, but I think the most important thing

for me is how extraordinary the piece is, that where his mind was, where his heart and soul

war, what he was focused on in his last days. And there's something in the show even about the

idea of, you know, being there, being there. And then we go. And that's it. And that's what he did

right up to the end So I feel like he I guess very present In my last few years I been around Steve a lot We did Assassins at CSC And I been working on this for seven years I think And I knew it was really good and so Joe Montello and I were always talking about its potential

and the size of it and wanting to do it for no other reason than to give Steve a victory lap

So it feels like we've done that for him. So it feels very successful in that way

I was going to ask, what do you think he would think of the show now? He'd love it

He'd love how weird and wonderful it is. Yeah, he would love it. You kidding? Yeah, absurd, surreal, you know, the politics of it, he would love it

I think what's so special about Sondheim is all of his shows hit me in a different way

depending on what chapter I'm in in my life. And I just can't believe that people get to watch this show and have them hit it in some way

and then at another moment in their life, it's going to hit them somehow differently

It's like a part of this larger legacy. It's part of this new language that Sondheim has kind of created for us

All his gifts, all his puzzles. And if he was here today, what do you think he would think of the show now

Well, we've asked. Of course, our cast has asked all of those questions

and David always says that he'd be laughing out loud in the corner of the room

I think we even saved him a seat during the gala in this performance next to Joe and David And you know Joe Mantella our director said that he reminded us of a quote that Sondheim said

which was, Sacrifice Something Safe. And I think that he did that. He did that with this last show

He really risked something. And I'm proud to be a part of that

you know, from the inside, it's hard for us to, I think, grasp the significance

because we're just working on a play. And he feels like he's in the room

And like all collaborations, we change things. We argue. We edit. We cut

And that was this whole process, the same thing. So it's hard for us to, like, have our heads in the idea that, my God, this is the last musical

I think now that it's open and now that it's in the world and you all have it

that will begin to become a parent to us, and we'll begin to feel that, you know

It's very surreal, really trippy. I mean, I used to, like, go to the library

and get the musicals on CD, you know, and then, like, what do you call it

burn them to a tape. Is that what it was called? No, it wasn't called burning. But I would you know put them onto a tape and then listen to them on a tape deck And so it like it pretty wild that I here doing this I never knew him that well

He did come to see Great Comet and was a big fan. And, of course, we were all incredibly nervous that he was there

And I auditioned on his birthday. So there are like a lot, which is also the same day as Angela Rueber's birthday, which is so trippy

There are many things about it. You know, the show is about the meaning of life, and he passed while making it

And, I don't know, makes me a little steamy. Yeah. If Sondheim were here tonight, what do you think he would think of the show now

Well, because it's frozen, he would have to stop having notes. But I'm sure up until this very last moment, there would have been notes

We wouldn't work it on something. Tidding, you know, tweaking things, as we all are in any tech process

but obviously that's the he is the absence that is very deeply felt

and I mean at the same time so many people who have worked with him and known him

have spoken to how much they felt him in the room and in the rehearsal room and in the theater

and I feel that and I'm grateful and it's I think

and I hope I hope but I also think that we would have made him proud