From left: Sarah Pidgeon, Juliana Canfield, and Tom Pesinka of Stereophonic.
Julieta Cervantes/DKC/O&M provided
Probably the best new American drama since Annie Baker the flickDavid Adjmi’s stereo sound It shares both its supernaturalist style and expansive three-hour running time with the 2013 masterpiece. But that’s where the similarities end. The film chronicles a tumultuous year in a California recording studio as a fictional 1970s rock band struggles to follow up their breakthrough album, as pressures mount and interpersonal harmony becomes shaky. As you melt, you plunge immersively into the difficult process of artistic collaboration.
Funny, raw, and heartbreaking at the same time, this masterfully sculpted play has the feel of both a behind-the-scenes docudrama and a lost Robert Altman film, with its sharp microcosmic focus, overlapping dialogue It is characterized by frequent flows of and clever nudges towards satire. In fact, the music is a great original song written by Will Butler, formerly of Arcade Fire, although it’s more pop-rock than country. stereo sound largely, nashville.
Somehow it manages to be fluidly cinematic and richly novelistic. and Brave and theatrical, grandiose yet approachable. Adjumi’s past plays include: amazing and 3Cdemonstrating an ear for great dialogue that is as keen as ever.
Directed with meticulous attention to detail by Daniel Orkin, the production opened to a sold-out extended run at Playwrights Horizons, the same flagship production that debuted off-Broadway late last year, to enthusiastic audiences. After receiving critical acclaim, it was released on Broadway. the flick. Producers made the wise decision to cast original actors, all but one of whom were making their Broadway debuts, rather than going the predictable route and recasting big-name talent for box office clout. I put it down. There is no weak link in the seven-piece ensemble, five of whom also sing and play instruments.
Adjmi came up with the idea after listening to a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” on a plane and marveling at the jagged emotional tangle that Robert Plant injects into his vocals. It is said that it was when From there, the playwright’s imagination led him to the studio where the tracks were being recorded, giving rise to the idea of setting the entire play in just such a space.
Engineers man the gigantic mixing console in the understage control room, ingeniously designed by David Zinn and surrounded by hippie-chic décor, while the band properly prepares tracks in the glass-walled, soundproofed live room at the rear. A cauldron of egos colliding in the setting of placement. His first three acts take place in a studio in Sausalito, but the final fourth act moves to Los Angeles after most of the central relationships have frayed, perhaps beyond repair.
The composition of this band, whose name we never know, is inevitably reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac. Three British charter members, husband and wife team Reg (Will Brill) and Holly (Julianna Canfield) on bass and keyboards/vocals respectively, and Big Daddy Simon (Chris Stack) on drums, John and Christine McVie. , and the equivalent of Mick Fleetwood. Similarly, the American couple who joined a few years later and propelled the group to mainstream success, vocalist Diana (Sarah Pidgeon) and lead guitarist/vocalist Peter (Tom Pesinka), were joined by Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. Ringer.
stereo sound It also reflects Fleetwood Mac’s journey from their chart-topping 1975 self-titled album to the messy experience of recording. rumoras both couples’ relationships had broken down and Fleetwood’s wife, who was back in England, was attempting to divorce him.
But those similarities are just the backbone of Adjmi’s fascinating study of creating art out of emotional turmoil. All of the band’s members are fully fleshed out characters, and while some may share traits with the members of Fleetwood Mac, Peter, the egotistical control freak, has long been clearly I’ve been following the revelations about Buckingham closely, but it feels like nothing is borrowed. This play is still a work of fiction as follows. daisy jones & the six.
Adjmi deftly fends off two beleaguered peacekeepers, lead engineer Grover (Eli Gelb), and deflects tension within the band. Glover has been lying about his past experience with the Eagles and becomes increasingly at odds with Peter. and his unassuming assistant Charlie (Andrew R. Butler) is the source of a hilarious joke in which the band members barely notice him, and when they do, none remember his name. The chorus-like commentary by these two when the musicians’ voices can’t be heard is the best.
The first exchange of dialogue, as the musicians pass the time by smoking cigarettes and having joints in the control room, in between largely unsuccessful attempts to lock in a version of the song that everyone can agree on. is friendly. News of last year’s albums is slowly coming back and things are looking good. signboard Along with the hit single written by Diana, it entered the charts and rose rapidly thereafter. In theory, knowing that the record company has tripled the budget should take some of the pressure off. But Adjmi shows remarkable skill at secretly creating tension, festering resentments, and often provoking explosive meltdowns.
Reg’s diet of bourbon and burro poses problems not only for his marriage to Holly but also for his work discipline. While Diana shows her early signs of emerging as a breakout star with her band, she feels insecure about her lack of musical literacy. “She can’t be a rock star if she’s this stupid,” she moaned. When Peter, who repeatedly undermines her shaky confidence, tells her to lose her tambourine, she goes into a mini-crisis over what to do with her hands (which, interestingly, is a nod to Nicks). (Also works as a winking mention). Simon, hardly perturbed, is troubled by Grover’s tempo problems. And Holly is often left alone with frustration slapping her solicitude while waiting for others to gather.
One of the masterpieces of this play, which unfolds in an almost symphonic flow of movement, is Adjmi’s decision to make us wait to hear the actual music, and then to be surprised by it. Diana’s first attempt at laying down the vocals comes almost half an hour later, and the first track played by the entire band is even slower, swamping the audience with a powerful wall of sound that makes their sudden success entirely plausible. Wrap it up. Although Butler’s songs mostly sound fragmented, and a more complete recording is in the works, they never sound like pastiches, but rather authentic mid-’70s rock songs by an exceptionally talented group. Sounds like a lump.
The most consistent friction in the room comes from Peter, a self-proclaimed producer whose perfectionism has become increasingly authoritarian. His candid criticism was felt most acutely by Princess Diana, who had a tearful private argument offstage that Glover and Charlie, who heard it on the soundboard, couldn’t help but raise the microphone. There wasn’t.
The sexual politics of this era are evident not only in the attitudes of the male band members, but also in the often terribly funny idle banter between Grover and Charlie. However, the play’s central conflict is the growing rift between Peter and Diana, who have been together for nine years. Her slow-witted stranger, he constantly speaks ill of her and begins to get irritated by her insecurities. Its roots go back to her troubled early days, when she took on menial jobs in order to focus on music.
Glover’s conflict with Peter, who wants to establish himself as a producer, is just as important as the source of the hatred, as the engineer’s peace is steadily eroded as recording sessions drag on through the night with little progress.
stereo sound You could call it a workplace drama, a brawling family drama, or even a long-term hangout, and it’s as much about atmosphere as it is about story. What makes this work so appealing, in a dual-channel manner reflected in the title, is the rich characterization and rock-solid group dynamics, as well as the incredible sense of world that Adjmi has conjured up. It is possible to obtain the specificity of
We watch tape machines spin while bands tinker with songs and engineers mix tracks, witness late-night scrambles to find replacement console modules, and use click tracks. You can feel Simon’s wounded vanity as he is forced to do so and is strained by the sound. The complicated process of tightening a rattling snare drum. (Stack’s witty barbs are priceless.)
This attention to detail in the environment makes the play particularly appealing to musicians with studio experience, but it is by no means inaccessible to non-technical audiences.
The key to making everything feel like reality on the walls is Ryan Roumeli’s layered sound design, which mixes perfectly audible control room talk with muffled voices and irritations from the live room. , anger, and sarcasm are mixed in such a way that they always resonate loud and clear through the microphone. Glover has been made the scapegoat for failures and delays. Justin Craig’s musical direction is equally important, as are Enver Çakaltaş’s groovy period costumes and Jiyoung Chan’s subtly controlled lighting.
There’s nothing wrong with the performance. Brill shows Reg at his most pitifully wasted, while a hopeless romantic muses about life on a houseboat and the reward of a healthy meal after cleaning. It also shows in a bright atmosphere. Gelb is unexpectedly moving as a man eager to prove himself, asserting his tenuous authority with weary tenacity even as he is steadily scarred by Peter’s abuse.
Canfield (last seen as Kendall Roy’s hurried assistant Jess) inheritance) brings warmth and down-to-earth intelligence to Holly, but also shows a short temper when pushed. It is significant that by the end of the year-long ordeal, the relationships most intact are those between Grover and Charlie, and more importantly, Holly and Diana – even if ultimately Even if hints of a potential rift between the women have surfaced.
Pesinka brilliantly conveys Peter’s cruelty, petty jealousy, and self-destruction, and while his artistic instincts may be generally sound, the way he conveys them can be cruel, and the way he conveys them can be cruel. Ignoring it widens the wound. Pigeon never overplays Diana’s neuroses, and she gains strength in the character as her resentment explodes, painfully asserting her independence from Peter, which infuriates and devastates him. I’ll repeat that.
Just like a classic vinyl record is removed inch by inch from the gatefold cover. stereo sound Slowly revealing its complexities, we share the highs of working collectively to create great art and the spiraling lows of a broken union. By the end of the play, the weight of that searing emotion creeps up and grabs you by the throat. It’s a chart topper.
Venue: Golden Theater, New York
Starring: Will Brill, Andrew R. Butler, Julianna Canfield, Eli Gelb, Tom Pesinka, Sarah Pidgeon, Chris Stack.
Playwright: David Adjmi
Director: Daniel Orkin
Set designer: David Zinn
Costume design: Enver Çakaltaş
Lighting designer: Jiyoung Chan
Sound designer: Ryan Rumery
Music Director: Justin Craig
Orchestration: Will Butler, Justin Craig
Production: Playwright Horizons
Presented by Sue Wagner, John Johnson, Seaview, Sonia Friedman Productions, Linden Productions, Ashley Melone, Nick Mills
