Illinoise, a theatrical adaptation of Sufjan Stevens’ 2005 album, will move to Broadway in April, slipping in under the wire for this season’s Tony Awards consideration.
The musical, which is currently playing Park Avenue Armory through March 23, will transfer to the St. James Theatre. The first performance of the show on Broadway will take place April 24 at 2 p.m. and will also be the show’s opening night. The eligibility cut-off date for the Tony Awards is April 25.
The limited engagement is scheduled to run through Aug. 10.
The production is directed and choreographed by Justin Peck, resident choreographer and artistic associate of the New York City Ballet, who also choreographed Steven Spielberg’s 2021 film West Side Story. Peck wrote the book of the show, alongside Jackie Sibblies Drury, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Fairview and Marys Seacole.
Illinoise features a full company of dancers, including So You Think You Can Dance Winners Gaby Diaz and Ricky Ubeda and West Side Story’s Ben Cook, performing a series of narrative vignettes and accompanied by an 11-member band and three vocalists who perform arrangements of all the songs in Stevens’ album. The arrangements are by composer and frequent Stevens collaborator Timo Andres.
The production began performances at Park Avenue Armory on March 2 after playing
Chicago Shakespeare Theater and premiering at Fisher Center at Bard College.
The show is produced on Broadway by Orin Wolf, who produced Tony-Award winner A Band’s Visit, John Styles, and David Binder, in association with Seaview, which is also lead producer on Lempicka and An Enemy of the People this season.
It enters a season that is already crowded with new shows, with five new productions opening in March and 14 productions now opening in April. Eight of the new shows in April open in the five days before the Tonys cut-off date and many share an opening date. Illinoise has a matinee opening on April 24, ahead of the opening of Uncle Vanya, starring Steve Carrell, that evening.
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