“Stereophonic” is coming to Broadway. The new play by David Adjmi will begin previews on April 3, 2024, ahead of an April 19 opening night at Broadway’s Golden Theatre. The play, which features music by Will Butler, is scheduled for a limited run through July 7.
The play, directed by Daniel Aukin, completed a Playwrights Horizons’ Off-Broadway run on Dec. 17, following a three-week extension. Aukin will direct the Broadway transfer.
“Stereophonic” follows a mid-1970s rock group as they record their sophomore album, after their debut record was a surprise hit. A meditation on the joys and frustrations of creating art, the play entirely takes place in a recording studio as audiences watch the band members and their engineers strive for artistic perfection, battle inner demons and clash in their personal and professional relationships.
The play will mark Adjmi’s Broadway debut. His other plays include “The Stumble,” commissioned by Lincoln Center Theatre, and “The Blind King (Parts I and II)” in development at the Public Theater. “Stereophonic” will also be Butler’s Broadway debut. Best known as a member of the band Arcade Fire, Butler received four 2019 Drama Desk Award nominations for his music, lyrics, book and performance in Ars Nova’s production of “Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future.”
The entire cast of the Off-Broadway production will reprise their roles for the Broadway mounting. The company will include Will Brill in the role of Reg, Andrew R. Butler as Charlie, Juliana Canfield as Holly, Eli Gelb as Grover, Tom Pecinka as Peter, Sarah Pidgeon as Diana and Chris Stack as Simon.
Brill most recently appeared on Broadway in the 2019 revival of “Oklahoma!” In 2014, Brill appeared on the Main Stem in both “Act One” and “You Can’t Take It With You.”
“Stereophonic” will be Canfield’s first Main Stem appearance. Her Off-Broadway credits include “Sunday” with Atlantic Theatre Company, “The House That Will Not Stand” with New York Theatre Workshop and “Fefu and her Friends” with Theatre for a New Audience.
Gelb appeared Off-Broadway in Roundabout Theatre Company’s “Skintight” and regionally in “The Twenty-Seventh Man” at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California. “Stereophonic” will be his Broadway debut.
Pecinka will appear on Broadway for the first time, following performances in “Richard III” and “Troilus and Cressida” from the Public Theatre’s Shakespeare in the Park and in Second Stage’s “Torch Song Trilogy.”
Pidgeon is known for her performance as younger Clare in the Hulu series “Tiny Beautiful Things.” “Stereophonic” will mark her Broadway debut.
“Stereophonic,” Stack’s Bropadway debut, is also his second appearance in an Adjmi play, having performed in the playwright’s “Marie Antoinette” with Soho Rep. Other Off-Broadway credits include Playwrights Horizons’ “Your Mother’s Copy of the Kama Sutra,” , Atlantic Theatre Company’s “The Secret Life of Bees” and Roundabout Theatre Company’s “Ugly Lies the Bone.”
The design team for “Stereophonic” will include Tony Award-winning scenic designer David Zinn, costume designer Enver Chakartash, Tony-nominated lighting designer Jiyoun Chang and sound designer Ryan Rumery, all of whose work was featured in the Playwrights production. Justin Craig will serve as music director.
“Stereophonic” is being produced on Broadway by Sue Wagner, John Johnson, Seaview, Sonia Friedman Productions, Linden Productions and Ashley Melone & Nick Mills.
