Broadway Review: ILLINOISE - Bored and Confused 23/24 Season
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ต.ค. 2024
- WARNING! There are spoilers in this review. I run through the narrative arc as I understood it and point out areas of confusion.
Hey there, fellow theater enthusiasts! In today's video, I'm sharing my thoughts on the new Broadway musical, Illinoise, through the lens of my signature criteria: was I bored and was I confused?
Join me as I delve into the intricacies of Illinoise, a production that blends dance, theater, and music into a unique narrative experience.
🎭 Dance Theater or Musical?: Illinoise is billed as a musical, but it's primarily a dance theater piece with no dialogue and songs that don't necessarily drive the narrative forward.
💃 The Dance Narrative: The dance sequences are visually stunning, but the lack of detail in the narrative left me confused at times. The show relies heavily on imagery, which can be beautiful but fleeting.
🤔 Confusion and Interpretation: Throughout the performance, I found myself puzzled by the storyline and the significance of certain elements, such as UFOs and orbs of light. The ambiguity of the narrative made it challenging to fully engage with the characters and their motivations.
🎵 The Music of Sufjan Stevens: The music, composed by Sufjan Stevens, is performed excellently by the band, but the lyrics can be difficult to understand. This led to a disconnect between the emotional content of the songs and the audience's comprehension.
💔 Themes of Love and Loss: The overarching themes of love and loss are portrayed through various vignettes, but I struggled to connect with the characters on a deeper level. The emotional impact felt somewhat diluted by the abstract nature of the storytelling.
👯♂️ Choreography and Performance: The choreography is undeniably impressive, and the dancers deliver stellar performances. However, the repetitive nature of the movement and the lack of variety in style left me feeling somewhat bored over the course of the 90-minute production.
In conclusion, while Illinoise offers moments of beauty and brilliance, it falls short in terms of narrative coherence and emotional depth. If you're a fan of dance theater and Sufjan Stevens' music, you may still find enjoyment in this production. However, be prepared for a somewhat disjointed experience.
If you've seen Illinoise, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below! And don't forget to like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell for more theater reviews on Bored and Confused.
#Illinoise #BroadwayMusical #TheaterReview #DanceTheater #SufjanStevens
Everything he said I thought the opposite. Loved this musical. The music is wonderful.
Were you familiar with the album before you saw the show?
I’m a fan of Sufjan Steven’s and I saw the show just because Illinoise is one of my favorite albums. I agree the lyrics were so hard to understand, the singers weren’t clear enough. I was so confused during the show….a lot of things were not clear
Thanks for adding your thoughts. Good to know that someone familiar with the album still had some trouble.
After watching Illinoise, I fear I lack depth lol. I love the album this music came from and so it kind of became a concert with dance and a narrative. I rely a lot on dialogue to glean meaning so if anything, this show forced me to think outside of that box.
The fact that you were forced to think outside the box shows that you do have depth! I think this piece wasn't designed to be fully understood like a more traditional musical.
@@MatthewHardyMusical thank you; that’s so kind of you! Honestly, your review alleviated some of the confusion I felt leaving the theatre. 😂
Justin Peck, winner for best choreography for the Sufjan Stevens album adaptation “Illinoise,” said that one intention of the show was to bend some of the conventions of what a musical can be. “Dance can act as the backbone of musicals, and it’s a rare thing,” he said in the press room. “Most of the time choreography comes into the mix at the last moment and becomes decorative. Starting with dance will allow for more shows like this.”
Thanks for the info! I love the work by director/choreographer Jerome Robbins who infused dance into his shows. I would love to see Justin Peck work with a book writer and songwriting team to create a show that fuses dance, music and words into a piece of theater instead of creating a narrative that only tangentially relates to a collection of pre-existing songs. Hopefully the attention he got from Illinoise will allow him to do this. The best musical nomination and Tony choreography win is affirmation of his work but I think it's difficult for a dance theater piece to beat out a piece of theater that is using original music to tell a story.
I agree. I think they just rushed Illinoise onto Broadway for the Tony Award nominations from the Park Avenue Armory. This is not a Broadway musical. It is, as you say, dance theater and belongs in a dance repertory company's season of performances. I hope this does not win Best Musical on the Tonys. If it does, it may start a bad trend of non-musical musicals on Broadway.
I don't think it will win. I think Hell's Kitchen will. There is a trend this season of non-musical theater writers writing musicals. I think SUFFs is the only show written by someone who studied musical theater.
I love the questions that pop up on the screen during your critique
Thanks. I considered doing it for all my videos but it's so much work! I thought they were needed here because it's one of my more critical reviews.
@@MatthewHardyMusical I hear you!! I think your review was thoughtful and honest. Doesn’t mean folks that loved Illinoise can’t still love it. I heard so many people share their love for the piece while leaving the theatre and although I couldn’t truly relate, I loved that for them!
If you're not familiar with the album I could see how you would feel this way about the show but I personally loved it and I know nothing about interpretive dance or theatre. It was a great performance of the album with a pretty easy to follow story being danced out under the band. The lighting was the best part of it
Friends of mine love Sufjan Stevens that did the music, and Sufjan himself is very esoteric abstract art school gay, I enjoyed it more as an overall experience, like going to an art performance, I guess being familiar with Sufjan Stevens I had a better idea of what to expect, like he is always wearing wings so the band having wings is just a Sufjan Stevens things. I'm not his biggest fan, generally hate contemporary dance, but I think they worked in just enough plot you could actually follow with the dance I didn't need a story.
Thanks for sharing!
I know the songwriter from the score of "Call Me By Your Name" so I was intrigue - it does look beautiful but your are right they should not be marketing this as musical- in which we expect dialogue songs and dance - this is just dance
So I’m saying this in a friendly voice so not to confuse anyone. And Mathew, this is NOT directed at you. As someone who is well versed in dance and music and NYC theatre I’d like to illustrate something. Musicals on Broadway do NOT have a recipe. They NEVER have. You are not wrong. This was a dance piece inspired by the album and songs of Sufjan Stevens. It was never meant as a musical or written as a dance piece, how haunting is a clown serial killer that hunted boys in Chicago and the young man who lives there who is deathly terrified and thinks OH MY GOD! Am I next? Or when I am at my worst could I be the clown? But Twyla Tharp did something with Billy Joel’s music in 2002 called Movin Out. Bring in Da Noise, Bring In Da Funk was called a musical. Fosse billed as a musical. Dance shows belong on Broadway not hidden at the Joyce. Though I love it there with all my heart. ‘Musicals’ is just a word to sell tickets. We all know artists don’t need to make ANY sense to win Tonys.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I agree that dance pieces belong on broadway, I just wish Illinoise would be clearer in their marketing. It feels deceptive the way they use "A New Broadway Musical" to sell tickets. It can backfire if audiences feel mislead.
i love how you are arguing with yourself in the side comments hahhahaha
LOL I'm imagining the push back I'm going to get in the comments.
If I wrote my review to seeing the show Illinoise, I couldn't have said it any better than you did! From my POV, you nailed it. I liked the dance and the music. I couldn't figure out the words to the songs and the meaning behind them. I found the story hard to follow. Someone I know highly recommended it, and I have difficulty understanding their rave.
Thank you! I think the problem is expectation. They shouldn't bill it as a musical. If people watch it as a dance concert and ignore the narrative then I think they will find it more enjoyable.
@@MatthewHardyMusical Fully Agree! I like to watch dance, and then I don't stress much about understanding all the nuances.
I went to illinoise right before it closed. I thought it was nice, but it didn’t keep me interested so I zoned out quite a lot. The dance was beautiful, but wasn’t my jam. Was not familiar with the music of Stevens prior ro seeing it.
Yeh I think being a Stevens fan is requisite to really love the show.
this is a great review!! would you be able to review The Outsiders? It's an amazing musical, I'd love to see your take on it and hear your thoughts!
Thanks! I plan to review it once I’ve seen it. Hopefully soon.
Yes I’d love to see this too!
Very interesting video.
Glad you think so!