When you walk into the National Theatre, the open set of the current show is an immediate throwback for those who were there. A fully equipped wood paneled sound stage with tape recordings and multiple cords attaching everything whisks those of a certain age back to the mid 70s. When the play starts and the cast enter in their flared pants and bell bottom jeans, peasant blouses and satin dress shirts unbuttoned down to there, sporting grown out and shaggy hairdos, it’s almost like you’re there.
Because if you’re of a certain age, you were. As the two-woman/three-man, unnamed “fictional” band—a married British bass player and keyboard/composer, an American bass guitarist and his lead singer/songwriter girlfriend, and the British drummer who acts as manager and team captain—begin the laborious task of recording their most recent album, we watch them perfect, struggle, and sacrifice everything, perhaps even the band itself, for their art. Over the course of four acts and an entire year from 1976-1977, we watch the group members break up, recouple, knockdown fight, push technical and artistic boundaries, and dance with the possibility of actually dissolving the band, all while consuming a near constant diet of cocaine, heroin, and weed as they strive to record their ultimate album, and it doesn’t take long to hit home.
David Adjmi’s fascinating and multi-layered 2024 Tony Winning Best Play Stereophonic (the most nominated play of all time with 13 and 5 wins) is clearly, for those of a certain age, “loosely based on” Fleetwood Mac’s iconic travails attempting to record their landmark 1976 masterpiece Rumours. And to say that Adjimi’s tale is “loosely based on” the legendary group is like the similar (and equally hilarious) claim that Michael Bennett’s game-changing musical Dreamgirls is about another “fictional” girl group “loosely based on” Diana Ross & the Supremes (for reference for those who don’t know, it is the literal story of the rise and breakup of Diana Ross and the Supremes). As a matter of fact, Stereophonic is so “loosely” based on the mega-Grammy winning group that authors Ken Caillat and Steven Steifel filed a lawsuit alleging infringement on their memoir Making Rumours about the non-fictional group. (which was settled out of court, so, take that as you will).
Adding an additional layer of magic to the story, Will Butler (of the indie rock band Arcade Fire) has composed an entire mock album for the recording session that flawlessly salutes the sounds and stylings of Rumours. “Seven Roads” mimics the distinct sound of “Gold Dust Woman”, “Masquerade” keeps the pulsating beat of “The Chain”. “Bright” has all the modulations of Stevie Nick’s top 40 classic “Rhiannon” (technically not from Rumours but inarguably quintessential Fleetwood Mac), and “Drive” and “Domino” both have the haunting strains of Nicks’ Rumours breakout hit, “Dreams”.
As part of Director Daniel Aukin’s attempt to reinforce the “fictional” aspects of our artists (no doubt to avoid further legal issues), he varies our characters’ physical looks to avoid some of the chichéd visual cues we associate with the classic line-up of bandmates. But the stories, the sounds, and the music betray his efforts (not a bad thing at all, again, for those who were there; it actually enhances the experience).
The multi-talented cast adds an impressive turn on top of flawless performances by admirably playing their own instruments in addition to singing Butler’s impressive mock score, with everything mixed live in the theatre, so the audience is in fact actually experiencing the mock recording session in as true an environment as possible. And the cast are pretty perfect as the tortured group, thoroughly more than convincing as actual recording artists in midst of their creative process.
Within the band proper, Claire De Jean as Diana (the Stevie Nicks stand-in) nixes the witchy costumes her predecessor was famous for, but nails all the complexities of the character. Diana is a driving force behind the sound of the band with the catchiest hits and the savviest radio sound, as well as the most airplay-friendly voice. When she and boyfriend Peter (Denver Milord, Stereophonic Broadway, Oklahoma, sexy and charismatic filling the Lindsey Buckingham spot) begin to knock heads artistically in the studio as well as falling apart as a couple outside it, she is volatile and strong, yet never varies in the clarity of her artistic vision. When the final album is still running around 4 minutes long (for the millennial digital audience and beyond, LPs notoriously were limited to a 44 ½ minute running time due to maximum recording space) she refuses to cut single verses form her songs and instead withdraws entire songs from the product, saving them, as she confides to her confidante Holly, for her upcoming solo album no one knows about, exactly as Nicks did. (She pulled “Think About It” from Rumours to be included instead on her debut solo 1981 album Bella Donna, and the now ubiquitous Instagram hit “Silver Springs” for a future “B” side.)
Milord’s Peter is driven as a creator, an artist, and a pioneer, searching for that next perfect sound for their new music, to the frustration of his bandmates and sound techs. Ruggedly handsome in his triple unbuttoned shirts and strutting around as the male peacock of the group, Peter’s aggressive perfectionism takes its toll on not only his relationship with Diana (he struggles with the balance of showing sensitivity to his girlfriend while demanding artistic perfection from his bandmate, while personal life overshadows collaboration), but with fellow bandmates Reg and Simon over how to get the sound he wants from their instruments and, perhaps most of all, the beleaguered sound engineer Grover (standout Jack Barrett) and his eager young apprentice Charlie (Steven Lee Johnson, To Kill a Mockingbird, a character study in sweet naivity)
Christopher Mowod and Emilie Kouatchou (The Phantom of the Opera) as British married couple Reg and Holly (clearly based on John and Christine McVie) find their marriage struggling due to Reg’s heavy drug abuse to the point where Holly must step up and fight for her own independence in the US and the music field. Both are engaging whether confiding, making up, or breaking up. Mowod is particularly effective when accosting Peter about replacing his bass tracks with cleaner, more generic ones that Peter has produced himself off the demos. And while there is nothing funny about substance abuse, in that 1970s way, (the days of Arthur and comedian Foster Brooks) Mowod is a likewise funny addict, excelling in physical comedy.
As the final band member, solo leader Simon (Cornelius McMoyler, filling the Mick Fleetwood role) is a strong and sturdy presence even as he finds his relationship with his wife and child back in the UK fizzling due to the artistic demands of his perfectionist band’s continuously extended deadlines. McMoyler never loses authority and is the one cast member who does bear more than a passing resemblance as his parallel character, which actually makes his performance ring truer.
But it’s Barrett and Johnson as sound engineers Grover and Charlie whose eyes and ears are our windows into the band’s very privileged artistic world. Barrett has a hilarious manic monologue at the top of Act 2 where he brings us up to date with all the gossip and nonsense going on behind the scenes with the band members that he has quietly accumulated in his all-night sessions accommodating Peter’s obsessions with the mixing. He’s the keeper of the very “rumours” which gave name to the Grammy winning opus, and we watch him struggle as he constantly loses battles with the band’s attitudes, proclivities, and egos.
David Zinn’s well-deserved Tony winning Scenic Design is a visual and functional triumph, Not only a perfect, paneled replica of a quintessential 1970s recording studio, generic enough to fill in as four different California studios when, by show’s end, just like in real life, the band is so done with each other they can’t even record together, but must assemble their tracks in four different locations and let Grover and Charlie deal with mixing them together. But in addition, as stated, it is impressively a fully functional recording studio that is reproduced for the demands of this very inspired show.
Jiyoun Chang’s Lighting Design is serviceable for a show that calls for no showy effects. It’s basic lighting in the recording booth and through the glass separator in the upstage studio, and it works well avoiding awkward reflections in the window.
Enver Chakartash’s Tony-winning Costume Designs are classic 70s fashions with no illusions to the established looks of Fleetwood Mac, assumed for plausible deniability. While it would be fun to see Diana and Holly in particular reflect the whimsical looks of Stevie Nicks and the androgynous rock and roll apparell of Christine McVie, in this litigious world, it is understandable while they avoided those visuals (unlike Theoni Aldredge who, in Dreamgirls 100% employed all the haute couture and glamour of Diana Ross & the Supremes). Chakartash is aided by Hair and Wig Designers Robert Pickens and Katie Gell who assist him with a classic variety of shaggy rock and roll hairdos (also wisely avoiding Nicks’ witchy waves)
Ryan Rumery’s Tony-winning Sound Design is particularly impressive when understanding he is responslbie for not only solid sound for a musical in play’s clothing, but also a live audience mix in a different venue each stop on the tour. His blend is clear and strong, and even produces mock sound glitches as Grover works in mortification to correct them before the sessions are lost and Peter’s wrath is unleashed. Considering the National occasional has sound issues on its own, Rumery’s efforts are even more impressive. And the coincidence of his name is also mildly amusing.
Director Aukin moves the 3hour+ long play along at a surprising pace, considering bulk of it is artistic conjecture. The first act is an hour and 45 minute slow burn as we see the disagreements begin to arise and the minor conflicts start. But it’s the second act when, over the time gap of intermission, the dam has burst and the anger and resentment pours over the sessions that he really excels keeping the audience involved.
In the end, it’s a testament to a combination of the cast’s talent, Aukin’s precise direction, and, for a segment of the audience, pure nostalgia that in a climate as convoluted and all-consuming as today’s is that we can turn ourselves over and still care about the ethereal pursuit of artistic perfection, of finding that perfect song, a lyric, the perfect sound. And that, my friends is the reason that, contrary to the current administration’s carnage on the arts (it hits doubly hard when one knows this stellar production was supposed to be one of the crowning jewels of the Kennedy Center’s ’23-’26 season until its new dictator sent the revered memorial institution into a death spiral), we need to remember that the arts do indeed matter and are a vital component of and necessity to our human and national spirit. It is important that we keep fighting for our arts to survive and, as a certain non-fictional band once said, Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow. We can get through this.
All photos courtesy of Julieta Cervantes
For those interested, here’s a Spotify link to the Brill’s innovative mock album of music employed in the show. It should honestly have won best score that weak musical season
https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/4yU3wb14uLpyi4pBFKtFXB?utm_source=generator
Running Time: Approximately 3 hours 15 minutes with one intermission
Stereophonic currently plays through March 1, 2026, at the National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC 200041. For tickets, call the box office at 800.514.3849 or purchase online