*** I have to be honest relative to our experience with this play. First of all, Jane wasn’t feeling well, and as cold as it was  at the CIBC Theatre, we were forced to leave after the second act. This play has 4 acts with an intermission between acts 2 and 3. Written by David Adjmi, with original music by Will Butler, “Stereophonic” had more Tony Award nominations than any other play (EVER) in 2024. It did win the Best Play Award. Remember, this is not a musical, although it is about music and is part of what we expect Broadway In Chicago to bring to Chicago audiences. The best of the best!

I will tell you that this is not a production for everyone. In fact there were a number of people who anticipated a musical, which is understandable with its name, and there are songs in it, but in reality  it is a strong look at young hopefuls working on what they hope will be the musical album that will make them the stars they long to be. It is a deep look into these young people, allowing us, the  observers, to peer into the inner secrets and motivational sourcesfor their ambitions. The year is 1976. Think back to that period in your life ( if you are old enough to do so) and what you were seeing around you. Rock music and Rock N’ Roll were strong. Record albums were hot and available. Choices in music were different and far less choices, available. I know this play was voted the best of 2024, and based on what I watched tonight, I would have to say the structure was why. The characters are realistic, each having goals of their own as we watch them go through mood changes, and costumes over this period of a year in the life.

The set ( David Zinn) is amazingly realistic. When you enter the theater , you feel as if you are the “fly on the wall”, eavesdropping on these characters, watching them fight, love, argue and perform. Smoothly directed by Daniel Aukin, with wonderful costumes (Enver Chakartash), we experience scenes ( or as they call them acts) in Act 1-1976 (Summer) and September of 76 ( Act 2), then act 3 which ends 1976 and enters early 1977, followed by the 4th act “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road) which is summer of 1977. The play is long, and for some very Tedious. Creativity is hard to place into a story, and reality is hard to condense into a two hour play with music.

I thought the cast of players were strong and did feel they were quite realistic as we got into their lives, their lies and their loves. Jack Barrett, Claire DeJean, Steven Lee Johnson, Emilie Kouatchou, Cornelius McMoyler, Denver Milord and Christopher Mowod. This is probably not the easies of roles to play, but from what I saw, you were truly into them.

As stated from the very onset, Jane was not up to par and so we only were able to stay for what they call two acts ( half the show), so I cannot complete the review.

Here is the review from Paul Lisnek :

STEREOPHONIC

Review

By: Paul Lisnek, “Behind the Curtain,” WGN+; WGNRadio.com

**** ½ / 4

The national touring production of Stereophonic brings you inside the world of making music in an intimate and powerful way.

This play with music has been long awaited in Chicago as it should be because it’s the most Tony nominated play in history. With that record, there is an expectation of performance power and production that will meet our high hopes! The play is known as being the most compelling recent play about the mythology of rock music and the realities and stress it takes to bring a hit album to fruition. It exceeds expectations.

The play takes place in the late1970s and is set exclusively inside a recording studio. This set is one of the best I’ve ever seen in creating what clearly appears to be an actual working and realistic set. The detail is stunning: an isolation booth, a control room separated by glass sets different frames within we watch relationships get renegotiated. The incredible lighting is used to isolate specific characters in moments of crisis and then return them to the common fluorescent light to work.  We can feel the claustrophobia of the space; we are flies on the wall as the cast attempts to balance efforts of collaboration, with ego, addiction, and very fragile personal relationships. The show is demanding on the ensemble cast which must shift the moment from peace to tension to outright exhaustion; and the audience rides the arc of tensions that keeps the audience riveted to their seats.

The costumes evoke the culture of the time transporting us back to a period of societal tumult and challenges.

The interactions of the cast are complex. Arguments flare up and tensions calm like a musical composition that liteally underscores and guides the story. This is all very much on display in Act III (post intermission) where the tensions come to a head.  A telling glance, a sound board that seems to be one of the characters in the show as it modulates the levels and sounds….all of this carrying as much weight as the shouted confrontations. Especially pleasing is that the music is just plain Good! These performers can sing and many illustrate that they bring musician skills to their parts. This band is easily believed to be an actual band and those old enough will feel like they are reliving the music we loved during that era. If this band performed a concert one evening at another venue, I’d believe it, and I’d be there to enjoy it! Importantly, the characters are not caricatures; they exhibit insecurity, attempts at compromise, and creative collaboration that seems authentic to the day. The constant stop‑and‑start to making a record, the false starts, technical glitches, and endless takes adds to the realism. This must be what bands actually go through in the studio.

One thing is for sure, the play is directed to keep the band and the engineers constantly visible to us, even when they are not the focus of the action or scene which is brilliant because it reinforces the sense that everyone must contribute to the eventual end product. The next time you listen to a classic album from the 70’s, you’ll find yourself thinking about the arguments, overdubs, and exhausting moments that ultimately created the final album you are enjoying.

“Stereophonic” will continue thru February  8th with performances as follows: