Grover (Eli Gelb, left) and Charlie (Andrew R. Butler) hang out as the band sets up in the Playwrights Horizons production of Stereophonic.
A huge audio console occupies center stage in the Playwrights Horizons’ unhurried and precisely observed world premiere of Stereophonic. This makes sense not only because all of the action is set within the close confines of a music studio, but also because it is an apt metaphor for what playwright David Adjmi and songwriter Will Butler have in mind. Their musical drama chronicles a year in the life of a rock band and its tech team as they go about recording a new album. Decibel levels rise and fall as tensions mount, then subside, while the chance for harmony among the bandmates is continually thwarted by their insecurities, jealousies and self-indulgences. It’s a volatile mix.
Peter (Tom Pecinka) and Diana (Sarah Pidgeon) go their own ways.
The play is set in the mid 1970s and Adjmi, along with director Daniel Aukin, fully embrace the era and its influences. There are sprawling scenes with overlapping dialog that bring to mind Robert Altman movies of that decade, like Nashville. And an ensemble cast presenting a leisurely paced, slice-of-life look at a dysfunctional family of friends echoes Lanford Wilson works like The Hot L Baltimore.
But most of all, there is Fleetwood Mac. Not only are the dates and locales of these fictional recording sessions in Sausalito and Los Angeles a near match with the 1976 recording of Fleetwood Mac’s classic Rumours album, the musicians themselves are all but identical in their relationships and musicianship, if not their physical appearance. Instead of bassist John McVie and his keyboardist wife, Christie, there is Reg (Will Brill) and his pianist spouse, Holly (Juliana Canfield). Instead of drummer Mick Fleetwood, there is Simon (Chris Stack). Instead of mad genius Lindsey Buckingham, there is Peter (Tom Pecinka) on lead guitar, struggling to keep hold over his partner, Diana (Sarah Pidgeon), here a dark-haired and unscarved version of Stevie Nicks destined for solo stardom.
A slightly wounded Simon (Chris Stack) gets no pity from Holly (Juliana Canfield).
These friends and lovers are well-practiced at getting along with one another; Peter and Diana having been together for nine years, and Reg and Simon have been pals for probably even longer than that. But, essentially trapped by their success, the endless stoking of the star-making machinery takes its toll, and the emotional baggage comes spilling out. Reg’s taste for cocaine and liquor will mean a marriage as doomed as the McVies’. Peter’s obsessive desire to control, born of a demanding father, will drive Diana away. He excels at passive-aggressive support, telling her, “You need to decide if you’re gonna be a mediocre songwriter or push it to the next level. … But that’s up to you.” Simon, meanwhile, literally has trouble keeping time, as his family life quietly crumbles around him.
The five actor/musicians are clever and dexterous in their performances. Pecinka’s Peter is so earnest in his controlling behavior that he nearly seems justified in his actions. Canfield’s Holly emanates as much kindness as Pidgeon’s Diana does anxiety. Brill takes Reg from drug-addled mess to a nearly sober mess with ease, while Stack’s Simon is a study in suppressed anger and begrudging compromise.
Watching all the histrionics are two sound engineers, Grover (Eli Gelb) and Charlie (Andrew R. Butler). They serve as a kind of geek chorus, observing and commenting on their rock gods while operating tape machines and adjusting microphones. Butler makes the most of Charlie’s running gag of a role, doomed to be barely noticed by anyone. And Gelb conjures perhaps the most likable of all the characters as he grows more competent in his job by adhering to his “four rules of engineering:”
Holly (Canfield) tries to calm Diana (Pidgeon). Photographs by Chelcie Parry.
You need to show up.
You need to pay attention.
You need to tell the truth.
And you need to deal with the consequences.
David Zinn’s set design places the control room downstage and the soundproofed performance room upstage, the areas separated by a glass partition. This creates numerous risks and rewards for the company, as the audience’s attention is constantly split between the two spaces. And in one especially fraught scene, Peter and Diana fight offstage not knowing that they are being picked up on the studio microphones. If the audience loses out by not viewing the quarrel, they also win by being in on the secret when the two return to the stage as if nothing has happened.
The show’s handful of songs are performed behind the glass, which is novel at first but wears thin by evening’s end. And if Will Butler (formerly of the band Arcade Fire) is no Buckingham when it comes to lyrics, his melodies compensate with flowing tunes that call out to be pressed on vinyl.
Stereophonic has been extended through Dec. 17 at Playwrights Horizons (416 West 42nd St.). Evening performances are at 7 p.m. Sunday and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; matinees are at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For tickets and more information, visit playwrightshorizons.org.
Book: David Adjmi
Music & Lyrics: Will Butler
Direction: Daniel Aukin
Sets: David Zinn
Costumes: Enver Chakartash
Lighting: Jiyoun Chang
Sound: Ryan Rumery
