Working: A Broadway Hit That Defies Genre

Slate Culture Feed

Slate Podcasts

Music, Tv & Film, Arts

4.2 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 2 June 2024

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week, host Isaac Butler talks to Justin Peck, a dancer and choreographer who helped create the hit Broadway show Illinoise, which is based on a classic album with a similar name by Sufjan Stevens. In the interview, Justin breaks down how he adapted Sufjan’s album into a narrative dance piece, with clear characters and storylines. He also talks about his process for feeling out dance moves with his body, teaching those moves to other dancers, and then tweaking them based on the strengths of the performers. After the interview, Isaac and co-host Ronald Young Jr. talk about the thrill of live performances and what it means to define success for a project. In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Justin explains how the show varied in previous iterations before Broadway. Then he talks about his biggest dance influences. Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com or give us a call at (304) 933-9675. Podcast production by Cameron Drews. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows—you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	It's almost impossible to write down and document the nuance of the way that the body can move.
0:14.0	So I'm very physical in the room. I will dance full out with my cast, with my team and it's, for me me it's not just what it looks like it's also what it feels like on the body
0:29.7	Welcome back to working. I'm your host Ronald Young Jr.
0:33.8	And I'm your other host Isaac Butler.
0:36.2	Isaac, it is wonderful to be chatting with you again.
0:39.4	Tell me whose voice do we hear at the top of the show?
0:43.0	We heard the voice of Justin Peck.
0:45.3	He's a choreographer for stage and screen
0:47.7	and serves as the resident choreographer at New York City Ballet.
0:51.8	All right, that sounds impressive.
0:53.4	Why did you want to talk to Justin Peck right now?
0:56.0	Well, he is currently represented on Broadway
0:58.4	with the many, many Tony nominated,
1:00.5	critically beloved show, Illinois. The show is a little bit difficult to describe and in fact if you read the reviews
1:06.8	even the positive ones that are kind of a little bit like uh how do I talk about this but the short version is it's an evening length dance theater work that he co-created that is set to the Sufyan Stevens album, Illinois, which many of our listeners probably know is,
1:23.2	Come on feel the Illinois, since that's what it says on the booklet.
1:27.3	The show has no spoken language.
1:30.0	It is just the songs from the album.
1:32.4	It tells actually multiple stories over the course of the evening through dance.
1:37.0	It has a live band playing the album with arrangements by the great Timo Andres.
1:42.0	Sufyan does not perform in the show. arrangements by the great Timo Andres.
1:42.6	Sufyan does not perform in the show.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Slate Podcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Slate Podcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.