Review Roundup: Justin Peck Brings Sufjan Stevens' ILLINOISE to Life at Park Avenue Armory

The New York City premiere of Illinoise, the theatrical adaption of Grammy- and Oscar-nominated Sufjan Stevens’ concept album Illinois, has officially opened at Park Avenue Armory. Read the reviews!

Stevens’ beloved cult classic is brought to life with live music and vocals, impressionistic choreography, and narratives centering on self-exploration and community, crafted by Tony Award-winning director-choreographer Justin Peck (Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, Carousel) and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury (Fairview, Marys Seacole).
 
A full company of performers will bring an original story to life, set to the entirety of Stevens’ album with new arrangements by composer, pianist, and frequent Stevens collaborator Timo Andres, ranging in style from DIY folk and indie rock to marching band and ambient electronics, performed live by an 11-member band and three vocalists. 
 
Featured in the cast of Illinoise is Gaby Diaz, winner of So You Think You Can Dance Season 12, with film credits including Maestro, West Side Story, and tick, tick… BOOM!. Diaz starred Off-Broadway in Only Gold at MCC Theater, for which she won the Chita Rivera Award. Also in the company is Ben Cook, who appeared in the film West Side Story, on Broadway in West Side Story, Mean Girls, and Tuck Everlasting, on film in Happiness for Beginners (Netflix), and in recent featured roles in TV shows The First Lady (Showtime) and Pretty Little Liars (HBO Max); Robbie Fairchild, the former New York City Ballet principal dancer who received a Tony-nomination for his performance in An American in Paris, starred in Brigadoon at New York City Center and in the film Cats; Ahmad Simmons, Fosse/Verdon (FX), Hadestown, West Side Story, Carousel, and Cats on Broadway; and Ricky Ubeda, winner of So You Think You Can Dance Season 11, who appeared in FX’s Fosse/Verdon, the films West Side Story and Maestro, and on Broadway in West Side Story, On The Town, Cats, and Carousel.
 
 

Jesse Green, The New York Times: Mostly, “Illinoise” makes me wonder why so many musicals, even those that feature dance heavily, are so leadfooted in their storytelling conventions. (No surprise that Peck was influenced, as he told The Times, by the groundbreaking pop jukebox dancicals of Twyla Tharp.) “Illinoise” instead builds on its faith in the audience, trusting us to organize its various streams of information into a steady river of deep feeling inside our own heads. Or if you wind up crying, as I did, outside.

Gia Kourlas, The New York Times: It’s hard to pin down what “Illinoise” wants to be, though it clearly has Broadway ambitions. Is it the musical theater version of a story ballet? A concert with dancing? Does it even care about dancing, really? The show, referred to as “A New Kind of Musical,” has little that seems new; it’s drowning in sentimentality, which is about as old school as it gets. And it doesn’t have much of a story, but what is there — by Peck and the playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury — is opaque. There’s no dialogue. It’s the music that is the undisputed star here.

Frank Scheck, New York Stage Review: There have been many dance theater pieces inspired by pop artists, but few carry the sweeping emotional heft of Illinoise. Justin Peck’s dance production based on Sufjan’s Stevens’ critically acclaimed 2005 album is now receiving its New York City premiere at the Park Avenue Armory after buzzy runs at the Fisher Center at Bard and the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. If the rapturous audience response for this limited engagement is any indication, this won’t be its last stop.

Amelia Merrill, New York Theatre Guide: A few instances of more heavy-handed literalism are sprinkled through the piece, with gimmicks that work at first appearance but dull as they recur. A song about how our country’s founders and leaders haunt us, for example, doesn’t need accompanying identification signs to make its sociopolitical point; choices like this from director/choreographer Peck put too fine a point on an otherwise gorgeously crafted show. Peck’s choreography, however, leaves a lasting impression: Sped-up sequences of mimed movement and intricate tap dancing from Byron Tittle are both highlights of the contemporary dance piece. The duet “Decatur” is refreshing both for its evocation of childhood through play as dance, with characters balancing on unseen logs, and for its exploration of the ballet duet through two men, protagonist Henry (Ricky Ubeda) and his best friend Carl (Ben Cook), whose obliviousness to Henry’s feelings endears us to him all the more. The ensemble of Illinoise is strong and often moves as if one unit, but Ubeda and Cook’s performances stand out for their ingenuity.

Jonathan Mandell, New York Theater: For all the high-powered theatrical talent involved, this stage interpretation of Sufjan Stevens’ acclaimed 2005 album “Illinois” could probably use a warning label. It’s extraordinary, it’s queer, it’s often thrilling, but regular New York theatergoers might need to adjust their expectations. The first adjustment — and a truly exasperating one — is that “Illinoise,” opening tonight at the Park Avenue Armory, has already sold out its entire run.

Average Rating: 76.0%

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