Studio drama: Broadway hit ‘Stereophonic’ is a groovy good time

“ Stereophonic” — 3.5 stars

It's rare for non-musical Broadway plays — even major Tony Award-winning ones — to go out on a national tour. So the arrival of the 2024 hit Broadway drama “Stereophonic” at the CIBC Theatre in Chicago is certainly something to celebrate (though technically this is a play filled with music).

The advertising for “Stereophonic” boasts its status as “the most Tony Award-nominated play of all time” with 13 nods, ultimately winning five. But what's more likely to get general audiences to flock to “Stereophonic” is the fact that playwright David Adjmi (“Marie Antoinette,” “3C”) obviously took his dramatic inspiration for his fictionalized 1970s rock band from the real-life Fleetwood Mac.

“Stereophonic” originally ran a whopping 3 hours and 10 minutes. But on tour, the play has been trimmed to around 2 hours and 50 minutes in what Adjmi is calling “The Radio Edit” (no doubt to cut down on union labor costs).

“Stereophonic” is an observational, fly-on-the-wall drama set entirely in split-level California recording studios. Within these creative crucibles, you watch as a band made up of Brits and Americans — some in romantic relationships — endeavor to create a hit album on the scale of Fleetwood Mac's “Rumours.”

Grammy Award winner Will Butler, formerly of the band Arcade Fire, has penned a number of groovy new tunes that not only feel very much of the era, but also obliquely comment on the band's inner dramas. But don't expect to hear all of Butler's songs full out.

Like the pieced-together and overdubbed studio audio of “Rumors,” “Stereophonic” itself is chronologically made up of fragmentary incidents, and Adjmi forces audiences to connect many of the dramatic dots. Sometimes you get really juicy snippets of the ongoing soap opera amid plenty of dynamic and melodic music making. Other times you're tripped up by the tedium of repeated song takes when something is technically wrong or artistically argued over in the sound mix.

Director Daniel Aukin oversees an amazing cast of actor-musicians for “Stereophonic” (a few touring cast members were also Broadway understudies). These performers all not only have the technical instrumental skills to rock out, but also the dramatic chops to fully inhabit these oversize artistic personalities.

As the lead album producer and American guitarist Peter, Denver Milord is certainly imposing as a manipulative perfectionist whose communication style is more about tearing people down than building them up. Milord's Peter is a great nominal villain for Claire DeJean as the initially fragile Diana, a very talented American singer-songwriter grappling with the pressures of fame, impostor syndrome and 1970s societal expectations of women.

As Holly, the band's British keyboardist and a fellow singer-songwriter, Emilie Kouatchou regally carries herself as an artist who clearly knows her talent and worth, and who will no longer be taking the drunken and drug-addled misbehavior of her husband, the bassist Reg (an amusingly spacey Christopher Mowod).

As the affable British drummer Simon who bemoans his overextended stay in the U.S., Cornelius McMoyler is great at keeping the beat while also having the audacity to stand up to the dictatorial Peter.

Corralling all these artistic personalities are the amusing American studio engineers Grover (Jack Barrett) and Charlie (Steven Lee Johnson). Along with providing a steady flow of marijuana and cocaine to the musicians, they comically have to bend backward to meet the many whims of the band mates while struggling to remain laser-focused on the drawn-out recording sessions.

The whole look and sound of the production rightfully takes you back to the 1970s. This is especially clear in designer Enver Chakartash's spot-on period costumes amid all the wood paneling mixed with orange and brown hues of David Zinn's recording studio sets.

Ryan Rumery's Tony Award-winning sound design is also a wonder, whether it’s churning up each rocking studio session or eavesdropping in on the band's explosive fights. And Jiyoun Chang's often dim lighting design also locks you in to the early-hours recording sessions when the band members' and engineers' patience is wearing very thin.

So, does “Stereophonic” ultimately live up to its status as the most-nominated Tony Award play? I'd argue that other plays like “Angels in America” or “Death of a Salesman” are more dramatically weighty and important to American culture.

But as a nostalgic 1970s snapshot examining the creative pains, pressures and personality dynamics of skilled musicians striving to be their artistic best, “Stereophonic” certainly achieves its own dramatic demands of high artistry. Plus, it can be plenty of fun for audiences to sit in along for the ride.

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Location: CIBC Theatre, 18 W. Monroe St., Chicago

Times: 7 p.m. Tuesday to Friday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday and Wednesday, also 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 1; through Feb. 8

Running time: About 2 hours, 50 minutes, with intermission

Parking: Area pay garages and limited metered street parking

Tickets: $55.35-$165.10

Box office: (312) 977-1700 or BroadwayInChicago.com

Rating: Profanity, copious drug use and a burst of violence.