The dynamic drama of a ’70s rock band recording an album, Stereophonic — “the most Tony-nominated play of all time,” as its posters proudly trumpet — is conveniently set in a single location, the expensive-looking recording studio where the unnamed group spends an inordinate amount of time holed up on top of each other.
The studio is practically a character unto itself, split into two levels: the control room, and, half a floor above and behind soundproof glass, a recording booth vast enough to fit the fictional five-member British-American band.
David Zinn’s massive, wood-grain set earned the scenic designer a Tony Award, contributing to the original 2024 Broadway production’s haul of five wins — including Best Play and Best Direction of a Play for Daniel Aukin — out of 13 nominations.
The studio is snugly installed on the National Theatre stage for Stereophonic‘s nearly month-long run during its national tour. And before Aukin sends the action flowing naturally in and around the studio, before any actor even steps onstage, the impressive set has already revealed quite a lot of story.
The design and decor say California luxury. Clearly, whoever is recording here has already achieved some success with at least one album. Somebody’s deep pockets are paying for this sweet setup, so the artist is probably backed by a major label, and there will be a lot riding on this one.
So we’re off and running before a word is spoken of the snappy script by David Adjmi, or we’ve heard a single one of the band’s songs, all original compositions by former Arcade Fire member Will Butler.
The Sausalito studio, ’70s Cali vibe, and Adjmi’s rippling narrative, propelled by the intramural struggles between the two male-female couples at the core of the band, are strongly Fleetwood Mac-coded. Yet, the appealing pop-rock score, beautifully sung, doesn’t exactly evoke the sound of that legendary hit-making band. (There are a few exceptions, like the number “Drive.”)
As this group is deep in process, writing songs and laying down tracks — a process presented exceptionally well by the show’s sound designer Ryan Rumery and production team — we don’t always hear songs in their entirety. But the album they’re working on could only be enhanced by the moving ballad “Bright,” or rambling rocker “Seven Roads.”
As talented as they are at making beautiful music together, lead guitarist Peter (Denver Milord) and singer Diana (Claire DeJean), singer-keyboardist Holly (Emilie Kouatchou) and bassist Reg (Christopher Mowod) are always embroiled in some manner of passive-aggressive discord, or outright hostility.
Some of it is related to the task of recording this album, while songs off their previous album are steadily climbing the Billboard charts. They’re about to break big. They all know it, and can see it coming as the trappings of fame start to pile up in their way like empty coke baggies. But often, even when their work is the subject on the surface, festering personal matters are the real trigger.
Fifth band member Simon (Cornelius McMoyler), whose wife and kids back in England he hasn’t seen in ages, is good at acting as a buffer between the romantic, or squabbling, pairs. That explains why he’s been put in the role of band manager, which, of course, also forces him right back into the middle of much of the internal conflict.
As the band, and their intrepid young engineers Grover (Jack Barrett) and Charlie (Steven Lee Johnson), the play’s reliable comic Greek chorus, toil day and night, weeks stretch into months, 1976 into 1977. The band’s epic sessions beget an epic play, which, according to the playwright’s program notes, has been edited down to just under 3 hours for the tour.
“It was both a challenge and a delight to pare the play down and get it even sharper and more focused,” Adjmi writes. Still, the length is felt, and that’s certainly part of the point, to experience the challenge and delight of the band’s uphill climb towards the glory of a finished album. Will they make it, or implode in the process? Well, if they can survive the little lies, they could go their own way to living their dreams.
Stereophonic (★★★★☆) runs through March 1, at the National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Tickets start at $49. Call 202-628-6161, or visit broadwayatthenational.com.
The tour continues on to Boston (3/10-15), Durham, N.C. (3/17-22), New Brunswick, N.J. (3/28-29), Kansas City, Mo. (4/7-12), Tampa (4/28-5/3), and Dallas (5/8-10), among other cities. Visit stereophonicplay.com/tour.
The great gay poet and playwright Federico García Lorca made a clear point with the title of his best-known play, The House of Bernarda Alba. Spanish matriarch Bernarda Alba rules her roost with an iron will and a firm hand. In her house, she is the law that must be obeyed by all, including her five adult daughters, all living under her roof.
Her rules likely applied just as rigidly to her second husband Antonio, very recently deceased. With his death, Bernarda only tightens her grip on the household, decreeing an eight-year mourning period, during which none of her daughters shall be allowed to marry. She seals the house in mourning, and intends to trap all her family inside with her.
Dylan Mulvaney, the transgender social media influencer who became a lightning rod during the 2024 Bud Light backlash, is once again in the crosshairs of conservatives.
Mulvaney -- whose acting career took off after starring as Elder White in the national tour of The Book of Mormon -- has been cast as Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, whose failure to bear the king a son ultimately led to her execution, in the Tony-winning Broadway hit Six the Musical.
"Show some royal love to Queen Dylan Mulvaney, who will be joining the #SIXBroadway 5.0 cast as Anne Boleyn," the producers announced last week on social media.
Sixteen years after its debut, Synetic Theater’s movement-driven take on Shakespeare returns with visual bravado, emotional ambition, and mixed romantic heat.
Absorbing and visually enthralling, Synetic's production of Antony and Cleopatra returns after sixteen years, with new leads and gads of the same spine-tingling energy. One of several in their repertoire interpreting Shakespeare through movement, dance, and mime -- but not the spoken word -- it is a strikingly original way to experience the classic play.
It's also exceptionally daring: remove the language and it's all about finding a way to express not just the plot, but the Bard's many interwoven themes. Get it wrong, and it could easily veer towards the cartoonish. And when it comes to this play in particular, the task is especially ambitious with a historical tale that spans the ancient world, embraces numerous battles, zooms in and out of Roman power machinations, and still manages to evoke the passionate affair of the two larger-than-life titular figures.
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