“Stereophonic,” an eavesdropping look at a folk-rock quintet that comes together and breaks up while recording what becomes a hit album, won the Tony Award for best new play on Sunday and is nominated for 13 Tonys, the most ever for a play.
It was the fifth award of the night for “Stereophonic,” which also won best direction for Daniel Orkin, best supporting actor for Will Brill, who plays the band’s bassist, best set design for David Zinn and best sound design for Ryan Rumely.
A meditation on the joys and pains of creative collaboration, Stereophonic, written by David Azimi, directed by Daniel Orkin and featuring songs by Will Butler, is a moving, naturalistic drama and cast member who became a star. Filmed over the course of a year, first in a recording studio in Sausalito, California, and then in Los Angeles, it explores the technical aspects of the recording process.
“I saw it as a challenge,” Azimi told The New York Times. “A lot of the ordinariness of the process is part of the beauty of its detail.”
“Stereophonic,” which premiered at the Golden Theatre in April, has been met with rave reviews from critics: “The play is a staggering achievement and already feels like a must-see American classic,” Naveen Kumar wrote in his review for The Times.
Amazingly, many of the performers had barely played an instrument before rehearsals began, and none had any professional experience, but after an unusually rigorous rehearsal period they became a band, supporting each other through poor pitch and shaky tempos.
“We hit the wrong notes all the time,” says Sarah Pidgeon, the show’s star, “but it still works because it’s real.”
Other nominees for best new play were “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding,” “Mary Jane,” “Mother Play” and “Prayer for the French Republic.”
