Drumming Up Multiple Tony Awards on Broadway 

Chris Stack (bottom left) plays Simon, the drummer in a fictitious 1970s band called Stereophonic, inspired by Fleetwood Mac drummer Mac.
Credit: Chris Stack

Chris Stack has been living and working as an actor in New York City for more than two decades, finding success as Ian in Midday Black Midnight Blue, Dr. Michael McBain in One Life to Live, and Tom Anderson in Interview With the Vampire.

In April, Stack made his Broadway debut in the lead role of Simon in the play Stereophonic, which spotlights one year in the life of an almost-famous band working to record an album in 1976. He continues to star in the show, which will head to London’s West End in 2025. If the creative and interpersonal tensions are reminiscent of a certain rumor-fueled British-American quintet (ahem, Fleetwood Mac), well, it’s not un-intentional. 

When you arrived at L&C, did you imagine acting as a future career path? 

I showed up at Lewis & Clark with an inkling that I would want to go into theatre. It was the first thing that was a visceral pleasure for me. Lewis & Clark and the theatre department gave me a safe and fun and low-stakes place to explore acting. I stuck around when I realized that the inkling I had at the beginning was absolutely right for me. 

How did you navigate your first years as a professional actor? 

I knew from an early age that I wanted to live in New York City. If you want to pursue acting at a certain level, you move to New York or to Los Angeles, and I was never that keen on Los Angeles. After about a year post-graduation, it was time to go. I got into the Actors Studio, and that was the only nudge I needed. There were wonderful plays and film and television opportunities that came my way after completing my MFA, but there were also hiccups and droughts. The connections I made through Lewis & Clark’s study program in New York have been the most consistently sustaining in my now 26-year career. I can draw a direct line from that program to where I am now. 

Do you prefer stage or screen acting? 

Film and television acting is interesting and rewarding in its own right. But if I had to choose, I would say that theatre is the greatest practice of this art. When you’re in a show, you’re doing it eight times a week. Part of the craft is keeping it fresh. You begin in one place and end in another; it’s all linear. Even in the moments when you get distracted or someone’s cell phone is going off, it’s so immediate. When I’m on stage, it’s one of the only times in my life when I’m not thinking of anything else. I’m incredibly present in those moments. 

How did you come to be cast as Simon in Stereophonic? 

It came across my desk for the first time through my agents five years ago. I had worked with David Adjmi, the playwright, before, and I think he knew I played the drums. There was an audition for a one-week workshop, which I couldn’t do, and I was devastated. In 2023, my agent said it was coming up again through this wonderful off-Broadway theatre company called Playwrights Horizons. I had a week to prepare the audition, and once I booked the part, we had a month before starting rehearsals. From the word go, it’s been the most gratifying, collaborative, inspiring experience that I’ve had in a long time. 

What’s the experience been like?

All of the play’s details speak to me—playing the drums, being an American actor playing a British character, being a father to young kids, having a huge crush on actress Julie Christie [mentioned in the play]. It’s not a musical, even though there’s music in it. The play takes risks that I haven’t seen in any other play. There are so many ways it could’ve gone wrong or fallen flat. The fact that it didn’t and has ascended to these historic heights is a testament to the passion that everyone brought to the process. It’s rare, and it continues to be inspiring.