Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum

Stereophonic

While listening to your favorite vinyl record album, have you ever wondered what it was like to write and record all that music? STEREOPHONIC is a play with music, written by playwright David Adjmi and featuring original songs by Will Butler. It detailed a fictional band’s recording of their second album, following the amazing popularity of their first record. On the heels of a critically acclaimed Off-Broadway run, Directed by Tony Award-winner Daniel Aukin, the play opened on Broadway in 2023. It went on to make theatre history by garnering the most Tony nominations ever for a play (13, in all) with five wins, including Best Play. And for that reason alone, theatergoers should drop everything and hurry to see this extraordinary production before it leaves Chicago.

Spanning between 1976 and 1977, the story is set in a high-tech California recording studio. The four-act play (which has been edited for the National Tour, and runs just short of three hours) is presented as a two-act production with intermission. But don’t let the length deter you; the time flies by because you’ll become completely engrossed in the lives of these characters. 

The play focuses on seven creative artists. The mock documentary-style skillfully immerses theatergoers into their creative process and makes the theatergoer feel as if they were a fly on the wall. We soon get to know the five talented members of this accomplished British/American rock band, who will remind rock fans of Fleetwood Mac. Every cast member sings and plays their own instruments in this production. We also feel like old friends with their two hardworking American sound engineers, Grover (played with charming charisma and tender finesse by Jack Barrett) and Charlie (Steven Lee Johnson, in a subtle, yet extremely endearing performance). The audience soon finds themselves caught up in the tensions, conflicts, romantic escapades and continual struggle for individual and group success in the group’s struggle to achieve stardom. At one point, there’s so much tension and drama between the band members that Charlie tells Grover, his friend and head engineer, that the lunatics have taken over the asylum. He’s not far from wrong.

As the months of intense and grueling work take their toll on the everyone, the audience becomes more and more familiar with their quirky personalities. And as performed by this topnotch touring cast, theatergoers will feel as if they’re seeing this show, just as it appeared on Broadway. Our perception of Peter, the band’s lead American guitarist and vocalist, (portrayed with swagger and hypercritical authority by Denver Milord), continually undergoes change as the play progresses. Another American, Diana (beautifully portrayed by terrific actress and vocalist, Claire Dejean) is Peter’s longtime, long-suffering girlfriend. She’s a talented singer/songwriter, but is racked by a lack of self-confidence.

The British singer/musicians include Simon, the band’s percussionist and clearly a most intelligent spokesperson. He is beautifully portrayed with style and command by Cornelius McMoyler. While working in America, Simon mourns being distanced from his wife and children, who are still back in England. The time apart is tearing his family to shreds. Simon babysits Reg, the group’s bass guitarist, supplying him with whatever he craves. Played with over-the-top humor by Christopher Mowood, Reg is childish and suffers from an addiction to drugs and booze. The man understandably experiences wild mood swings, and his relationship with wife Holly, who’s a smart and multitalented member of the band, is floundering. She’s played with a savvy and smooth demeanor by lovely Emilie Kouatchou. Holly has grown extremely tired of being both wife and mother to Reg, and she’s about to make a change in their lives, for her own sanity.

The original songs by Will Butler that we see and hear being performed and recorded throughout the show include “Bright,” “Masquerade,” “Champagne” and “East of Eden,” among others. And while the play is liberally peppered with music, it in no way is a “Musical.” The songs are integrated into the story and reflect the internal chaos being felt by the band members.

STEREOPHONIC is an entertaining, realistic and raw depiction of the creative process. Set within a West Coast recording studio, designed with detail by David Zinn, the production has an authentic look. For most theatergoers, I suspect David Adjmi’s play depicts the first time they’ve ever understood the intimate details of what it means to be a member of a famous rock band. It also takes the audience through the intricate trials and tribulations—the agony and ecstasy—of how a record album eventually evolves. Along the way, we experience firsthand the cost of artistic ambition, while looking at the ever-changing tension, love and hate that occurs in relationships between creative adults. Directed with subtle nuance and incredible instinct by Daniel Aukin, and performed by a multi-gifted cast, we come to fully appreciate Charlie’s comment that the lunatics have taken over the asylum.   

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Presented January 28-February 8 by Broadway in Chicago at the CIBC Theatre, 18 W. Monroe, Chicago.

Tickets are available at all Broadway in Chicago box offices, at all Ticketmaster locations, by calling the Chicago Ticket Line at 800-775-2000 or by going to www.BroadwayInChicago.com. 

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.