Chicago Shakespeare Theater announces the cast and creative team of ILLINOISE

Chicago Shakespeare Theater has announced the cast of the highly anticipated Illinoise, a new kind of musical based on Sufjan Stevens’ acclaimed concept album. Performances for Illinoise will began at The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare on January 28, 2024 and will be running until February 18, 2024.

Illinoise embraces Grammy and Oscar-nominated Stevens’ landmark album in a genre-bursting theatrical experience that inspires hope. With a story crafted by Tony Award winner Justin Peck (New York City Ballet, Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story) and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury (Fairview), and original choreography by Peck, Illinoise promises to take its audience on a journey that includes virtuosic dancers, singers, and a live band.

The dance company features Kara Chan, Ben Cook, Jeanette Delgado, Gaby Diaz, Robbie Fairchild, Christine Flores, Jada German, Zachary Gonder, Rachel Lockhart, Dario Natarelli, Tyrone Reese, Craig Salstein, Ahmad Simmons, Byron Tittle, Ricky Ubeda, and Alejandro Vargas. The band includes vocalists Shara Nova and Tasha Viets-VanLear, and instrumentalists Christina Courtin, Sean Forte, Domenica Fossati, Daniel Freedman, Kathy Halvorson, Nathan Koci, Eleonore Oppenheim, Brett Parnell, Brandon Ridenour, Kyra Sims, and Jessica Tsang.

Featured in the dance company of Illinoise is Gaby Diaz, winner of So You Think You Can Dance Season 12, whose film credits include West Side Story, tick, tick…BOOM!, Spirited, and the upcoming Maestro. Diaz starred Off-Broadway in Only Gold, for which she won the Chita Rivera Award. Also in the company are Ben Cook, who appeared in the film West Side Story and on Broadway in Ragtime, Billy Elliot (for which he was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award), Tuck Everlasting, Mean Girls, and West Side Story; Robbie Fairchild, whose performance in An American in Paris was nominated for a Tony Award and won the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Chita Rivera Awards, and who starred in the film Cats and the Netflix series Soundtrack; and Ricky Ubeda, winner of So You Think You Can Dance Season 11, who appeared in FX’s Fosse/Verdon, in the films West Side Story and Maestro, and on Broadway in West Side Story, On The Town, Cats, and Carousel. 

The dance company of Illinoise also includes Kara Chan (Twyla Tharp Dance, American Ballet Theatre), Jeanette Delgado (Miami City Ballet, West Side Story film), Christine Flores (Dance Heginbotham, Pam Tanowitz Dance), Jada German (Twyla Tharp Dance, Metropolitan Opera), Zachary Gonder (Carmen at Lyric Opera, Pam Tanowitz Dance), Rachel Lockhart (Juilliard’s Choreographic Honors program, Jacob’s Pillow), Dario Natarelli (New York City Center Encores!, Maestro film), Tyrone Reese (Juilliard School), Craig Salstein (Miami City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, associate choreographer for West Side Story and Maestro films), Ahmad Simmons (Fosse/Verdon on FX, Hadestown, West Side Story, Carousel, and Cats on Broadway), Byron Tittle (Dorrance Dance, In the Heights film), and Alejandro Vargas (Juilliard School). The band includes vocalists Shara Nova and Tasha Viets-VanLear, and instrumentalists Christina Courtin, Sean Forte, Domenica Fossati, Daniel Freedman, Kathy Halvorson, Nathan Koci, Eleonore Oppenheim, Brett Parnell, Brandon Ridenour, Kyra Sims, and Jessica Tsang. In addition to Stevens, Peck, and Drury, the creative team includes Music Director and Supervisor Nathan Koci, Music Arranger and Orchestrator Timo Andres, Scenic Designer Adam Rigg, Lighting Designer Brandon Stirling Baker, Sound Designer Garth MacAleavey, Costume Designers Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung, Props Designer Andrew Diaz, Mask Designer Julian Crouch, Associate Director and Choreographer Adriana Pierce, Associate Music Director Sean Forte, Production Stage Manager Rick Steiger, Production Manager Brian Freeland, Executive Producer Nate Koch, General Management by NVK/Jenna Ready and Joanna Pisano, and Booking Agent ArKtype/Thomas O. Kriegsmann. Illinoise was originally commissioned, developed, and produced at the Fisher Center at Bard, is a co-commission of the Fisher Center at Bard, Park Avenue Armory, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Southbank Centre, TO Live, and the Perelman Performing Arts Center, and is produced in association with ArKtype/Thomas O. Kriegsmann.

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