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Why Mickey-Jo is excited about the Sondheim musical Here We Are at London's National Theatre
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Mickey Jo
Honestly, I thought there was no way they were ever going to be able to assemble a more exciting company of performers than they got for the Off Broadway premiere of this show. But here we are. Oh my God. Hey, welcome back to my theatre themed YouTube channel. My name is Mickey Jo and I am obsessed with all things theatre. Specifically today I am obsessed with the newly announced cast of the upcoming European premiere, the National Theatre production of Stephen Sondheim and David I've's musical here. Here We Are Auspicious because it is the last ever musical for which Stephen Sondheim, the legendary composer, lyricist Stephen Sondheim composed the score, which garnered it an awful lot of attention when it premiered last year Off Broadway at the Shed in New York. In 2025 it will receive its UK and European premiere at the National Theater with a couple of the cast members from that original production returning and a whole bunch of new stars joining them. Today we are going to be talking through this newly announced cast why it is so exciting. For those of you who anticipating the show, looking forward to it, I'm going to let you know a little of what to expect as well as some suggested homework that it may be a good idea to do in advance. And since I don't believe it's been announced who is playing who, we're going to talk through the roles that I believe each of these performers is attached to. I'm like 90% sure about this now. I'm sure many of you have thoughts and feelings about this upcoming production. Let us know in the comments section down below. If you've had the joy of seeing any of these performers on stage before. Let me know which ones and which shows you've seen them in. In the meantime, here are my thoughts on the newly announced cast of Here We Are. So first of all, a little bit of context about this show. This was heavily rumored before it was announced. This is something that Sondheim had been working on in the years before his passing a few years ago. Its basis is in two films by Louis Spinuel, first the Exterminating angel from 1962, and the other being the Discrete Charm of the bourgeoisie from 1972. Here we are as described as a tragicomedy about a group of friends. I would say a group of friends and a handful of additional acquaintances who experience friction at a luxurious villa. Here is how the National Theater describes the show. They say it is a perfect day for brunch. Leo and Marianne Brink have found the ideal spot to take their friends. With great reviews, impeccable service and an extensive menu. It seems like nothing could go wrong. But after a series of strange events interrupt their meal, they soon realize they've bitten off more than they can chew. That's really only the introductory concept for the show that ventures subsequently to many unexpected and unusual places, and also simultaneously nowhere, really. It is heavily abstract. It is probably the closest, in terms of other Sondheim shows to something like A Sunday in the park with George, where it's heavily contemplative. But in terms of the narrative structure, even Sunday has more of a narrative structure than Here We Are. There's a significant disparity between the two acts, and the show's relationship to its score is also a very unique one, because there's a moment where the music stops, which is strikingly profound because, you know, it speaks to Sondheim and this unfinished score and him having not had the chance to complete it. And then, you know, we find music again, ultimately, but enduringly. What I describe this as what I think it's more accurate to call this, rather than a full book musical, comparable to the other works of Stephen Sondheim. The celebrated canon of Stephen Sondheim is a David Ives play featuring some Sondheim music. It doesn't feel like a full theatrical score, and not unlike some of his later shows like Roadshow, which I'm actually seeing this week, by the way, and Passion. It's not his most compelling work. There are themes within it and there is familiarity of shows like Sunday. And as a lover of Sondheim music and his work, you can go and you can certainly hear things, and there is novelty in that and there is joy to be had in that. But I. I don't know if I could tell you that there is any strong, particular individual song that emerges. People have disagreed with me about this and certainly there have been different responses to this show. It was received quite well critically in New York. There was some difference of opinion there. I did not enjoy it, largely because I went in with the wrong sense of expectation. I was hoping for another brilliant, full Sondheim musical, and that inherently is not what this is. And so I think setting that expectation is key here in terms of enjoying it on its own terms. But the New York Times, which gave it a critics pick, called it cool and impossibly chic. And this production coming to the National Theatre, we're not quite sure if this is a direct transfer or a new production with the same director, Jay Mantello. In fact, the rest of the creatives are also the same David Zinn doing the Set and costume design, Sam Pinkleton choreographing Natasha Katz's lighting, etc. All of which would imply that we are expecting to see the same production, which was a fascinating production. This disparity between the absence of set and then a very ornate and detailed one, these very characterful costumes, bold uses of overwhelming lighting and almost total darkness. It would imply that we're going to see that same production. Though there was some wording when this was first announced to suggest that this was a new production. It is being produced by Tom Kadai, Sue Wagner, John Johnson and the Stephen Sondheim Trust and co produced with the National Theatre where it will be being performed. I think the first Sondheim premiere at the National Theatre since perhaps Sunday in the park with George first came to the UK at that venue decades back. That isn't to say there hasn't been Sondheim at the National. Of course, a gorgeous revival of Follies was mounted twice there a few years back. And this is going to be in the Lyttelton Theatre. If you don't know, the national has three different auditoria, their largest being the Olivier. That's where Follies was. The Littleton being the middle of the three. It's not the smallest space. This is where Angels in America was staged with Andrew Garfield starring. And it's a stage with great capabilities. It's very wide. There is no reason that we. We shouldn't necessarily see the audacious production that they mounted at the Shed. Anyway, that is what we know about the show so far and there's a little bit of an overview about it if you want to know more about my particular response to it and how that didn't necessarily align with the critical consensus. I made another, perhaps controversial video talking about that. I am optimistic, however, now that I better understand the show, now that my expectations are set in a different place. Now I know what it is going into it and now that you know, I've realized it's probably a good idea to watch this two Manuel films beforehand. I'm. I'm hopeful that I will be able to appreciate it on its own terms and give it a fair review this time around. I didn't officially review it when I saw it in New York because it was in previews. I'm very excited to go and form a coherent critical response this time around, one that is free of the weight of expectation of the last ever Sondheim musical. That's far too much for a show to contend with, I think. Anyway, we're here to talk about the casting. So let's talk about it. First of all, we have two performers from the Off Broadway run reprising their roles, the first of which is not a surprise. Tracy Bennett Tracey being a British actress, I think the only British company member who did the show over in New York, she was in that production of Follies at the National Theatre. I don't think that's the only Sondheim that she's ever done, but we've seen her in a great many other fantastic stage roles here in the uk. She had tremendous acclaim for her performance as Judy Gar Garland in the play over the Rainbow. That play became the Judy Garland biopic film starring Renee Zellweger. Prior to that, she was already, I believe, a two time Olivier Award winner for her performances in she Loves Me and later as Velma von Tussel in the original West End cast of Hairspray. We've seen her more recently as Mrs. Henderson and Mrs. Henderson presents in Mame at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester. Oh, she did merrily in 1984 in Manchester. Wow. Anyway, she will be returning to the company of Here We Are alongside returning cast member Denis O'Hare, known for his work on stage and on screen. A Tony Award winner for his performance in the Broadway play Take Me out, he has also been seen in Broadway productions of Cabaret and Sweet Charity and he's done Sondheim before. He played Charles Guiteau in the Broadway revival of the musical Assassins in the early 2000s. Wouldn't it be lovely if between this company, almost every Sondheim musical is represented somewhere? We're doing quite well so far. We already have Foley's Merrily and Assassins, as well as, of course, the previous production of Here We Are. That effort is not necessarily helped, however, by the next cast member, who I believe was the next to be announced when the show was revealed for the National Theatre's 2024-2025 season. I am talking about Rory Kinnear and previously when I spoke about this, I said that this might be his musical theatre debut. That yes and no is the answer to that because he was in the National Theatre's production of the Threepenny Opera. It wasn't all singing or dancing from his perspective in quite the same, you know, opera versus musical. We can have a conversation about that as well, but honestly, neither is this production necessarily. Now, I am assuming he is going to be playing the role that Bobby Canavale played in the original Off Broadway production, a character called Leo Brink, probably one of the Two largest roles in the show, the other being his wife, Marianne. Now, Rory has done a lot of work at the National Theater. He's done a lot of Shakespeare throughout his career. He's done a lot of esteemed plays at esteemed theaters, most notably perhaps playing Iago in a production of A Othello directed by Nicholas Heitner at the National. And he's a fantastic, deeply compelling actor. And his involvement in this, he kind of feels like an ambassador on behalf of the British theatre scene to this production, and he feels like, you know, the National Theatre representative in this company. Next, let's talk about that character of Marianne, originally played Off Broadway by Rachel Bay Jones, who I believe is going to be played in London by the luminous Jane Krakowski, another Tony Award winner, possibly from my perspective, the most exciting name on this press release. Jane has been seen in the West End before. She was hugely celebrated for her performance as Miss Adelaide in a production of Guys and Dolls around two decades ago, and she has also been a Broadway veteran. She is currently appearing off Broadway in a play called Shit Meet Fan at mcc, which has an extraordinarily exciting cast. But previous to that, she's been seen on Broadway in musicals like she Loves Me and Nine, where she won a Tony Award for her performance back in the day in Starlight Express and in a revival of Company. Now, what's funny about this is she played April in Company, and we're going to hear a little bit of an unexpected link with that character later on as I talk through this company. But I am so intrigued to see Jane Krakowski play this role. There is similarity, for sure, between her and the exquisite Rachel Bay Jones, who I thought was the shining light of this production when it premiered at the Shed. But there are many differences in their delivery as well. Traditionally, Jane is less frequently quite as sincere, quite as earnest as we see Rachel Bay Jones being, as we saw her be in this show. So I'm hugely intrigued about what her performance is going to look like. I am deeply excited. Next up, another unexpected addition to this cast, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who I am assuming will be playing the charming role played by David Hyde Pierce, who was the bishop. I'm basing that assumption really just on type and of, you know, Jesse Tyler Ferguson being a very well known and celebrated performer, certainly one of the bigger star names, I think, in this cast, and that is one of the more emerging roles. He is perhaps best known to audiences for his work on Modern Family, but before and since then, he has been seen on the Broadway stage. He was in the original cast of the 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. More recently, he was in a revival of Hear me Out. Do we think he was playing the same role as Denis O'Hare? I don't know that play, but he also got the Tony Award just like Dennis did. I'm gonna have to look into this now. I don't believe he's done Sondheim before, but I can absolutely see him doing the David Hyde Pierce part in this show. That's gotta be what he's doing. Yes. Yes. He played the same role as Dennis O'Hea. Well, they'll have lots to talk about. There you go. Carrying on through this cast list. I believe the role of Fritz, who was originally played by Mikayla diamond, is the one that is going to be played by Chamisa Dawnford May, a hugely exciting rising star who is currently appearing as the titular role of Natasha in Natasha Pierre and the great comet of 18 for that show's European premiere at the Donmar Warehouse that is opening this very week in London. I'm very excited to go and see it myself, but I've been following her career for some time now. Listen, go and re watch my review of Evita at the Leicester Curve to hear me say what an exciting talent I think she is. She played the mistress in that production and sang the song Another Suitcase in another hall. Subsequently, she's been seen on stage in that concert production of the Addams Family at the London Palladium. She was for a time, I believe, alternate Christine Daae in the Phantom of the Opera. Chamisa now heading to the National Theatre to be part of the last ever Stephen Sondheim musical. Very exciting for her. She is a star truly on the rise. And this is. This is really exciting to see. This is a character I had distinct mixed feelings about in the original production. I'm so intrigued to see how I feel about it with a completely different performer. Moving on. Another of my favorites has been announced for this company. Martha Plimpton is going to be a part of this show. I think she's playing the Amber Gray role. This was Claudia Bersick Zimmer. And based on the nature of that character and on process of elimination, I'm pretty sure that that's what she's going to be giving us in London. Martha Plimpton has been seen on stage mostly in plays, but also in musicals. She was in the Broadway revival of Pal Joey. She's been seen on the British stage in other desert cities at the Old Fick, which I saw her in as well as in as yous like it at Soho Place, which I also saw her in. I'm a big fan of Martha Plimpton. I think she's terrific and she makes perfect sense for this show. Actually. I think there's a place in most Sondheim musicals for terrific dramatic actors who have some musical theatre experience, but particularly in this one, which is so play heavy and so abstract. Also seen on Broadway in Top Girls, in A Delicate Balance, in the coast of Utopia, of course, also known for her work on screen. Again, I don't think Martha Plimpton has done a Sondheim before, but there are several Sondheims I would like her to do after this because she really makes a lot of sense for it. Next up, another exciting addition to this company, the internationally renowned performer Paulo Schott, most recently seen on Broadway as in the original Broadway cast of and Juliet. He is truly an international star. He has been seen on stages around the world, in Australia, in South America, where he's from. He's been to London before. He was Olivier Award nominated for transferring with South Pacific. When that came over from Lincoln center, he reprised his role as Emile Dubeck. And I am assuming that he is going to be playing the role of Raphael Santelo Di Santichi, a particularly fun character who was played off Broadway by Stephen Pasquale. I'm trying to Google to find out if he's done any Sondheim, but if you Google Pallo Shot Sondheim, then you just get a lot of stuff about Anne Juliet because that continues to play on Broadway at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. I mean, he's sung Being Alive at a concert venue before, but who among us has not? Next up, another actor who played the same role at both the Lincoln center in New York and then when the show transferred to London. I'm talking about Harry Haddon Payton, who played Henry Higgins in a revival of My Fair lady, best known perhaps for his screen work for his roles in the Crown as well as Downton Abbey. He's done a lot of dramatic theatre in the past, but not a huge amount of musical theatre. He's been in Flare Path. He's been in she Stoops to Conquer. He's been in the Pride. He's been in the Importance of Being Earnest in Romeo and Juliet in the King's Speech at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. Another one who I don't think has necessarily done any Sondheim musicals before, but I'm pretty sure he's going to be playing the role that was played Off Broadway by Jeremy Shamos. His character is the husband of Amber Gray's character. His name is Paul, Paul Zimmer. And honestly, I could also see him in the David Hyde Pierce role, but I could less readily see Jesse Tyler Ferguson playing Paul. So I think it probably is that way around. Unless he's swapping with Rory Kinnear, which I also don't think is happening. If I'm the casting director, this is. This is where I'm putting everyone. I'm willing to put money on these being the right answers. Now we have only two characters left. One of them is a soldier, the other one is a colonel. The soldier, the younger of the two, I believe, is going to be played by Richard Fleeschman. He has done a Sondheim musical before because he was in the Marianne Elliott, conceived, directed, gender flipped revival of Company when it was first performed here at the Gielgud Theatre in the West End. I say here at the Gielgud Theatre. I'm not currently sat in the Gielgud Theatre. I meant here in the uk. You know what I mean? But what's fun about this is he played, I think he was called Andy, right? He was called Andy. This was the gender swapped version of April, the role played in the mid-90s by Jane Krakowski. I hope that someone points that out to the two of them or that they reveal that to each other, because that's a really fun and unusual thing to have in common. If you were to stand Jane Krakowski and Richard Fleeschman next to each other, you would see how unexpected it is for these two to have a role in common. Now, that is not the only time we have seen him in a musical. He was in the original cast of Ghost. He's also been in a bunch of other stage productions. He's also worked extensively on screen. He was in Guys and Dolls. He's done a lot of, like, British soap series. Oh. He was recently seen as Shakespeare in the concert production of the musical Something Rotten. He was in the original UK production of Urinetown, starring in as Bobby Strong. He's a fantastic performer. He's deeply charming. He recently became a father, I think, for the first time with his partner, Celinda Schoenmacher, who is also a celebrated performer. She was, of course, recently seen as Sarah Brown in the Bridge Theater production of Guys and Dolls, co starring with the last member of the Here We Are company, Cameron Johnson. He's actually done a lot of musical theater in his past. Prior to that production of Guys and Dolls. Where he played Big Julie. He's played Big Julie in a previous production of Guys and Dolls. He was seen in Billy Elliot at the Leicester Curve. He tour and in Los Angeles in Everybody's Talking About Jamie. He's done high society, he's done fame, he's done five guys named Mo. An extensive musical theater background, making him just one of the very exciting names attached to this production. I am thrilled about this casting. This is pedigree casting in every sense of the word and it's bringing in so many performers of different backgrounds. There are many who are more known for their dramatic work, but who have done a sprinkling of musical theatre here and there. We have some out and out musical theatre stars like Jane Krakowski. We have some like musical theater returns after a long time. There are so many exciting facets of this. And then alongside these brilliant, celebrated, award nominated and winning veterans, you have Chamisa, this brilliant rising star. I just think this is such an exciting cast. There is Sondheim history in there as well. For me to have had a less than positive experience when I last saw this show in New York and to still be this excited about the prospect of seeing it again, that says a lot about how brilliant this casting is. And I will absolutely be at the National Theatre to go and check it out out for myself. Stay tuned for more coverage of this show and hopefully a full review video here on YouTube. Do you have tickets? Are you planning on going? How could you not? Listen, look at this casting. What I will say is, you know, if you are more of a musical theater person, if you're someone who maybe feels a little more reluctant when it comes to abstract plays, I know that I do just be aware of that going into the thing. I'm super intrigued to find out how it will be received by the British press. I think probably they're going to be even more positive about it than they were in New York, but we will have to wait and see on that front. In the meantime, that is the cast, those are the roles I think that they are playing. But feel free to disagree with me in the comments and let me know what you think about this show. Thank you so much for watching this video. I hope that you've enjoyed, I hope that it's been informative and I hope you're as excited as I am to see Here we are at the National Theatre. I also hope that everyone is staying safe and that you have a stagey day. For 10 more seconds, I'm Mickey Jo Theatre. Oh, my God. Hey, thanks for Watch watching. Have a stagey day. 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