Stereophonic, the highest Tony-nominated play of all time, has finally opened in Los Angeles. I went into this one entirely blind, only having heard of the play prior to attending. There was a notable amount of buzz among patrons ahead of the performance, with the set plainly visible as everyone took their seats.
The play centers around a Fleetwood Mac-esque band in 1976, just beginning to realize their success. As we enjoy our voyeuristic look into their experience in a Sausalito, California recording studio, we learn alongside them that their music is re-entering the charts and continuing to climb, specifically a song written and performed by one of their standouts, Diana (Claire DeJean), whose timidness and lack of self-assurance nearly makes it unbelievable.
Despite this, it is clear the band is feeling pressure to create another hit. Peter (Denver Milord), the frustrated other standout—think Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham—brings his issues with Diana both in their relationship and professional envy. Even with all of their challenges, the band has creative chemistry that cannot be denied as soon as they all get in the studio and begin recording.
Across four acts, we spend a year with the band, never leaving the studio, watching their recording process and relationships develop. While the band is somewhat dysfunctional due to a considerable amount of personal history and ongoing intertwined lives, we find additional comedy in their two sound engineers who bring frustrated lightheartedness to scenes that feel heavy.
Claire DeJean has an amazing voice, which really resonated in the song “Masquerade.” Her performance as Diana sold the feeling of being a talented person with a severe lack of self-confidence, a feeling that can be all too relatable. The characters I found the most endearing and interesting, however, were not our two superstars, but their chaotic bandmates and notably, the hilariously awkward sound engineers Grover (Jack Barrett) and Charlie (Steven Lee Johnson). The juxtaposition of the serious conversations between bandmates and the youthful and inexperienced conversations between Grover and Charlie made the overall experience more palatable.
They were able to gain a few laughs from an otherwise silent audience, with Barrett delivering a relatable meltdown that had me nearly in tears from laughing. Holly (Emilie Kouatchou), is the other woman in the band, experiencing her own interpersonal challenges and serving as Diana’s confidant in her own relationship woes. Kouatchou wowed the audience with an amazing and heart wrenching monologue on grief in Act III that received a resounding applause.
The set is simultaneously simple and incredibly detailed. We never leave the studio, oddly even when we travel in time and place from Sausalito to Los Angeles, California. The details in the studio are considerable, with enough set dressing to allow your eyes to scan the room periodically as you absorb the music and dialogue. Lighting is heavily used to aid in transition, due to not having any set changes, and it is quite effective in demonstrating a lapse in time as the characters move in and out of the set.
Admittedly, I am not a person who identifies as a fan of plays, as I tend to favor Musical Theater, and I struggled a bit with Stereophonic. The music, written by Will Butler, formerly of indie rock band Arcade Fire was fantastic—when we got to hear it. Such a concept felt that it should have lent to having more music; despite being labeled a play and not a musical, this could be attributed to personal preference. The play itself, written by David Adjmi, offered an extensive amount of dialogue performed in a way that grew to feel natural, with varying emotions, overlapping dialogue, and most notably long and intense silence.
Unsure if it was the dialogue or the Pantages venue itself that made these silences feel like an uncomfortable eternity, hearing every sniffle and Playbill fidgeting for what felt like minutes at times. Direction of dialogue was certainly intentional, but with four acts, the whiplash between comedic moments, large group discussions, and quiet reflection made the show feel a bit like a marathon, from which I was drained by the curtain call.
Overall, the performances were great, and the music was memorable enough to want to revisit again in the car heading home. But the pacing of this show is naturally slow and deliberate, which felt contrasting to the energy of the music, but accurately reflected the tedious nature of the songwriting process in a way that brought the audience into the creative, painful, yet sometimes rewarding experience.
Stereophonic, the 2024 Tony Award-winning Best Play, will performs at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre now through January 2, 2026 as part of a U.S. National Tour. Tickets are available at www.BroadwayInHollywood.com or at www.Ticketmaster.com.
