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\u201cIllinoise<\/a>,\u201d a dance-driven, dialogue-free musical adapted from a much-loved 2005 album by Sufjan Stevens, will transfer to Broadway next month.<\/p>\n The show, which is a collaboration<\/a> between the celebrated choreographer Justin Peck and the Pulitzer-winning playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury, is to open on April 24 at the St. James Theater; the run is to be limited, with a scheduled closing date of Aug. 10.<\/p>\n \u201cIllinoise\u201d depicts a group of young creative people gathered around a campfire to share stories about their lives; it ultimately focuses on the life of a man who is finding his way while confronting grief. \u201cA lot of the show is really about the catharsis of opening up to the community around oneself,\u201d Peck, who is directing and choreographing the show, said in an interview.<\/p>\n \u201cIllinoise\u201d joins a crowded spring season<\/a> on Broadway, which has a heavy concentration of openings in late April, posing significant economic challenges for producers because costs have risen and audience numbers have fallen since the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But the creators and backers of \u201cIllinoise\u201d want to capitalize on their show\u2019s momentum: It is just wrapping up a sold-out run at the Park Avenue Armory<\/a> in Manhattan, and it also had successful runs earlier this year at Chicago Shakespeare Theater<\/a> and last year at Bard College\u2019s Fisher Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n The transfer will be unusually fast, with just 29 days between the end of the run at the Armory and the start of the run at the St. James. There will be a brief rehearsal period, but no previews; the first performance will also be the opening, which is uncommon for Broadway.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have this kind of lightning in a bottle with this show that is not something that one can create intentionally,\u201d Peck said. \u201cWe want to preserve the energy of the show, and the longer we wait between phases of this, the greater we risk losing what that energy is.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIllinoise\u201d is performed by a dozen acting dancers<\/a> and a trio of vocalists, along with a live band.<\/p>\n The show\u2019s use of dance to drive a narrative is not unprecedented: The history of such so-called dansicals includes the Tony-winning \u201cContact,\u201d which opened in 2000, as well as the 2002 production that most influenced Peck, \u201cMovin\u2019 Out,\u201d which Twyla Tharp choreographed using the songs of Billy Joel.<\/p>\n \u201cThe music and the story and the movement combine in your own mind, rather than being combined onstage in front of you,\u201d Drury said in an interview. \u201cAnd there\u2019s something about that that feels really beautiful and exciting. It just allows the audience to really empathize and connect emotionally with what\u2019s going on onstage.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The Broadway run is being produced by Orin Wolf<\/a>, John Styles and David Binder, in association with Seaview. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n