Mitra I. Arthur | December 9, 2024
The process of artistic creation makes for perfect storytelling. There's the unsexy doubt and the exhilarating breakthroughs, the fortifying confirmations and the sticky pockets. It is a messy process. This whole creative affair gets stickier when the artist is a band full of complex personalities and fraught relationships.
This is the central premise of David Adjmi's play Stereophonic, which ends its Broadway run on Jan. 12. The play garnered a record 13 Tony nominations and took home five, including Best Play. So what is a play doing at the Tiny Desk? Well, the play features an album's worth of original music from Will Butler (formerly of Arcade Fire) whose lyrics provide insight into five people falling apart when they should be coming together creatively. The music is performed by the original Broadway cast members Will Brill (who won a Tony for his performance), Juliana Canfield, Tom Pecinka, Sarah Pidgeon and Chris Stack, who are joined here by composer Butler and music director and orchestrator Justin Craig.
The cast treats us to "Bright (Fast)" featuring Pidgeon's earthy twang, the Pecinka-led "Seven Roads," and Canfield's contemplative duo of "Drive," (supported by Stack and Brill's propulsive beat) and "In Your Arms." Throughout the performance Butler and Craig provide embellishments that help build out the sonic footprint of the tunes. Our unnamed band (as the audience never quite learns its actual name) closes the set with "Masquerade" in all its grooving '70s rock grandeur.
SET LIST
"Bright (Fast)"
"Seven Roads"
"Drive"
"In Your Arms"
"Masquerade"
MUSICIANS
Will Butler: piano, guitar, vocals, composition
Justin Craig: guitar, music direction
Will Brill: bass as Reg
Juliana Canfield: piano, vocals as Holly)
Tom Pecinka: guitar, vocals as Peter)
Sarah Pidgeon: vocals as Diana)
Chris Stack: drums as Simon)
TINY DESK TEAM
Producer: Mitra I. Arthur
Director/Editor: Joshua Bryant
Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell
Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Maia Stern, Zayhra Rodriguez
Audio Engineer: Neil Tevault
Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer
Photographer: Alanté Serene
Tiny Desk Copy Editor: Hazel Cills
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins
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