Broadway Is Celebrating Casimir Pulaski Day
Come on! Feel the Illinoise! The Sufjan Stevens musical/dance piece/cry fest Illinoise, with music from his 2005 album sometimes of the same name (at other times, it’s spelled Illinois), is coming to Broadway. Directed and choreographed by Justin Peck, the show features a story by Peck and Jackie Sibblies Drury (Fairview). It features an 11-piece band, three vocalists, and a cast of dancers enacting the story through Stevens’s album. The production is currently playing Off Broadway at the Park Avenue Armory.
The plot, such as there is one in an impressionistic dance piece set to an album, follows “narratives centering on self-exploration and community,” according to a press release. “This project has been ruminating in my mind for nearly 20 years, which makes this moment even more sublime,” Peck said in a statement. Illinoise opens on April 24, with no preview performances, and is running until August 10 at the St. James Theatre. Notably, that opening date is exactly one day before the 2023–24 Tonys deadline. Smart scheduling makes the dream work.
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