Tom Pecinka is a 2024 Tony Award nominee for his efficiency in “Stereophonic,” now taking part in in New York. by way of Related Press
Because the ruthlessly formidable Peter in Broadway’s “Stereophonic,” Tom Pecinka will get to are living out a Nineteen Seventies rock celebrity delusion — replete with the intercourse, medicine and unfashionable style — onstage.
Regardless that the actor describes his Tony-nominated efficiency as a full-throttle, emotional purge, he’s thankful to depart that have in the back of after curtain name.
“There are issues I am getting to do as Peter that I don’t get to do in my lifestyles,” Pecinka, who’s making his Broadway debut, informed HuffPost. “Peter permits himself to explode, and I’d be mendacity if I mentioned attending to scream at any individual wasn’t cathartic. However I love to stay him on the theater. I do a ritual each and every evening the place I take off the necklace I put on and say good-bye to him, as a result of he’s now not essentially the most amusing individual to are living with.”
Now taking part in at New York’s Golden Theatre, “Stereophonic” has been nominated for 13 Tony Awards — essentially the most ever for a Broadway play. On Tuesday, the display’s run was once prolonged thru Jan. 5 after firstly being slated to near subsequent month.
Written by means of David Adjmi and directed by means of Daniel Aukin, the drama follows a Laurel Canyon-era rock band within the throes of recording an album. Peter is the band’s hot-headed guitarist and is inquisitive about a tempestuous, on-and-off dating with singer-songwriter Diana (Sarah Pidgeon).
Tom Pecinka, Will Brill and Sarah Pidgeon in “Stereophonic.” Julieta Cervantes
Peter and Diana’s bandmates are 3 Brits: bassist Reg (Will Brill) and keyboardist Holly (Juliana Canfield), who’re a married couple, and drummer Simon (Chris Stack). They’re joined of their Sausalito, California, studio by means of a couple of hapless engineers, Grover (Eli Gelb) and Charlie (Andrew R. Butler).
The band’s recording classes are, after all, a fiery conflict of egos. Over the path of 3 hours, the characters expose their interior turmoil in between laying down tune, which incorporates appearing unique songs by means of musician Will Butler, previously of the band Arcade Hearth.
“Artists come to the display, and so they move: ‘Oh, I do know the ache and the enjoyment of that procedure,’” Pecinka mentioned. “However somebody who’s carried out a bunch undertaking in fundamental college the place they have been paired with any individual they hate, or possibly they needed to do all the paintings as a result of no person else did … too can relate.”
Watch the video for “Masquerade” from Broadway’s “Stereophonic” solid recording underneath.
A lot of the thrill on “Stereophonic” has emphasised the fictitious band’s many parallels to Fleetwood Mac, whose masterpiece 1977 album “Rumours” was once recorded as participants Christine McVie and John McVie have been getting ready to divorce, whilst Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks had also known as it quits on their dating.
Pecinka spent months in guitar courses in preparation for his function, sending movies to the display’s inventive crew to stay them abreast of his weekly development. Regardless that he appeared to Buckingham early on, his interpretation of Peter additionally winks at Mick Jagger, Robert Plant and James Taylor, amongst different ’70s tune icons.
“I by no means felt find it irresistible was once the Fleetwood Mac tale, as a result of those characters are so fleshed out, they felt like their very own other people,” he mentioned. Vocally, he added, “my touchstone was once Nineteen Seventies Billy Joel, as a result of that was once the tune I grew up with from that length. So it was once already type of in me.”
A Wantagh, New York, local, Pecinka auditioned for “Stereophonic” in 2020, mere days sooner than COVID-19 shuttered theaters national. The play gained its premiere off-Broadway staging in fall of 2023, and the actor mentioned the risk to paintings with a modern author was once definitely worth the wait.
“Till then, my occupation had most commonly been Shakespeare and Chekhov and Ibsen — lifeless other people,” he quipped.
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“I by no means felt find it irresistible was once the Fleetwood Mac tale, as a result of those characters are so absolutely fleshed out, they felt like their very own other people,” mentioned Pecinka (on left, with Pidgeon). Julieta Cervantes
Regardless that “Stereophonic” is billed as a “play with tune” relatively than a musical, Pecinka and his solid buddies have been in a position to report the display’s songs for posterity on a brand new solid album.
It’s an fulfillment the actor, who was once informed by means of casting brokers that his rock tilt was once ill-suited for standard musical theater, is particularly pleased with: “It at all times led to me disgrace and unhappiness that I wasn’t in a position to do the ones issues, however now I’m making a song in the best way I wish to sing on Broadway.”
Maximum of Pecinka’s off-stage time in this day and age is spent making ready for the June 16 Tony Awards, the place he’s nominated for Perfect Efficiency by means of a Featured Actor in a Play along Brill and Gelb.
Having a look past “Stereophonic,” he’s desperate to parlay his newfound acclaim into tv and movie paintings in addition to theater. As for long term roles, he believes they are going to have not begun to be written.
“I was extra like Peter when I used to be more youthful ― an individual who’s chasing good fortune and dealing actually onerous,” he mentioned. ”[But] the object Peter has taught me is that my dream function won’t even exist but. I don’t really feel like I’ve been pigeonholed. If I will take care of that, I’ll be a more than pleased clam.”
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“I love taking part in any individual who could be very difficult, and there are issues I am getting to do as Peter that I don’t get to do in my lifestyles,” Pecinka mentioned. Valerie Terranova by way of Getty Pictures
