Sufjan Stevens Dance Musical Illinoise Coming to Broadway in Time for 2024 Tony Awards
(© Stephanie Berger)
Justin Peck’s new Sufjan Stevens folk dance musical Illinoise will transfer to the St. James Theatre as an under-the-wire entry to cap off the current Broadway season. Opening night is April 24, one day before the Tony Awards cut off.
Currently running at the Park Avenue Armory (after an earlier engagement at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre), Illinoise is directed and choreographed by Peck, with a story by Peck and Jackie Sibblies Drury. A coming of age campfire story, it’s set to the songs of Stevens’s 2006 album Illinois, performed live in its entirety by an 11-member band with three vocalists.
The leading cast of dancers are Gaby DIaz, Ben Cook, Robert Fairchild, Ahmad Simmons, and Ricky Ubeda. Vocalists are Elijah Lyons, Shara Nova, and Tasha Viets-VanLear. In the dance ensemble are Kara Chan, Jeanette Delgado, Christine Flores, Jada German, Zachary Gonder, Rachel Lockhart, Dario Natarelli, Tyrone Reese, Craig Salstein, Byron Tittle, and Alejandro Vargas. Musicians include Christina Courtin, Sean Peter Forte, Domenica Fossati, Daniel Freedman, Kathy Halvorson, Nathan Koci, Eleonore Oppenheim, Brett Parnell, Brandon Ridenour, Kyra Sims, and Jessica Tsang.
The creative team includes music director and supervisor Nathan Koci, scenic designer Adam Rigg, lighting designer Brandon Stirling Baker, sound designer Garth MacAleavey, costume designers Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung, props designer Andrew Diaz, and masks designer Julian Crouch.
Of the Armory production, our critic said “There are so many moments of brilliance, but as soon as the show seems to find a groove, some disappointment yanks us out of the trance.”
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