STEREOPHONIC Previews

Recording session in progress… take two.

On the heels of a smash-hit engagement at Playwrights Horizons, David Adjmi’s play Stereophonic makes its way to Broadway. Previews begin tomorrow night (April 2) at the John Golden Theatre, before an April 19 official opening. The ensemble piece features Will Brill, Andrew R. Butler, Juliana Canfield, Eli Gelb, Tom Pecinka, Sarah Pidgeon, and Chris Stack. Stereophonic features several original songs by Will Butler (formerly of the Grammy-winning group Arcade Fire); Daniel Aukin directs the limited run, set to play on through July 7.

“Stereophonic mines the agony and the ecstasy of creation as it zooms in on a music studio in 1976. Here, an up-and-coming rock band recording a new album finds itself suddenly on the cusp of superstardom. The ensuing pressures could spark their breakup — or their breakthrough. Written by David Adjmi, directed by Daniel Aukin, and featuring original music by Arcade Fire’s Will Butler, Stereophonic invites the audience to immerse themselves — with fly-on-the-wall intimacy — in the powder keg process of a band on the brink of blowing up.”

Who’s got a trip booked for the studio?

I'm going on the 13th. I really wish I could catch it tomorrow but thems the breaks. I'm hoping to see it more than once and splurge for a better seat next time because getting to see if from the second row at Playwrights was primo and this time I'm so far away (;-;).

First preview, so it makes sense that it was slightly overlong. Telecharge says 3:05, including intermission.

I was also there tonight, I think it started around 5 minutes late and pretty much ended at 10:20 on the dot, though the audience kept applauding long enough after the cast left the stage that Chris Stack (and a couple other actors) came back to wave at us and to gesture that everyone else had already left.

I liked this show a lot at Playwrights but I can safely say that I absolutely love it now, and the cast album is probably the one that I'm looking forward to the most this season (I heard multiple people humming the last song on the way out). I don't think they changed anything in the script but I think it flowed a little tighter and there might've been some costuming differences (I feel like there were outfits I didn't recognize from before, but I could also be wrong). I think there were a few sound balance issues early on (dialogue not being quite loud enough and the first song seemed a little overly loud), but the levels were quickly adjusted so props to the sound crew.

The stage is somewhat high, so I'd recommend avoiding the first five rows or so (I was row K in the orchestra which was practically perfect). The audience tonight was VERY receptive, and yes it was a first preview, but I do think this will have excellent word of mouth (if it didn't already). I saw everyone come out of stage door except Tom Pecinka and they were all quite happy to sign and take photographs (though they didn't have pens ready so I'd recommend bringing your own Sharpie to stage door just in case).

Anyways, really really wonderful show, don't let the long runtime deter you--it's a beautiful work about some amazing characters.

I could have sat through another two hours of this.

We got tote bags as a first preview gift which are nice and have the logo and "wheres the bag?" on them

Just wonderful work, unless Mother Play ends up being a huge homerun I think this play has Best Play locked up, the audience was just super tuned in.

I would caution people not to sit in the rear mezz, it is obstructed and the higher up you sit the more of the recording booth you will miss/be blocked by lights

Merch was excellent as well, three shirts (two reference the play), a tray for rolling blunts and a gold zippo lighter, enamel pin, magnet and a beer glass from the bar that is referenced throughout the play (windowcards are coming post opening)

Will Butler was super nice if you spot him feel free to say hello he seems to absolutely be loving the experience, and yes everyone signed but seemed surprised by the large stagedoor crowd and didn't have pens (Tom signed for a few people but seemed to be a little lowkey)

Don't let the run time scare you SEE THIS PLAY

Updated On: 4/3/24 at 11:59 PM

This was a 10/10 for me. Impeccable. If I could go back tomorrow, I would; if they decided to make a 4-hour sequel that followed these characters a year later and give us Stereophonic: Parts I and II, I'd throw my money at that so fast and have the best two-show day.

All its elements came together beautifully and made it better than the sum of its parts, and it's got some very fine parts. The world and characters felt lived-in and real, it's smoothly directed, and the design's as detailed as it gets. The whole production is rich enough that spending 3 hours in it is more of a treat than a burden—how lucky that we get 3 hours of great theatre in one night! The whole cast is giving finely-tuned performances. Sarah Pidgeon wowed me the most, but I'd also give special shout-outs to Eli Gelb, Will Brill, and Juliana Canfield. If I'd quibble with one thing, it's that some of the scenes in the second act fell flatter for me when they got more on-the-nose. But that's a marginal quibble. And while I was conscious of the fact that this was a long show while I was sitting through it, I didn't mind.

Score is, and sounded, fantastic. I appreciated their choices of how much of the songs to give us. When to play a snippet, how many takes to include, when to give us a full song and hear how the band comes together. How they use the songs feels right for the plot, and they never sacrifice the realistic feel by overindulging us. Can anyone confirm that

Agreed that people should avoid sitting too close. I was in the fourth row and while I didn't mind the neck craning too much, there were times when the actors would block each other—the two engineers spend a good amount of the recording sessions sitting down by the equipment while the band records in the booth, which is elevated, and sometimes the two of them would block band members. Hardly an issue, and I liked being up close, but you'd be better off further back.

Same! Just snagged an online rush ticket for tonight. Thanks for the reviews everybody!

What row would have been the sweet spot for you? Also row J or back?

Miss10036 said: "Can anyone confirm that

Answering your spoilered question in another spoiler box:

Also Julianna Canfield mentioned in an interview that the actors played as the opening band for Will Butler's album release party last year, does anyone know if there's video or anything from that? She did say there were probably only around 40 or so people in attendance so I suppose it was a fairly small crowd.

I'm so late but I think after having a good night rest to go over it in my head, I really enjoyed it. I feel like the first 30-40 minutes dragged, but after that it was very enjoyable. I was so invested in the relationships between all of the characters, and I found Peter's scene towards the end to be especially impactful and really tied up a lot of his relationships with others. Eli Gelb was Glover really stood out to me- he had great timing, and amazing expressions, and turned out to be my favorite character even though he wasn't an official member of the band. I can't wait to see how this gets critically received, also the tote bags were a neat treat!

P.S. Don't sit anywhere past rear mezz row B. Their heads are cut off in the recording studio and you will miss a fair enough amount. All of those seats should definitely have some kind of disclaimer on them. Likely there will be changes, a group of people from the crew/cast were writing notes near me and relocated themselves for the second act.

honestly, no one in the show is a huge star with potential scheduling conflicts and its not something that will sell off of just one person in the show, if it really hits and picks up the right awards I could see this getting several extensions

^ the tickets start at $40 and they have a $30 rush, how much more of a discount can you ask for?

Oh no this scares me, I got a ticket to read mezz row E, and looking at available seats now I’d be paying triple to sit row B or closer. Can anyone chime in, is the view that bad that I should look into exchanging? Thank you



update: I exchanged for front mezz row B that brought the ticket from 40 to 120, but I’m really excited for this show so it wasn’t worth the risk I guess

Updated On: 4/4/24 at 10:31 AM