Stephen Sondheim may have died in November 2021, but, even from the grave, it’s still his time. The legendary composer has one last show to put together: His long-fabled collaboration with David Ives, Square One, will premiere in September at the Shed’s Griffin Theater. Now titled Here We Are, the show takes on two of Luis Buñuel’s films, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and The Exterminating Angel. Joe Mantello is joining as director because no Ives is alone. On July 17, the stars of the show were officially announced, though their roles are still unknown. The cast includes Bronx Bombers’ Francois Battiste, End of the Rainbow’s Tracie Bennett, The Motherfucker With the Hat’s Bobby Cannavale, Parade’s Micaela Diamond, Hadestown’s Amber Gray, Hamilton replacement Jin Ha, Dear Evan Hansen’s Rachel Bay Jones, Assassin’s Denis O’Hare, The Bridges of Madison County’s Steven Pasquale, Applause’s David Hyde Pierce, and Clybourne Park’s Jeremy Shamos.
Sondheim publicly discussed the show all the way back in 2014 with The New Yorker. “I’m writing with a playwright named David Ives, and he makes me want to write,†he said. The show was workshopped in 2016 at the Public Theater, but, in April 2021, the New York Times reported that it was no longer in development. Then, in September of that year, Sondheim told Stephen Colbert he was still working on the show. Please, God Sondheim, we need this now, later, and soon.
This post has been updated.