On Location: ‘Illinoise’ Puts the Midwest—and Sufjan Stevens—on the Broadway Stage

19.07.2024 - 13:46 / cntraveler.com

From Chicago to Metropolis, Sufjan Stevens’ 2005 folk opus Illinois packs what feels like a whole nation’s history into the borders of one state. Covering everything from the World’s Fair and UFO sightings to the invention of cream of wheat, the album captivated listeners far beyond the Midwest.

One of those listeners was Justin Peck. An award-winning choreographer, Peck worked with Stevens over a decade ago when he used his music for the New York City Ballet, but long had the idea to turn Illinois into a show of its own. With Stevens’ approval, Peck called on the help of Pulitzer-winning playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury to craft a story based on the album’s songs, and tell that story through dance.

Illinoise—whose title is spelled and pronounced with the “e” as it’s stylized on the artwork for Stevens’ album—opened on Broadway this March, and has since earned several Tony nominations, including a win for choreography. With four weeks left in their run at St. James Theater, we caught up with Peck and Drury about taking inspiration from their midwestern friends, the logistics of dancing in hiking shoes, and telling a story about America only with movement and the music of Sufjan Stevens.

The show is framed by this big campfire scene, where the characters are sitting around reading from their journals. How did the idea for that come about?

Justin Peck: The campfire is the oldest place for storytelling. You can go back to the origins of humanity, and people would gather around a fire for warmth, and they would have time to kill, so they would entertain one another with stories or songs or dance. There's something about a campfire that's very equalizing, like everyone can find access to it. It's an experience that almost everyone's had, whether it's out in the woods, in someone's backyard, or on the beach.

Where I grew up in San Diego, there were public beaches that had these concrete pits, so you could just go with friends, find an empty one, and make a night of it.

Jackie Sibblies Drury: The campfire was really Justin’s idea, but I grew up going to sleep-away Girl Scout camp in northern New Jersey. That was my campfire experience, telling ghost stories and singing songs, roasting marshmallows.

Illinoise is set largely around a campfire, evoking that warm and safe feeling in which stories, hopes, and dreams are shared to pass the time.

JP: It had to do with the aesthetic of the music, too. A lot of songs [from Illinois] have this folktale quality, and the album itself was made in a very DIY way. Sufjan was very scrappy about it and I felt like the setting of the campfire aligned quite well. If the music wasn't the way it is, I don't know if we would have gone to that place.

JD: Like, if we were doing