Illinoise is a rarity in my decades of theater-going experience. It not only lives up to its hype, it exceeds it. When it arrived at the St. James Theatre, the artform known as the Broadway musical changed forever. It has certainly expanded my sometimes stubborn mind to see things in fresh and unexpected ways. Here is a world where the familiar becomes mysterious, where the specificity of individuality unlocks the universality of the human experience, and where the senses blur just as the poetry, music and movement blur what a musical is.
All of this brilliance comes from its source material, an album of genre-defying music by Sufjan Stevens, whose catalog is largely unfamiliar to me, save for his work on the soundtrack of Call Me By Your Name. A collection of songs, riffs and history (and everything in between) about the state of Illinois, the musical has transformed it into a beautifully rendered collection of stories told through dance and crafted into a magical piece of theater by book writer Jackie Sibblies Drury and creator of this work, Justin Peck. A celebration of community, of love and despair, of death and rebirth, the show tells of Henry, a lost and grieving young man who comes upon a group of storytellers who gather to express and explore the human experience. They tell stories that honor the past, offer a humorous take on American politics (with zombies, no less), a "Tale of John Wayne Gacy, Jr.," (danced ominously by Alejandro Vargas) that would please Sondheim and Fosse, and even a rumination on whether it is Superman or Clark Kent who is the real superhero (danced joyously by Brandt Martinez). Finally, it is Henry's turn to tell his story, and it is a sweeping, emotional, and ultimately thrilling tale of finding oneself, finding love, jealousy, anger, and the pain of profound loss, before finding oneself again. There are only words in the songs; not one word of dialog is spoken, and yet, this show may have the best book Broadway has seen in years.
Director/choreographer Justin Peck is certainly not resting on his Tony-winning laurels here. Every movement - large and small, soloist and full company - is so meticulously planned in service of the story, one might expect a so well-executed series of numbers to lose a bit of emotional weight (I'm thinking of Hamilton here). This work is anything but that. It is so organic and so personal to each dancer, that even when they create tableau after tableau in perfect synchronicity, you feel a heady mix of emotions always. Using a vast mix of styles - from above-standard Broadway, to contemporary and ballet - Peck's stamp is all over this, but never once does it get repetitious. A big highlight early on is a show stopping number that combines the youth of hip-hop (danced by the beautifully energetic Rachel Lockhart) with the sage precision of old school tap dancing (danced by the remarkable Byron Tittle). Mr. Peck has assembled a glorious company of dancers who make their joy and passion palpable for 90 minutes.
There are three principal vocalists (Shara Nova, Tasha Viets-Vanlear and Elijah Lyons) who give us the words to go with action, and their stylings are an exquisite match for each and every mood the score demands. They are as much a part of this campfire community as the dancers. In fact, so much so that they are named after different moths to match the moth wings each wears. They are figuratively moths to a flame and symbolically represent what moths do throughout history and literature: life, change, transformation, death, and rebirth.
Technically a "jukebox" musical, I dare say this has safely and confidently turned that sub-genre on its ear, and expanded the definition by leaps and bounds. I've admitted before that I've grown weary of such endeavors, but this really is a gorgeous, ravishing game changer. A new bar has been set. I say this with all sincerity: nothing I could possibly write about Illinoise could do it justice. Here is art that demands to be seen felt by all of the senses.
📸: M. Murphy
