Illinoise, the dance-musical running now through August 10, 2024 at Broadway's St. James Theatre, features choreography and direction by Justin Peck, a leading American ballet choreographer who won a Tony Award for Best Choreography in 2018 for the revival of Carousel — his Broadway debut. He has now been nominated for Illinoise — his second Broadway show —for which lighting designer Brandon Stirling Baker has also been nominated for Best Lighting Design Of A Musical, marking his Broadway debut as an LD (he has assisted on Broadway in the past).
Peck and Baker were not strangers of course, having collaborated on 32 projects — including Illinoise — over the course of 14 years for nearly every major ballet company in the US and abroad. Their partnership for Illinoise has stretched from a debut at Fisher Center at Bard College to sold-out runs at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and Park Avenue Armory in New York City, before hitting Broadway, allowing the LD to hone his art and fine-tune the lighting.
This hybrid production is the theatrical adaptation of the Grammy- and Oscar-nominated 2005 concept album "Illinois" by Sufjan Stevens, co-written by Peck and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Jackie Sibblies as a love letter to the state of Illinois and its landmarks, as it tells a poignant coming-of-age story. It also has Tony nods for Best Choreography and Orchestrations.
The creative team also includes scenic designer Adam Rigg, sound designer Garth MacAleavey, costume designers Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung, props designer Andrew Diaz, and mask designer Julian Crouch. Jessica Creager served as associate lighting designer, with programming by David Arch and Jeff Englander, Jimmy Fedigan as production electrician, Justin Petito as head electrician, and Chris Robinson as associate production electrician.
Live Design chats with the LD about this innovative production, about which Jesse Green in The New York Times writes: "Metaphors, often cryptic, abound, especially in the early numbers, performed in the inky gorgeousness of Brandon Stirling Baker’s lighting."
Live Design: How did you approach the move from Park Avenue Armory to Broadway?
Brandon Stirling Baker: Speed was everything. We had an unusually fast transfer from Park Ave to Broadway, we closed March 26 and focused the plot on Broadway April 17. The light plot was due one week after announcing the transfer, so I had to think very carefully about what was essential for the move — both creatively and logistically. When we did our first move from Chicago Shakespeare Theater to Park Avenue Armory, I was in a similar mindset, so this was not a new process in that sense, but the big change was figuring out how to adapt and fit the show inside of the St. James Theater. In all my work, I really love to acknowledge the space we are in, embracing the height, depth, and existing architecture to tell me how and where light should exist. So, for the St. James, I really embraced the maximum height of this theater with many of our electrics above +40ft or +50ft and added a few new lighting systems that were directly inspired by the house proscenium and upper-mezzanine architecture.
LD: How did the gear change? What are the workhorses on Broadway?
BSB: Only two fixture types changed from Park Ave to Broadway. The High End SolaFrame 3K changed to PRG Best Boy LED and the Chauvet Strike changed to GLP JDC1. The less fixture swaps the better for us. The GLP JDC1 strobes are well known for being used in stadiums for concerts, but I use them as a graphic idea to frame the proscenium and to create a dreamlike sunrise and sunset at various moments in the show. The other workhorse was the Mac Quantum Wash, this is an older fixture but I’m a big fan of their color and dimming.
LD: Did the aesthetic look change at all?
BSB: We intentionally did not make any aesthetic changes to the look of the show when we moved to Broadway. In terms of style, it was a replica of what we did at the previous venues, the trim heights had to change but the ideas remained the same. With a fast move like this our goal was to do everything possible to maintain the authentic look of the show. What I think is important to note is that although we had an existing show file, and the light plot was very similar to Park Ave, I still had to completely re-light and adjust every single lighting cue in the Broadway production. There was no simple copy and paste, every moment had to be addressed.
LD: Any specific challenges with the move?
BSB: We had to load-in, focus, and light this show in four days. That includes two days of load in, one day of focus, one day of pre-cueing and then we had the cast onstage followed by a dress rehearsal. It was fast, but I strongly believe it was only possible because of our extraordinary lighting team: Jimmy Fedigan, Justin Petito, Chris Robinson, Jess Creager, Jeff Englander, and David Arch. They really moved mountains to make this possible and did so with so much love and respect for everyone in the process. It was really a dream come true to work with these people.
LD: How does dance lighting mix with theatre-style lighting for this piece?
BSB: I think what makes this show unique is that we stepped away from the typical musical theater formula both in the style of show and the style of the light plot. I would not consider this to be a dance light plot or a typical musical theater plot. I think it’s something in between, but that’s exciting to me. There are no symmetrical systems, every lighting idea is hung for a specific purpose. My background as a designer in ballet will always inform the way I approach lighting in general, but this show really feels like its own planet, and is unlike anything Justin Peck and I have done before. All the work we do is specific to the style of show we are working on, so it’s exciting for us to create something new. For example, last week Justin and I opened a new premiere for New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center titled “Dig the Say” with only five light cues and only warm tungsten light, it could not have been further from Illinoise, but I think it’s interesting that these two works can be running at the same time in New York from the same creative team but feel like totally different worlds
LD: How does color and movement accent the dancing and enhance the storytelling?
BSB: Color plays a big role in the storytelling of this show, every short story within our show has its own color logic and vocabulary. For some short stories we really lean into deep saturation, but other moments are lit by only variations of white light. The most important thing to me is providing clarity with light and not take away from the choreography. I believe that light should always be a partner to the dance. So, when I use color, I typically go all in but cut through space with white light to provide clarity in the choreography. The “white light” in this show is always related to the surrounding color space. I think very carefully about all color choices throughout the evening.
LD: This is an unusual piece for Broadway, how has it been received?
BSB: This show is very different from anything else this season for many reasons. It’s not based on a movie, we have no celebrities, we have no special effects, and I think it’s important for audiences to see that a “Broadway musical” can be many different things, even a show without book scenes or dialogue can be a musical. New York audiences have been welcoming us with open arms so it’s very special and surreal that we have packed houses each night at the St. James Theater. I really hope that people keep coming to see what we’ve put together. This show has really changed my life, and I know it has that effect on many people that join us night after night.
Check out the light plot and gear list here: Plot Luck: Illinoise On Broadway
Read about the lighting of Illinoise pre-Broadway: Illinoise Moves To Broadway
Lighting crew:
Brandon Stirling Baker, lighting designer
Jessica Creager, associate lighting designer
David Arch & Jeff Englander, programmers
Jimmy Fedigan, production electrician
Justin Petito, head electrician
Chris Robinson, associate production electrician