‘Stereophonic’ Performance Set for Tony Awards After Outcry

The cast of ‘Stereophonic.’

Julieta Cervantes

Stereophonic is now slated to perform at the Tony Awards.

The decision comes amid outcry from fans and the playwright, David Adjmi, himself, after the initial performance lineup was announced and did not include the show. While Stereophonic is a play, it features a score by Arcade Fire’s Will Butler, and has been nominated for best score, as well as 12 other Tonys.

Tony producers Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner had hinted Tuesday that the show may be performing. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the producers were asked if there had been further discussions about them performing.

“There are always discussions that start here and here,” Weiss replied, putting his hands out the length of about a ruler. “There’s a lot of speculation and people forming their own judgments and opinions, and we are trying on our show to represent the season as well as we possibly can with the time that we have. But stay tuned. There are so many chapters not written yet.”

On June 6, the day the lineup was announced, there was pushback when Stereophonic wasn’t included. In response, playwright David Adjmi posted on X: “We wanted to perform but they weren’t into it. We tried!”

Also set to perform at the June 16 ceremony are the casts of nominated musicals Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, Hell’s Kitchen, Illinoise, Merrily We Roll Along, Suffs, The Outsiders, The Who’s Tommy and Water for Elephants.

Also announced Wednesday was a list of Tony Awards presenters, including Utkarsh Ambudkar, Nate Burleson, Cynthia Erivo, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Josh Gad, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Sean Hayes, Taraji P. Henson, Julianne Hough, Jennifer Hudson, Angelina Jolie, Nick Jonas, Idina Menzel, Ashley Park, Jim Parsons, Wendell Pierce, Ben Platt, Anthony Ramos, Andrew Rannells, Solomon Thomas, Taylor Tomlinson, Pete Townshend, Tamara Tunie, Adrienne Warren, Patrick Wilson and Jeffrey Wright.

The 77th Tony Awards will celebrate the 2023-24 Broadway season. The Tonys, which are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, have been broadcast on CBS since 1978. 

Ariana DeBose will host the show from the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York. The ceremony will air live from 8-11 p.m. ET/5-8 p.m. PT on June 16 on CBS and stream on Paramount+ in the U.S.

Julianne Hough and Utkarsh Ambudkar will host the Tony Awards preshow, The Tony Awards: Act One. The special will feature a presentation of the first round of awards and will air live on Paramount’s free streaming service Pluto TV from 6:30-8 p.m. ET/3:30-5 p.m. PT.

The Tony Awards are produced in collaboration with Tony Award Productions and White Cherry Entertainment. Kirshner and Weiss are showrunners and executive producers for White Cherry Entertainment, and Weiss will serve as director. Jack Sussman is also an executive producer.