“Stereophonics,” starring Dallasite Claire DeJean (left), is set in a ’70s recording studio.
AT&T Performing Arts Center
For the last nine months, Claire DeJean has been jet-setting across the country, starring as Diana, the female lead in the first national tour of the multiple Tony Award-winning play “Stereophonic.” But this weekend, she’s staying with her family in Highland Park, getting some much-needed relaxation and restoration before the tour’s closing weekend at the Winspear Opera House.
DeJean, whose mom picked her up from the airport when she landed in Dallas for the five-show weekend, grew up in Highland Park before attending one of the nation’s premier musical theatre programs at the University of Michigan and then joining the performing arts rat race in New York City.
She saw the show “Stereophonic” for the first time in September of 2024, months after it had been nominated for more Tony Awards than any other play in history, ultimately winning five. She thought, ‘I could be in this show,’ and she was right. The record-breaking three-hour play is about a fictional band in the late ‘70s that struggles to record its second album over the course of a year, split into four acts. The show tackles creative burnout, interpersonal relationship issues, addiction, the unknown terrains of success and the usual perils of coming of age. The play, which includes 16-bar snippets of live, original music and one full song, is set entirely in a recording studio.
The seven characters in “Stereophonic” never leave the stage the entire three-hour show — except for intermission, obviously.
AT&T Performing Arts Center
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“This is kind of a perfect storm of all of the things that I love and that are very much me,” DeJean says about the show. “It’s cool because it’s a play. There’s amazing text, and story and characters… It’s very rare that a play gets to go on tour.”
“Stereophonic” has toured from sea to shining sea, but DeJean is particularly excited, and just a little bit scared, about ending the show back home.
“This is definitely written in the stars for many different reasons,” she says. “I feel so relieved in a way, too, to be able to come home after this kind of insane eight months of my life. I’ve learned so much from this experience. I don’t really get to come home a lot because I live in New York now. I’m so tied up there, so it’s special to get to be here.”
Friday will be DeJean’s first time on the Winspear stage instead of in the audience, and she’ll spend, give or take, 15 hours in three days at center stage.
“The love for the show keeps me going, and it reinvigorates and inspires me every day,” she says. “But it is hard. I’ve done over 200 shows at this point, and it still feels new. We really work to give people the best show that we can every night. But it’s hard, I can’t even sugarcoat it.”
The fictional band in “Stereophonic” has been likened to Fleetwood Mac. DeJean’s character is inspired by Stevie Nicks, and her love interest, Peter, played by Denver Milord, is her Lindsey Buckingham.
AT&T Performing Arts Center
Creative burnout in the pursuit of perfection is a central theme within the show, and it’s what makes it resonate with so many.
“I love getting to meet older women who come see the show, and they connect with my character,” says DeJean. “At the same time, I’m playing a woman in the ’70s that’s around the same age that I am now. She’s just a girl who’s finding her way and figuring things out, and has the pressures of her career and her life. I can relate to that a lot.”
After DeJean takes her final bow, she’ll return to New York City (though she’ll be stopping by her favorite bakery, JD’s Chippery, for some cookies before boarding her flight), ready to continue auditioning in a troubled arts landscape. It’s scary. It’s exciting. It’s essential to her happiness.
“Within my experience on the tour, I’ve felt grateful that every day I get to do what I love… I wish I could say I’m going to go back to New York and be carefree, but I care a lot,” she says. “I feel like I’m always going to care about what the next thing is going to be. But being grateful for where I’m at right now and understanding that I’ll be back in this place again at some point keeps me going.”
Claire DeJean will take the stage at the Winspear Opera House for five weekend performances of “Stereophonic” May 8-10. Tickets start at $40.