What’s tougher in the music business — making magic in the recording studio, or making magic in the recording studio a second time?

That question forces Will Butler into a guttural cackle.

Butler’s own band, the famed indie rock group Arcade Fire, lived in Montreal, miles away from the big industry players and famed recording studios. Despite that, pressure still hovered over the Grammy-winning band, threatening their self-contained creative bubble.

“You could tell there was a monster lurking just off-screen,” said Butler, who left the band in 2021.

That monster is one Butler revisited when signing on to create the music for a fictional band that buckles under the immense pressure of expectations in “Stereophonic.” The play earned a record 13 Tony nominations in 2024, winning five, inc

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