Illinoise Off-Broadway Reviews

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 d...

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.

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 Ne...

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.

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 C...

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.

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 accompany...

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.

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 Yo...

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.