• Stereophonic

1/5/25 (Sun), Broadway

I had hesitated to see this widely praised show, the most Tony-nominated play in history, because of the obscene fees tacked on to the ticket price on some sites. I eventually managed to find something closer to reasonable as the date got closer, but the whole process is exhausting. Worse, I overheard the guy directly behind me saying that he got his ticket for an even lower price for essentially the same seat. Something doesn’t feel right about that.

The show, set in a Sausalito recording studio in the 1970s, is about the making of an album by a newly formed band combining a three-person British rock group with an American duo. That sounds an awful lot like Fleetwood Mac, though the writer denies it. In any case, the show not only covers the mechanics of creating an album but the dynamics among the players, where relationships already on the edge are being further frayed by the clash of egos. The problem is that musicians may be artists but are human too, and the ideal of leaving one’s musical mark for posterity can jar with the ephemeral emotional needs of the people involved.

Peter, the American singer, is a perfectionist with a distinct lack of tact, whose cutting remarks, aimed solely at making great music, can cause unintended pain to his less confident cohorts, especially his singing/writing/romantic partner Diana. Two of the Brits are a couple whose marriage is in a parlous state, while the other hasn’t seen his wife and kids in three years when the project unexpectedly extended. Caught in the middle are the main engineer, who lied about his experience to get the job, and his assistant, who walks a fine line trying to get along with everyone.

The masterful set shows the engineers and their equipment in one room, with the recording itself taking place behind a glass wall, the scene shifts accomplished mainly through the lighting. The physical production can be super detailed, such as intricate fine-tuning of the drums or slight adjustments in pitch to achieve just the right sound, subtle changes that aren’t readily noticeable to us amateurs, at least in the theater. Still, that’s what makes the difference between good and great, and that process is fascinating.

The relationships are not only among lovers but among the creators in general, with the engineers getting caught up as well. The main engineer becomes so frustrated after one tongue-lashing by Peter that he says he “just wants his Grammy” and will never work with the musician again – words that come to haunt him when he learns more about why he was hired. All of that is forgotten when the fragments of the song gradually come together into a finished piece, especially in a thrilling Act II closer where the band, in a “Rain in Spain” moment, plays their song to perfection.

The songs, by rocker Will Butler, are amazingly good for a non-musical. They are extremely well crafted in the style of the 1970s, as if they were taken directly from the vaults of Fleetwood Mac outtakes. The lyrics didn’t seem particularly tied to the story other than possibly the final song, nor should they be. The songs aren’t intended to forward the story or express character; they’re simply the products of an album. That makes it difficult to compared with other musicals, where the songs play a different role. Still, I wish more modern Broadway music was of this caliber.

The dialogue is so utterly natural that it hardly seems crafted, including overlapping conversations that sometimes blur each other out. The talk can be trivial and not immediately relevant to the story, which drags things out considerably. I’m sure this is meant to establish character and give the story depth, but it can feel like padding, testing our patience at times. While undoubtedly catnip to critics, the technique is not always audience-friendly. I felt the show could be considerably shorter than its three-hour running time (longer with intermission).

The cast was uniformly excellent. Amy Forsyth (a replacement) stood out as the fragile Diana, and I think it was Tony-winner Will Brill who did the hilarious drunken monologue about houseboats. Still, the cast was as much of a piece as the album that they’re making and deserve some sort of ensemble award.

I’m not sure I’d sit through the show again given its unnecessary length (not to mention the avaricious pricing), but I’m glad I caught it in its final weeks. A unique and interesting show.