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UID:502@coolcleveland.com
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York;VALUE=DATE:20260112
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York;VALUE=DATE:20260126
DTSTAMP:20260402T044155Z
URL:https://coolcleveland.com/events/theater-review-stereophonic-playhouse
 -square-by-laura-kennelly/
SUMMARY:THEATER REVIEW: "Stereophonic" @ Playhouse Square by Laura Kennelly
DESCRIPTION:\nThrough January 25\nStereophonic\, the 2024 Best Play Tony Aw
 ard winner\, kicked off its Cleveland run at Playhouse Square January 6 wi
 th a determination-testing\, attention-challenging performance that lasted
  over three hours. The tests\, the challenges\, were for the audience\; th
 e actors seemed perfectly at ease.\nWritten by David Adjmi\, directed by D
 aniel Aukin\, and featuring original music by Will Butler\, Stereophonic d
 oes not claim to be a musical\, but instead a play about creating a musica
 l artifact\, in this case\, an album.\nThe set makes that clear. It’s a 
 huge\, stage-filling recreation of a 1970s California recording studio fea
 turing a variety of now-antique devices that probably sent attending techn
 o nerds into orbit.\nThe stage has two levels. On the first level we see J
 ack Barrett as Grover (sound engineer) and Steven Lee Johnson as Charlie (
 his assistant) managing various keyboards and recording paraphernalia.\nOn
  a second level above them we see microphones\, instruments\, and five mus
 icians singing and playing. The actor-performers (yes\, they really did al
 l the instrumental and vocal work) include two couples. One pair is heavy 
 into romantic love (at the beginning) and the other married\, but with a s
 erious problem (drugs).\nDenver Milord as Peter (guitarist and vocalist) a
 nd Claire DeJean as Diana (vocalist) are at the beginning of their love af
 fair. In contrast\, the married couple\, Christopher Mowod as Reg (bassist
 ) and Emilie Kouatchou as Holly (vocalist and keyboardist) are having trou
 bles. For one thing Reg is an addict. Cornelius McMoyler as Simon (the dru
 mmer) keeps busy with the beat as well as trying to hold the group togethe
 r.\nThat’s the setup. We then get to watch as they spend a year (a year!
 ) working on the album\, singing\, playing\, and talking and talking and t
 alking about what they are doing.\nTheir interpersonal interactions seemed
  realistic. But despite the actors’ skills\, both vocal and instrumental
 \, the switch between stage areas meant it was sometimes hard to be sure w
 ho said what\, or for that matter\, to see who was talking. However\, the 
 music is also a featured story element and what we heard sounded convincin
 g\, if loud (as usual).\nI’ve been told the story is based on Fleetwood 
 Mac (some say the Eagles) and their rise to fame. I confess I didn’t fol
 low rock groups in the 1970s\, but all bands seem to break up so that’s 
 nothing new.\nArt\, like Rome\, isn’t built in a day\, we all know that\
 , but watching artists work\, argue\, re-work\, squabble\, fall in and out
  of love in what felt like real time frequently tested the patience of eve
 n the most ardent theater lover (yes\, me). Unlike successful works that c
 ombined music and observing creatives\, such as Title of Show or Once\, St
 ereophonic involved copious silences\, pauses\, and as a result dragged fo
 r those of us who are not professional musicians used to creating an album
  (or even attending rehearsals).\nIt seemed hard to care.\nHowever\, credi
 t should go to the Stereophonic creative team for taking us “backstage
 ” and letting us see just how much hard work goes into creating art. Mem
 bers include David Zinn (scenic designer)\, Enver Chakartash (costume desi
 gner)\, Jiyoun Chang (lighting designer)\, Ryan Rumery (sound designer)\, 
 Robert Pickens and Katie Gell (hair and wig designers)\, Justin Craig (mus
 ic director)\, and Gigi Buffington (voice\, text\, and dialect coach).\nBo
 ttom Line: Writers often wryly remind themselves to edit harshly\, or as S
 tephen King advises\, be prepared to “kill your darlings.” Someone sho
 uld have reminded the creators of Stereophonic about that truism.\n\n[Writ
 ten by Laura Kennelly]\n[mappress mapid="3354"]
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://coolcleveland.com/wp-content/uploads/202
 6/01/Stereophonc.jpg
CATEGORIES:Performance,Theatre,----WRITERS----,Laura Kennelly,Review
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