ILLINOISE at the St. James Beginning April 24- Page 5

[ACL2006]

Posted: 4/23/24 at 6:37pm

bekk99 said: "FWIW... I won on Lucky Seat for the matinee tomorrow and my best friend won for the evening haha. Not sure if that is indicative of how easy this one will be in the long run."

Good to know. I'm gonna try for Saturday.

[Wick3]

Posted: 4/23/24 at 7:49pm

I watched ILLINOISE at Park Ave Armory and reading the free program everyone received on their seats actually helped me understand the show more. I'm curious if the Broadway production will have a thicker Playbill than normal to incorporate this aspect of the show.

 

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 12:43am

Isn't Illinoise previewing/opening tomorrow afternoon?  not "tonight"?

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Meet-the-Cast-of-ILLINOISE-Beginning-Previews-Tonight-on-Broadway-20240424

Updated On: 4/24/24 at 12:43 AM

[ACL2006]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 11:27am

Did they even have an invited dress last night? Both shows today have plenty of tickets available.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 11:30am

ACL2006 said: "Did they even have an invited dress last night? Both shows today have plenty of tickets available."

They did, per a friend who attended

[Miss10036]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 11:41am

For anyone curious about rush, TodayTix shows rush locations for this before you purchase.  This morning it showed me partial view orchestra, pretty close, and full view rear mezz on the side.

I poked around some future dates on SeatGeek and saw that the two furthest to the side seats in the front half of the orchestra were never available.  I guess those are reserved for rush and/or lotto.

[rachelfran]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 1:14pm

let us know where the lucky seat winners are seated and how the view is from there --  Thanks!

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 1:55pm

Five minutes to 2 and the line to get into the St. James is obscenely long.

[Markie27]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 1:58pm

There is an insert of that lovely journal they give out at the Armory.  

[Danasi]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 2:17pm

TotallyEffed said: "Five minutes to 2 and the line to get into the St. James is obscenely long."

The doors definitely didn't open at 1 like the email said. I was there right before 1:30 and the line was long then too - past the Hayes Theatre (we were all confused which line was for which show). But it moved pretty well a little after 1:30

 

The usher near me just told someone there was a longer line for picking up tickets than usual, since it's the opening show

[bekk99]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 4:33pm

Loved the show. My Lucky Seats were in the second row center orch. A little too close, but I was happy with it. My friend for tonight got Row J orch to the farther left side, so they will miss a little bit of the staging and perhaps one of the singers.

[Dan6]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 7:04pm

I’m flying in for the weekend and am thinking about grabbing tickets for Illinoise on Sunday night, which is my only open slot. My concern is that with the packed performance schedule this week (2 shows today, 2 tomorrow, 2 Saturday, and 2 Sunday), some of the principals might be in need of rest and out by Sunday night. Really want to see Ubeda in particular. Any thoughts on how arduous the show is and whether performing 8 shows in 5 days is realistic?

[carolinaguy]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 7:26pm

Dan6 said: "I’m flying in for the weekend and am thinking about grabbing tickets for Illinoise on Sunday night, which is my only open slot. My concern is that with the packed performance schedule this week (2 shows today, 2 tomorrow, 2 Saturday, and 2 Sunday), some of the principals might be in need of rest and out by Sunday night. Really want to see Ubeda in particular. Any thoughts on how arduous the show is and whether performing 8 shows in 5 days is realistic?"

Well, they’re squeezing in performances for Tony nominators before the deadline, so one would presume they will be there if at all possible. 

[Dan6]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 7:33pm

Well,they’re squeezing in performances for Tony nominators before the deadline, so one would presume they will be there if at all possible."

Thanks! With Tony nominations being announced Tuesday, won’t ballots already be in by Sunday night? Anyone know when the deadline is? 

[carolinaguy]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 7:46pm

I believe the nomination meeting is Monday. The rules require that for shows opening after April 15, producers must make tickets available for at least eight “paid performances” prior to the nomination meeting. That’s why you’re seeing eight shows crammed into this week with no previews. 
 

I’m seeing it Sunday night. 

Updated On: 4/24/24 at 07:46 PM

[kurtal]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 7:48pm

Dan6 said: "I’m flying in for the weekend and am thinking about grabbing tickets for Illinoise on Sunday night, which is my only open slot. My concern is that with the packed performance schedule this week (2 shows today, 2 tomorrow, 2 Saturday, and 2 Sunday), some of the principals might be in need of rest and out by Sunday night. Really want to see Ubeda in particular. Any thoughts on how arduous the show is and whether performing 8 shows in 5 days is realistic?"

It's 90 minutes, and none of the principals are dancing straight through (an ensemble piece with much of the cast getting featured numbers).  That, combined with the Tony push, means you're likely to get the principals.  

 

[cglaid]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 7:55pm

I have a ticketing question. With SeatGeek as the official box office... how does post-dating or exchanging your tickets work? We have tickets to tomorrow's 2 pm show. Our child was sent home sick yesterday and we were hoping it was just a 24-hour thing but it's possibly not... can one of us go to the actual theater tomorrow to swap our tix? 

If this isn't possible, I am also happy to sell our tix to anyone interested. Would just want to make back what we spent: $117.56 and the seats are: 

○ Mezzanine Rear Left R 17

○ Mezzanine Rear Left R 19

Thanks!

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 7:58pm

Wick3 said: "I watched ILLINOISE at Park Ave Armory and reading thefree program everyone received on their seats actually helped me understand the show more. I'm curious if the Broadway productionwill have a thicker Playbill than normal to incorporate this aspect of the show.

"

Is this accurate? Do you need program notes to understand the plot of this show? Then again, they had program notes to help audiences with the plot of Les Miz and that was ridiculous. A 12 year old could comprehend that plot as it was told in the musical. 

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 8:05pm

Matt Rogers said: "Wick3 said: "I watched ILLINOISE at Park Ave Armory and reading thefree program everyone received on their seats actually helped me understand the show more. I'm curious if the Broadway productionwill have a thicker Playbill than normal to incorporate this aspect of the show.

"

Is this accurate? Do you need program notes to understand the plot of this show? Then again, they had program notes to help audiences with the plot of Les Miz and that was ridiculous. A 12 year old could comprehend that plot as it was told in the musical."

I didn’t get a program with an explanation at Bard, and I could easily understand the show.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 8:05pm

It's more like a skeleton on which to hang the story. 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 8:10pm

did anyone do the in-person rush? Curious where the seats were located.

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 11:45pm

I saw the matinee today and really enjoyed it.  I've liked a lot of Justin Peck's work in the past, but I've never seen his story ballets, so I was impressed at how well he utilized the movement to really tell the story (of course the lyrics and some projections helped too).  I found it quite moving and just really interesting to watch, and I would love to see it again because some motifs are threaded through and you don't completely grasp the full meaning of them until the end.

I thought the journal insert was a nice touch, and it did a good job of fleshing out the story more (you definitely don't need to read any of it before seeing the show though), with some added background on the journey that Henry (Ricky Ubeda) goes on.  I had gone in expecting somewhat of a Cats-type plot (a thin plot threaded throughout but it's more about the dancing itself), but they really did a good job making the story easy to follow and had some intelligent reprises/uses of the music

For those that are more familiar with the existing album, how much did they reorchestrate it? I started listening to it after the show and it doesn't seem like they changed much, but I'm only working off of memory from a show I've seen once.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 4/24/24 at 11:58pm

The score is orchestrated by Timo Andres, a renowned (non-theatre) composer and musician in his own right. He did not work on the original album. The orchestrations definitely capture the spirit of the album, but they’re certainly tailored and arranged for this specific instrumental and vocal ensemble and for the dances. It’s sort of like asking how much of Mamma Mia! or On Your Feet is reorchestrated from the original recordings; they’re orchestrated for the stage.

Updated On: 4/25/24 at 11:58 PM