“Stereophonic,” an acclaimed behind-the-scenes play about a feuding band recording a studio album, will move to Broadway this spring after a lively, sold-out Off Broadway run.
The play, written by David Adjmi, takes place primarily inside a recording studio in Sausalito, California, and follows five musicians and two sound engineers over the course of a year in the 1970s. The story, which features romance , infighting, drug use and a budding solo star, sounds like Fleetwood Mac, but Adjmi says he had many inspirations for the piece.
The 14-week Broadway production is expected to begin previews on April 3 and open April 19 at the Golden Theatre.
The off-Broadway run, which ran for more than 10 weeks last fall at the nonprofit Playwrights Horizons, earned good reviews. In a New York Times article, critic Jesse Green called it “relentlessly compelling.”
The show also earned significant praise for its original songs, which were written by Will Butler, a former member of Arcade Fire.
Adam Greenfield, artistic director of Playwrights Horizons, described the play as about “a group of brilliant artists who are at odds with each other, trying to figure out how to collaborate without killing each other, even when killing each other might be the goal.” easier way out.” Plus, he said, “it's set in an incredibly sexy world: the West Coast rock scene of the '70s” and “it has a killer title.”
Adjmi has been working on the work for a decade; He said the idea first occurred to him while he was listening to a Led Zeppelin song on a plane and wondering what it would have been like to be in the studio when they were recording it.
“I saw it in my mind and thought it could be a great idea for a play,” he said. “I didn't know anything about the recording process, but I talked to experts and tried things.”
The process, which included inviting engineers to comment on the script as it evolved, resulted in a high level of verisimilitude, right down to the details of a highly praised David Zinn set.
The production is directed by Daniel Aukin; The entire Off Broadway cast, including Will Brill, Juliana Canfield, Tom Pecinka, Sarah Pidgeon and Chris Stack as musicians, as well as Andrew R. Butler and Eli Gelb as engineers, are expected to transfer to Broadway.
The show will be capitalized by up to $4.8 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It is being produced by Sue Wagner, John Johnson, Seaview, Sonia Friedman Productions, Linden Productions and Ashley Melone & Nick Mills.
