Broadway SF show Stereophonic had advertisements on TV with "Masquerade," a very catchy number, being sung by sexy hippie chicks. Yet I hesitated to go until I read that the music was written by Will Butler from Arcade Fire and that it was set in 1970's Sausalito. Me being a groover, I sprung for tickets after that critical bit of info.
The audience is expected to overlook many problems with the show, including that it is torturous for a music fan. We do not receive enough musical or dramatic payoffs for enduring soap opera plotlines - of both the interpersonal relationships and the band's career. Anyone with working ears would be challenged to enjoy the cacophony of the first hour. Furthermore, the character arcs are not surprising or impressing.
The female who becomes Sterophonic's star - Diana - has a particularly whiney voice and her character is weak and very needy. She is unlikable at the start and overdoes the juvenile portrayal, perhaps to dramatize her eventual success. But her character at arc's end isn't much more likable; only her voice is. If a theater-goer can endure 75 minutes of whininess and discomfort, then you get Diana's singing voice, sounding like honey, alongside Peter's guitar. An actual song. Jeez.
What was the NYC show like? I can't imagine numerous Tony victories by the production we saw.
It is one cliche after another. At lights on, the scenery is 1970's brown and orange decor. Shocking. They do cocaine all night. Yawn. Reg, the coke-head, turns into a vegan-eating buddhist who quotes Carlos Castaneda. How deep. And in Act IV, Diana evolves into the punchline of the play: she's dressed like Stevie Nicks as glamour-hippie.
The biggest annoyance is that not until 1:45 into the play do we get the full band playing together. Seriously, we all went to garage parties in high school where the bands could play songs from the get-go. We all know there is awesome music playing in the Bay Area any night of any week. With "Stereophonic," it's overkill to watch the prolonged creative process and faux struggles that result in a soundtrack with very few songs. Les Miserables, it is not.
Yet they're the #1 band in America at 1:55? Hard to believe, since this is the first time they actually finish a song. This is when Diana is able to play the tune on the piano while she sings "I'm in the bright light" - after 22 takes! Alas, it's quite beautiful. The audience claps for the first time. I repeat: two hours into a MUSICAL, we get the first full song and the first round of applause from the audience. I would propose that the production allows us some satisfaction much earlier in the show.
We're all familiar with tension and release, but Stereophonic takes the concept too literally and too far. I do listen to the Stereophonic Original Cast album and it's fun to sing along to. As with the play though, the piecemeal nature of the recordings is sketchy and the soundtrack is limited in its ability to fulfill one's rock n roll expectations.