“Stereophonic” cast brings ’70s band to life and makes history

The play “Stereophonic” made history when it was received 13 Tony nominations – the most in history for a non-musical production.

Written by David Adjmi and scored by Will Butler, the story centers on a band struggling to make an epic album while dealing with the rivalries and grudges that arise as they spend a year on the road from 1976 to 1977. stuck in a studio.

Butler, a former member of the band Arcade Fire, began working with Adjmi in 2014, long before the cast was cast or the script was even finalized.

“My attitude going into it was, ‘This is going to be a lark,’” Butler said.

Another challenge was finding five actors who could convincingly become a band. Only Chris Stack, who plays drummer Simon, had previous band experience. Sarah Pidgeon and Juliana Canfield, who play Diana and Holly, had never sung professionally.

Canfield believes the group was cast entirely because Butler and Adjmi thought they could play the roles and then “crossed their fingers” that they could collaborate musically.

The actors rehearsed for hours every day. Some took classes. Tom Pecinka, who plays the lead guitarist, said he had only played “garbage guitar.”

“My hands shake all the time. I mean, they don’t shake anymore, but off Broadway they were shaking a lot,” Pecinka said.

“He made them cry when they played the song he played in that audition,” added his castmate Eli Gelb. “So shaking hands, shaking hearts.”

Gelb and Andrew R. Butler play the studio engineers trying to keep the peace and finish the record. For the fictional band, the creative process turns into turmoil.

Will Brill, who plays bassist Reg, is confronted with both sobriety and divorce in the play. Brill said his character’s journey paralleled his own life in “pretty intense” ways. “That was a really fun weekend with my therapist to find out,” he said.

Despite the similarities, the show’s creators insist the story is not based on Fleetwood Mac.

In “Stereophonic” the group has no name. But the cast has come up with one of their own – which they won’t reveal.