David Adjmi's Stereophonic Takes Home the Tony Award for Best Play

Stereophonic, David Adjmi's musical play with songs by Will Butler, has won the 2024 Tony Award for Best Play. It takes home the top prize after earning a record-breaking 13 Tony nominations, the most ever received by a play. The production, which follows a successful '70s band through a year of torturous recording sessions, won a total of five Tony Awards throughout the evening, including Best Featured Actor (Will Brill), Best Direction (Daniel Aukin), Best Scenic Design (David Zinn) and Best Sound Design (Ryan Rumery). 

Stereophonic had an off-Broadway world premiere in fall 2023 at Playwrights Horizons, transferring to the John Golden Theatre this past April. The production was originally slated for a limited 14-week engagement, but is now set to run through January 5, 2025. The cast features Will Brill as Reg, Andrew R. Butler as Charlie, Juliana Canfield as Holly, Eli Gelb as Grover, Tom Pecinka as Peter, Sarah Pidgeon as Diana and Chris Stack as Simon.

"This has been the best experience of my entire life," said Adjmi in his acceptance speech. "It's really hard to make a career in the arts. We need to fund the arts in America. It is the hallmark of a civilized society."

In an interview with Broadway.com, Adjmi described how he sourced inspiration for the play from real-life rock stars: "I took notes on anything about process and about people's personalities. Anything intimate and not presentational. I was trying to look for glimpses of that anywhere that I could find it.” He also commented on his meticulous writing process: "I am very exacting, but I'm not an egomaniac. It's not coming from a place of ego. It's coming from a deep spiritual need to get something right.”

During a recent photo shoot for Broadway.com, Canfield described her first impressions of Adjmi's play: "It had this sort of mythical reputation that had been building over the years. The first time I heard it out loud, I was like, 'Whoa, whatever cast ends up doing this show, if they can pull it off, this will be really incredible.'" At the same photo shoot, Pecinka shared, "I think it's rare that you're part of something that is as good as the hype and is as good as the nominations it's been given—and hopefully the awards it will be given."