Stark Sands is Riding the Wave of SWEPT AWAY

What do you get when you combine the iconic music of The Avett Brothers with the genius of an already Tony-winning creative team? A whale of a tale called Swept Away- and it just so happens to be sailing into Broadway's Longacre Theatre this fall. 

Follwing years of development and two out-of-town runs (Berkeley Rep in 2022 and Arena Stage in 2023), Swept Away is finally arriving in New York City this season with its complete principal cast in tow. Two-time Tony nominee Stark Sands, who was most recently seen as Shakespeare in & Juliet, is taking on a very diffrent character as 'Big Brother' and he is telling us all about why this is a musical that is not to be missed!

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What can you tell me about your character, Big Brother?

Our story is about a shipwreck in 1888- a whaling ship that goes down in the Atlantic and then the four survivors who are left on a lifeboat for weeks to hope for some survival. And the four main characters are two members of the ship- the captain and the mate, that's Wayne Duvall and John Gallagher Jr. And then there's these two farm boys who arrive on the ship right before it leaves. My character is the older brother who has sort of chased his younger brother onto the ship.

Little Brother has left home, he wants an adventure. Big Brother is the reliable one. He's the devout one. He's the one who always does the right thing. He has followed his little brother to stop him from making this mistake. And as they are on the ship arguing about it, the ship just leaves. And so they're both stuck on it for a two-year voyage. So the stakes become very high.

You've been with this show for years now. Is it fair to say it's the longest time that you've been with a single character?

It is. My first reading was the summer of 2019. 

Do you like getting to spend that much time with one character? Are you still thinking about him in the in-between time?

It hasn't left me. When I first heard about this project, I was a fan of the band and because of my friend John Gallagher Jr., who introduced me to the band back in the American Idiot days. Then I heard there was a musical and I was like, 'Oh, that's so cool.' And then I heard that John was attached and I was like, 'That's amazing!' And I heard Michael [Mayer] was directing it. And then eventually, Michael reached out and said, 'Hey, do you want to do want to come do this with us?' So I have!

And you've been on quite a journey with it since then...

There's something about taking a show out of town, especially now as a dad and a husband. It's a high opportunity cost to go out of town with something so far away. This was 2021, it's full COVID, it's in Berkeley, California. Because I had been connected to it and it was the first job I had after the pandemic, I didn't want to pass on it. And so my family and I made the sacrifice and it was three months away from home. And it's a long time!

I never gave up hope that it would make a transfer. And so when I had to go to another out-of-town run a little closer to home, it was still worth it. And I'm so grateful to have this opportunity now to put it up in New York in front of people who have been waiting to see it and haven't been able to make those trips because it's a special piece. I've been so lucky to do jobs that are thought provoking. This is definitely one of those.

You made your Broadway debut back in 2007 in Journey's End. Your "Little Brother" Adrian [Blake Enscoe] will make his debut in about a month. Are you excited for him to have this moment after having spent so much time working with him?

I am! I recognized in him excitement from the beginning. He's also playing a role that is the endearing one. The audience loves him from the moment he runs on stage and he's the one that you're that you're rooting for. I remember having that responsibility in Journey's End... so when things went wrong for my character in Journey's End, it was like I was responsible for breaking the heart of the audience. I know what that can do! And so I have tried to take him under my wing and give him a little bit of guidance. And he's a wonderful guy and I'm really excited for him.

This is technically a jukebox musical since it uses the music of The Avett Brothers, but I know it's not pulled from a concept album, but their whole catalog. How does the music interweave with the narrative?

Matthew Masten, our leading producer, took this to John Logan and said, 'Hey, we have this idea to do this,' a musical of this one album called Mignonette, which is one of their early ones. And, it's sort of inspired by a shipwreck story. John Logan responded, got back to him and said, 'I want to do it, but I want access to the whole catalog.' And so they went to The Avett Brothers and they said, 'Yeah, go for it.'

For the next however many months, John Logan sat, listened to every single song that they had made and produced. He listened for themes and characters and he came away with something that characters were created based on the songs that were written about their lives and about their influences.

If you already know the music, [we've found that] our Avett base are blown away at just how well John has woven these things together. It really feels like a cohesive story. We've changed a few lyrics here and there just out of necessity, but it's pretty great. And there is one song that they wrote for the show and I get to sing it!

And which one is that?

It's called "Lord, Lay Your Hand on My Shoulder" And it's very character-driven for the role that I play. It was a wonderful responsibility to be given this one surprise song that I get to debut.

The music is obviously a selling point for fans. What do you say to people who have no concept of who The Avett Brothers are?

[Swept Aay] is like nothing you've ever seen before. And there are a lot of selling points. One of them is the creative team, which is, you know, John Logan and David Neumann and Michael Mayer and The Avett Brothers and our incredible sound team. Another is the stagecraft. There is another thing I don't want to give away, but there is a moment in the show where there is this magic trick that happens with a set and that's Rachel Hauck, who's a genius. And it's this thing that you really don't see it coming. It's not like a normal musical.

So if you could describe the show in three words...

Different. Thrilling. Surprising.