Life imitates art which imitates... living art? Stereophonic's unnamed super group escaped the confines of Broadway's Golden Theatre July 11 to perform the complete versions of several songs that are only partially heard throughout the Tony winning play.
Paying a visit to Today, Tony winner Will Brill, bandmates Tom Pecinka, Juliana Canfield, Chris Stack, Sarah Pidgeon, and music director Justin Craig took to the stage as a part of the morning show's Citi Concert Series.
While the cast have performed on late night television and at the Tony awards, performances have all been limited to the song "Masquerade," the only song to come close to completion within the play itself. On Today, the band performed two songs that had previously only existed in full form on the show's cast album.
The first song, "Seven Roads", is the album opener. Described to Playbill as a "big, beefy slab of '70's rock 'n' roll" by composer Will Butler, Brill introduced the song before the band launched into their jam session below.
The cast, who appeared out of costume yet still in '70s-era clothing, also performed the song "Drive." Originally written for the record as the ultimate example of high fidelity sound mixing, when performed live the track takes on a hypnotizing lilt, aided by Canfield's mellow vocals.
As Canfield shared about Stereophonic following the performance, "It's a great play with great music and a great cast and stellar creative team. It just has it all."
Written by David Adjmi, Stereophonic won the 2024 Tony award for Best Play, Direction of a Play (Daniel Aukin), Featured Actor (Will Brill), Sound Design (Ryan Rumery), and Scenic Design (David Zinn). The play had already made history prior to the ceremony as the most Tony nominated play in Broadway history, with 13 nominations.
The play, which follows an unnamed '70s rock band recording their sophomore album, features original music by Butler, formerly of the band Arcade Fire. The production will run on Broadway until January 5, 2025 at the Golden Theatre.
Andrew R. Butler and Eli Gelb in Stereophonic
Juliana Canfield in Stereophonic
Sarah Pidgeon in Stereophonic
Sarah Pidgeon, Juliana Canfield, and Tom Pecinka in Stereophonic
Chris Stack and Will Brill in Stereophonic
Juliana Canfield in Stereophonic
Company of Stereophonic
Company of Stereophonic
Tom Pecinka and Sarah Pidgeon in Stereophonic
Company of Stereophonic
