Juliana Canfield didn’t plan on telling a lie during her audition for the play “Stereophonic.” It just happened accidentally.
Listen to this week’s “Stagecraft” podcast below:
The breakout star from HBO’s Emmy darling “Succession,” Canfield had been asked by the “Stereophonic” producers if she could play the piano. This skill was crucial for her character, a member of a 1970s rock band struggling to record a new album. Canfield confidently replied, “Oh, I played until I was 18, so I feel pretty confident that I’ll be able to handle whatever the music is.” However, later that day, when she spoke to her mom about the conversation, she realized her mistake. Her mother revealed, “Juliana, you quit the piano when you were in the sixth grade. You were 12!”
Fortunately, it all worked out. “Stereophonic” made its Off-Broadway premiere to critical acclaim and is now set to open on Broadway, with Canfield reprising her role in David Adjmi’s play, featuring music by former Arcade Fire member Will Butler.
Set in a recording studio, “Stereophonic” aims to recreate the casual, overlapping rhythms of everyday life. However, the show demands precision with its extraordinarily detailed script, dictating every overlap and movement.
“It’s engineered that way because it feels like a piece of music, and of course, the play is about a piece of music, so it’s really scored,” Canfield explains. “When we hit the rhythms perfectly, you can feel the whole scene sort of fill with air, like a kite that catches the wind, and suddenly it’s moving in this beautiful way that feels so natural. But getting there requires a lot of repetition.”
On the “Stagecraft” podcast, Canfield also shares her experiences of becoming an onstage band with her castmates, including their one-night-only appearance as a real-life band that opened for Will Butler in Brooklyn. She also reveals what it’s been like to get a taste of the rockstar lifestyle.
“There’s all the boozing and all the smoking of cigarettes, and that feels kind of rockstar and glamorous,” she admits. “But I don’t understand how any of these people ever got any work done. I mean, I smoke little sips of an herbal cigarette onstage, and I need to steam my throat, I need three cups of tea, and I can’t talk for twelve hours!”
To hear the entire conversation, listen at the link above or download and subscribe to “Stagecraft” on podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and the Broadway Podcast Network. New episodes of “Stagecraft” are released every other week.
Source link: F5mag.com