The life of rock stars isn’t so much fun, is what the 2024 Tony Award-winning Best Play “Stereophonic” reveals in about three hours.
Onstage at the Curran theater in San Francisco through Nov. 23, the first national tour of the show with music (not a musical!) goes behind the scenes at California recording sessions of an English-American group on the rise in the 1970s — and quite reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac.
With a hit in the top 10 and an unusually generous budget from their record company, all five members of the group are straining under the pressure of maintaining their success, and they’re at odds.
Peter (Denver Milord), the driven American and self-appointed leader, not only insults his longtime, insecure girlfriend, vocalist Diana (Clare DeJean); he also has issues with the Brits: trying-to-keep-the-beat- (and-peace!)-drummer Simon (Cornelius McMoyler), drug-addled bassist Reg (Christopher Mowod); and romantically challenged keyboardist Holly (Emilie Kouatchou). They are joined by young engineer Grover (Jack Barrett), who has ambitions of his own, and Charlie (Steven Lee Johnson), his not particularly helpful assistant.
At times, playwright David Adjmi’s plot and dialogue feel truly authentic. The musicians’ conversations and gossip, the starts and stopping, the waiting around, the numerous takes of the same song — everything so characteristic of a recording session — feel real.
So is the Tony-winning nifty set by David Zinn, with a glassed-in booth where the musicians play, and below it, the room with low-tech, period-appropriate equipment operated by the sound guys. Similarly, Enver Chakartash’s spot-on costumes (polyester print shirts, jeans, even a leather hippie purse) bring the audience right back to the era’s goofy styles.
Still, despite the authenticity, there’s something missing from the story of these musicians’ journeys.
For one thing, there’s not enough music. For the most part, the original songs by Will Butler of Arcade Fire fame are presented in snippets. Except for one instance when the band finally nails an up-tempo number after dozens of takes, and seemingly the only moment of joy in the show, the songs are partially realized. And in their abbreviated form, while they’re initially engaging enough, the tunes are hardly as appealing as anything on Fleetwood Mac’s 1976 blockbuster “Rumours.”
Directed by Daniel Aukin, the actors, however, are excellent as musicians in rehearsal, and the women in particular have great singing voices.
But sadly, for a show about sound, on opening night, muddled sound made it difficult to understand some of the actors, most notably at the beginning as the characters enter, casually chat, and interrupt each other. While it’s a nicely realistic touch, it keeps the audience at a distance.
And at the show’s conclusion, as the band members have come to terms with their different situations in different ways, the audience hasn’t had a necessarily satisfying or clear understanding of, or details about, their travails, or how they made their way.
Nonetheless, “Stereophonic” works as a fascinating look at the creative process and an engaging snapshot of the period for folks who love and remember pop and rock music of the 1970s.
“Stereophonic” continues through Nov. 23 at the Curran, 445 Geary St., San Francisco. Tickets are $62 to $193 at broadwaysf.com.
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