Illinoise on Broadway Tickets

By: Jackie Sibblies Drury and Justin Peck
Songs by: Sufjan Stevens
Director: Justin Peck
Choreography: Justin Peck
Cast list: Yesenia Ayala, Kara Chan, Ben Cook, Gaby Diaz, Jeanette Delgado, Carlos Falu, Christine Flores, Jada German, Zachary Gonder, Rachel Lockhart, Brandt Martinez, Dario Natarelli, Tyrone Reese, Craig Salstein, Ahmad Simmons, Byron Tittle, Ricky Ubeda, Alejandro Vargas, Elijah Lyons, Shara Nova, Tasha Viets-VanLear
Design: Adam Rigg
Costumes: Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung
Lighting: Brandon Stirling Baker
Sound: Garth MacAleavey
Other info: Music direction and supervision by Nathan Koci, arrangements and orchestrations by Timo Andres, props design by Andrew Diaz, mask design by Julian Crouch

Many musicals feature song and dance, but Illinoise is something new entirely. Featuring a sparse libretto to help emphasize the music and Justin Peck's choreography, this is a musical that is more about emotions than strict narrative. Peck and Drury, who co-wrote the musical's script, achieve thrilling excitement thanks to their inventive storytelling and staging, and Sufjan Stevens’s playful, plaintive, and yearning music all provides the backdrop and momentum for this one-of-a-kind piece.

Today, many Broadway shows riff on existing films and books, but not as many play with albums to experiment with the form. This makes Illinoise stand out: adventurous fans seeking a new kind of Broadway experience will be delighted, but so will those who are perhaps new to Broadway but love Stevens’s soaring melodies and soulful lyrics. Featuring Broadway performers alongside New York City Ballet dancers and bringing together popular music and theatre artists on the creative team, Illinoise builds a sacred community on stage and off.

What to watch for

• Illinoise is a special kind of show, but also tried and true: it is coming off of two sold-out, hit productions from this year at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater and in New York at Park Avenue Armory.
• Whether you’re a theatre buff or not, you’ve likely encountered Justin Peck’s work before; he choreographed dance sequences in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story and Bradley Cooper’s Maestro, earned a Tony Award nomination for his work on Carousel, and is resident choreographer at the New York City Ballet.
• After earning a Grammy nomination, Sufjan Stevens has also made a splash in Hollywood, earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for writing and performing Call Me By Your Name’s “Mystery of Love.” Illinoise marks his first major foray into theatre and gives audiences a new way to encounter his work.
• Give the original Illinois album a listen! It was the best-reviewed album of 2005 on review aggregator Metacritic, and writers at Paste, NPR, and Rolling Stone later named it to "best of the decade" lists.