Review: STEREOPHONIC at Kauffman Center

Think of the greatest songs you’ve never heard - the soaring melodies, the unexpected anthems, the driving beats, the lyrics that speak to a feeling you didn’t know could be expressed in words. Unlike most straight plays, this opus has its own musical score, and good one by Will Butler.

And that is the projected end-product taking shape at the hoped for conclusion/finale of “Stereophonic,” now playing in the gorgeous Muriel Kauffman Opera House through Sunday April 12.

“Stereophonic” is a straight play about the making of Rock N Roll music and this group’s next hit album.   Our unnamed band consists of two women and three men.  They have been at this pursuit of music making together for over a decade.  The band has enjoyed moderate success.  They may be ready for a breakthrough. Like any group of people who have worked closely together, personality types have emerged. The band members have unsurprisingly developed intense personal histories and relationships.

The original music flowing from “Stereophonic” is generally appropriate and really pretty good.  The actors performing the original music are likewise talented.

Our actors are:

• Andrew Gombas is chillingly effective as Peter, the Lindsey Buckingham-esque perfectionist guitarist whose creative brilliance is matched only by his "sharp edges of control and ego". 

• Claire DeJean, as the vulnerable yet resilient Diana, delivers a performance that anchors the show's emotional heartbeat. Her vocals on Will Butler’s "Bright" are described as "hypnotic" and "pure rebellion". 

• Cornelius McMoyler (reprising his role from the original company) provides the production’s backbone as Simon, the steadying "father" of the band who tries to keep time amidst the chaos. 
• Emilie Kouatchou as Holly (reprises her role from the Broadway cast) and is a solid Broadway veteran.  She does her best to keep the production on track.
• Christoper Mowod is Reg the band’s bass player who becomes the target of Peter’s ire so much so that Peter records Reg’s part independently himself..

• Jack Barrett makes a remarkable professional debut as Grover, the insecure but driven engineer. Critics noted his "visceral ambition," which links the studio crew more closely to the band's competitive fire than previous iterations. 
• Steven Lee Johnson is Charlie (also from the original cast).  He is Grover’s assistant. Charlie is the gossip of the group and the character who many times moves the script along.

These band members and their audio engineer plus his assistant have made a play about one mid 1970 rock group’s mystical process of making the music they hope their fans will embrace. 

What goes into the magic of music - the only universal language across our species? In the Tony Award-winning play “Stereophonic.” Our setting is a classy Los Angeles recording studio, This mainly British Band has an unlimited budget to create this thing. Which they are making up as they go along.

The audience is dropped headfirst into the pressure cooker of all the conflict, drama, and rage that goes into great rock music: the recording studio. Inspired by the sound of the 70s, fans of the era will have some great moments to connect to.

Imagine the recording studio as a maternity ward and the band is birthing an album.  You can almost hear the howls as the nurse calming tells the new Mom to push.

Stereophonic gives its audience a surround sound look at the effects of cocaine, booze, and electric guitar. Spanning from the summer of 1976 to the summer of 1977, Stereophonic tells the story of a band producing an album, following the success of their previous release.

By this time, the bandmates are disturbingly and deeply unwell artists, an identity as timeless as hunger. Whether or not the play is meant to be disturbing is anybody’s guess.

This play won numerous awards including Best Bew Play in 2025.  So who the Hell am I to criticize?

“Stereophonic” lacks structure and dramatic arc.  There is a lot of clashing and yelling and taking childish timeouts.  There are a lot of very tired people venting stored up hatred.

One wonders if the studio was located in Mr. Rogers Neighborhood if he might suddenly appear and ask “Can anyone say overmodulated.”

Running at just about 2 hours and 40 minutes excluding intermission, the play shares many of the same problems of the band it focuses on. It’s an ensemble play, of sorts - meaning every character wants to be the main character, every conflict wants to be the main conflict, but none of them really are.

There is no clear beginning, middle, or end, just… conflict. One minute you’re laughing at a drug-addled rockstar losing his mind over the behavior of his compatriots, the next you’re anxious to be a bystander to the spectacle of abuse. 

There are very obvious parallels to a very popular and volatile band from the 70s, but due to a copyright infringement lawsuit that has previously been settled, the comparisons may be very "fleeting" in nature. The defendant in the lawsuit was our playwright Davud Adjmi.

The scenic design by David Zinn, costumes by Enver Chakartash, lights by Jiyoun Chang, and hair and makeup by Robert Pickens and Katie Gell do a very effective job of transporting their audience to the cozy nostalgia of the mid-70s. I must admit, I longed to lounge on the couch of the studio, listening to the sounds and breathing in the fumes. The sound by Ryan Rumery was well mixed and balanced, though at times may jump out at you. If that’s what’s necessary to keep an audience engaged for three hours, so be it.

Go to hear that music but understand you may drive home frazzled.  If you are a nervous person, bring a Xanax or two.  The play has all the charm of a divorce settlement conference.

If you’ve got the time and the right meds, the designers and actors have put out work worth seeing. The play? Maybe not so much to write home about - at least not more than six paragraphs.

“Stereophonic” continues at the Kauffman Center April 7-12. Tickets can be purchased through the American Theatre Guild at 816.421.7500 or through Ticketmaster.

“Stereophonic” was seen and reviewed jointly by Alan Portner and Shelly Verden for BroadwayWorld.com.

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