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romantic-theory · 3 months

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PLZ UPDATE HOW THE ILLINOISE MUSICAL IS THAT SIUNDS SOOOOO BALLER!!!! AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY

using this to talk about it because im back from chicago and i saw it last night AND OH MY GOD!!!! it was AMAZINGGG

the way the used the songs in the album was having it be about a group of people sharing stories at a campfire, and it was really really cool!!! Night Zombies was one of my favorites. And i love what they did with some of the more darker themed songs like John Wayne Gacy Jr and Casimir Pulaski Day. There was also an overarching story with the main character named Henry played by Ricky Ubeda who was WONDERFUL. The story was so touching and beautiful about him falling in love with his best friend and love and loss. he also meets someone else in it and the rendition of predatory wasp was so breathtaking and tender. It's really impressive how they actually made a really clear and easy to follow story through dance alone, because there was no dialogue, it was just the vocalists and musicians performing. I also really like how they took this album where the songs aren't very connected to each other in terms of having one narrative, but were able to form a cohesive story with them! I think making part of it be the characters each telling their own campfire story with some of the songs was a really smart idea. i'm just rambling but it was so beautiful!!! the music, choreography, dancing, it was all spectacular!!!

i wish i can see it again!!! im hoping they tour after the run in new york, and maybe even release a recording (probably not, but i can dream)

#sufjan #ask #illinoise #illinoise musical #i havent been able to stop thinking about it since i saw it #we also had 2nd row seats so it was so so cool to see the dancers that close #there were a lot of moments in the show where they were at the very edge of the stage so it was cool #i will say though it was hard to see the musicians a bit #also shara nova was one of the vocalists and she was incredible as always #especially john wayne gacy jr and the seers tower #her voice gave me chills!!

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littlejumpydogheart · 4 months

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John Wayne Gacy Jr. - Sufjan Stevens //

Come and See (1985) d. Elim Klimov

#sufjan stevens #John Wayne gacy jr #come and see #Elim klimov #cinematic parallels #parallels #original #✧

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wookieeoftheyear · 2 months

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And in my best behavior

I am really just like him

Look beneath the floor boards

For the secrets I have hid

#sufjan stevens #John Wayne Gacy Jr #music #illinois #favorites #alright last one tonight for real lmao #I just bought this album on vinyl too #it’s so good #Spotify

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shcherbatskayas · 9 months

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getting really into sufjan stevens lately. not a positive or a negative, just a note. a direction.

#john wayne gacy jr came on spotify and i'm unwell #songs to listen to as you wrestle with internalized homophobia that you've been ignoring for your whole life <3

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soupbabe · 1 year

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makes me sad

makes me want to fall in love

is from my favorite genre

Makes me Sad:

Makes Me Want to Fall in Love:

Is From My Favorite Genre:

#John Wayne Gacy Jr IS ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATING #idk what genre Oingo Boingo is tbh #weirdo art kid new wave

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grosstown · 2 years

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WHEN I FIND YOUR LIPS IN THE STREETLIGHTTTTT

#ocs #art #romeo derosiers #artëm orlov #local fucking idiot draws the moment romeo gets the scar on his fsce. forgets to draw it bleeding #i dont wanna tag sufaj stevens for clout but the first pics words are from john wayne gacy jr #the rest is just a sad conversation abt artëm and his sister havva

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koufax73 · 9 months

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Sufjan Steves, con le mie migliori maniere #sottotraccia

Con l’umile ma malcelata ambizione di fornire ai lettori di TRAKS qualcosa di “diverso”, che si possa leggere accanto, insieme, sopra e sotto la musica che accompagna le nostre giornate, questo agosto abbiamo deciso di proporre o riproporre alcuni articoli monografici che abbiamo scritto in passato, per lo più su altre testate, e che non volevamo andassero persi. Letture estive, ma anche per ogni…

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#illinois #john wayne gacy jr #killer clown #michigan #serial killer #sufjan stevens

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tsublue · 2 years

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ASTROLOGY OBSERVATIONS ~2~

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Picture credits: Pinterest

Can’t believe that it’s already fall.

Also happy late Virgo season!!

!! DO NOT RE-WORD, STEAL, REPOST AND ETC MY WORK. IF YOU WANT TO USE MY WORK THEN PLEASE ASK FOR PERMISSION FIRST AND ALWAYS GIVE CREDITS. !!

Further ado, I hope that you will enjoy my post and let me know if my observations apply to you. I absolutely love reading the comments and your thoughts on this so feel free to let your thoughts and mind free.

REMINDER everything that I may say in this post are just my opinions and stuff that i’ve noticed. I do not claim these to be 100% true and strong facts. If these do not apply do you then you can go and enjoy another post! :)

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

|~•~|Every degree up to the 12th can be taken as the house and happen to have the traits of that house.

Example: Saturn 5° - Leo traits or an outlook.

|~•~|ུ۪۪Moon Conjunct Saturn have very heavy and strong demons inside of them that they need to face. Sending a virtual hug to my fellow sufferers. <3

|~•~|People with 10th house lord in the 10th house had shown what they will be passionate about and their career & what they are like at their workplace in their childhood, but it was hard to recognize it.

|~•~|The 4th house represents your mother, her traits, vibe and relationship with her & the 9th house represents your father, his traits, vibe and relationship with him.

|~•~|Moon dominant people with moon in the air signs (especially Gemini) happen to be teachers or teaching and usually enjoy it very much, but at the same time other placements in the chart matter too.

|~•~|If you need guidance in what your career should be. Look at your earth houses - 2nd, 6th & 10th - as well as your Mercury and Saturn placements.

|~•~|Mercury Sextile Midheaven individuals may enjoy popularity in their career life, with many helpful and influential people. Their public life is greatly influenced by their intellectual talents, where you might be well celebrated.

|~•~|Sun Conjunct Mercury isn’t always a fame indicator. It can be a huge boost and help if you plan to or gain fame, but this placement alone, especially if they’re not developing it by getting speech lessons and as such will not indicate fame.

|~•~|Chiron in Aquarius individuals are math and math is them. There is no explanation to it.

|~•~|Pluto transiting the 11th house is a rollercoaster. You have a high chance of isolation yourself, intentionally or not and of the friendships and relationships are not strong then they will go away or thicken for the worse if it isn’t taken into action. If it has not come clear who are there to stay and who not and how you should feel about someone then it is the time for more clearer signs. Seeing this is a sign for you to do the spring (or winter/summer/autumn) cleaning and take it further and improve yourself and other things around you. Take on the challenge.

|~•~|Introverted people who have Pisces and Gemini in the big three scream “John Wayne Gacy, Jr” by Sufjan stevens to me.

|~•~|Pisces and Neptune dominant people liked watching things to do with water on youtube when they were a child. Such as dolls swimming or just watching someone swim and so on. (Dw, I was there too.)

|~•~|People who have prominent Aquarius in their chart seem to enjoy and listen to rap a lot. Also songs that are really popular.

|~•~|The first letters as A & M in a name screams Cancer and Cancer placements. This isn’t any theory or fact but it’s the same as like for an example: November, orange and Thursday are the same. Same with this.

|~•~|I am surprised not so many people are interested in draconic charts.

|~•~|Pisces moon people can go either way. They either act like the placement is described as or they act complete opposite and completely a different way. Usually remind me of Aries moon or placements even if they might not have any Aries placements. It just amazes me.

|~•~| I feel like Libra and Aries just in general are the chillest opposite signs as in they get along the best. (Not in the means of the sun.) Also as in the opposite, I feel like people with heavy Leo and people with heavy Aquarius get the least along with each-other.

|~•~|Scorpio + Virgo + Libra in a chart people are highly like to have their mbti type as ENFJ.

|~•~|The part of Fortune is what you do and the house is how you do it.

For an example: Part of Fortune in the 6th house - you want to break your dreams into actionable smaller steps. People with this position become successful when they approach their goals in an organized, strategic way.

|~•~|When it comes to physical beauty, I’d consider looking at the ruler of the chart.

Thank you for reading.

~ Also for context, I wrote this at 2AM so if something does not make sense then feel free to comment about it.

See you next time.

Love, Tsunami <3

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I in no means want to offend anyone. If I come off in a rude way, then it is not intentionally.

I hope that you enjoyed this post, happy September. Hope that everyone’s school journey to a new year will be smooth and happy.

Good luck to everyone who are entering a new season. Hope you’re doing well.

#astrology #astrologyobservations #yourtags #recommended

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beauteousevil · 2 months

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Recap, thoughts, summary of the show. Spoilers and opinions abound!

to literally set the stage

Billboard (can change depending on song)

Orchestra ____Train lines/scaffolding____Orchestra

● <Vocals on balconies, wearing insect wings> ●●

|small town nowhere\Chicago\NYC\Seears Tower|

^all written on a wall that moves to reveal the field

(I think) show opens with two figures on stage in a sleepy embrace, Henry and Douglas, who share a resemblance to Sufjan Stevens and Evans Richardson. Henry disengages and gets his shoes, jacket, and bag and prepares to leave the freshly awoken Douglas.

From there he journeys alone from NYC to Illinois, we see structures relating to the train lines give way to a field that he makes his way through. Here we see him write in his journal (one of many in the show with different colors and winged insects on them) and he is surrounded by three stars. As he writes the stars intermittently take the forms of:

Carl, Henry's childhood best friend and first love.

Shelby, Henry's childhood best friend and Carl's first love.

Douglas, Henry's first adult love whom he doesn't feel deserving of.

This is where my memory may be failing me because I'm not 100% sure it doesn't start with the stars>sleeping>journey and not sleeping>stars>journey but I forgot to write this down that night so here we are two weeks later and my brain is scrambled

From here we see Henry joined in the field by a community of friends as they make a campfire and share the night together. They try to get him to tell his story but he isn't ready. Instead they take their turns.

First up is Jacksonville. Absolute powerful number that got an applause break before the piece was even finished. Has the primary storyteller, Morgan, sharing the stage in a stunning give and take with a tap dancer. Such a high note for the show I felt bad that the other stories kind of had to pale in comparison. From this point on Morgan drew my attention during any other group piece, they were absolutely magnetic.

Next is Zombies! The best bits of this were the physicality of the dancers to portray the zombies or the running/fighting them off. The zombies are masked and costumed as politicians and business man, telling a really cool story. At one point they literally hold up signs with their names which felt a bit on the nose but can for sure be refined in future versions. The grief/horror/exhaustion of the story teller, Jo Daviess, was really amazing.

Next is John Wayne Gacy, Jr. told by Wayne, a murder balladeer, and as said in the program guide, is about "the damning cycle of exclusion borne of outcasts forced to sympathize with monsters". That I feel is the heart of the performance... and if I hadn't read it before hand I'm not sure it would have come through the dance alone. By the nature of the story there is a grotesque energy with the dancers wearing sailor collars to let us know they're his child victims, and JWG is wearing a clown mask and completely see through tulle (like you can see the seams in the underwear beneath it) vaguely in the shape of a clown costume. There is no sexual element to the movements, they start vaguely playful and become increasingly violent as he picks off his victims. At the end the storyteller is shaken clearly by the "and in my best behavior/ I am really just like him" and needs to be calmed by his friends at the fire.

On the lightest note is the story of The Man of Metropolis by the story teller Clark (of course haha). A fun number with some amazing physicality by Clark who, at least on the opening night, was played by a dancer that was very tall but exuded a lightness and joyous energy in his performance. A bit gimmicky but cute. First he reveals a Superman shirt, then the rest of the dancers do, and they use a picnic blanket to make a cape for him. It felt like the dancing lagged a bit with the singing taking center stage as it went on, which I'm not mad about, the music and vocals were fucking amazing. I'm hoping against hope for a cast recording 🥲

This begins Act II, Henry's story! We see the field drop away to Small Town Middle of Nowhere where the young Henry, Carl, and Shelby play around and dance together. There's a fun bit where they're like balancing on things and jumping around. Henry is drawn to Carl but Carl can't look away from Shelby when she appears. The guys plan a road trip to NYC (Carl spray paints it on to the stage settings board in real time) but Shelby stays behind.

Henry has a run in with Douglas, and kudos to the dancers for portraying that immediate connection, as Carl is on the phone back home. He needs to go back for Shelby but Henry stays to see through his potential with Douglas. It's clear this is the last time Henry ever saw Carl.

Carl goes back and him and Shelby dance to Casimir Pulaski Day. As the song goes on her illness weakens her so Carl supports her more, but in doing so she pushes him away, until eventually she is being pulled into the afterlife. Very moving, the dancer for Shelby was phenomenal in portraying the grief and anger of being betrayed by your own body.

As Carl struggles with the loss we see Henry struggling with his decision to stay. This leads into Palisades where we see his relationship with Douglas flourishing. The beauty of it and the inspiration being pulled from Sufjans love for his own partner brought a lot of the audience to tears, sniffles heard all through the quiet moments. We see Henry getting ghostly glimpses of Carl (memory? spiritual?) as he falls into a depression and self harm. Douglas joins him and they sway and breathe together in a way that has me choking up just thinking of it. Their love was potent as was Henry's doubt that he deserved to be loved.

The spectre of Carl makes himself clear to Henry and passes right by through him at several points. The play by play of this bit is slightly lost to me as to when Henry knows what happens, if he knows before the audience, etc. This brings us to The Seer's Tower. Carl is distraught and is led by a whim, portrayed as a dancer in all black, up to the scaffolding above the stage. One by one, with decreasing time between them, we see dancers in all black go up to Carl, float their hand above his as if connected by an invisible tether, and then fall off the edge of the tower to the back of the stage. There is something so curious and questioning about the way Carl plays the suicidal ideation that felt very real to me and makes the bodies falling chilling. Carl takes his own leap, the stars reappear, and we're back to the beginning of the play

Henry wakes up cradled with Douglas and slips away to his journey. We see his travel again, the campfire, and his friends reacting to the vulnerability of the story he has lived. This time though we also see Douglas has made the trip as well and makes his way through the field to the campfire. The community rejoices in their connection and we get fantastic final dance numbers as a group as well as with Henry and Douglas, with Henry made lighter by having told his story. The final shot is Henry handing a book to the audience.

Opinions! Notes! Things I might forget if I don't make this list!

● Went to the opening night of the Park Ave Armory show, March 7th 2024. Pretty good mix of Sufjan fans and Very Fancy NYC theater people that had come to support the show.

● To match the journals in the show the show program covers are bold covers with a moth or butterfly split by the seam of the book (half on each cover). Different colors/insect versions were laid out on the seats. I got a red one with (I think) a tiger moth.

● The program contains journal entries by Henry written by Jackie Sibblies Drury with some Sufjan lyrics mixed in. The end of the program is blank lined pages.

● The vocalists were above and beyond. Absolutely killed it. Made the songs their own in a way I didn't think possible. I really hope there is an album recording for the show now that it's going to Broadway.

● I can not overstate how amazing the energy of the show is, completely contagious in the room. I know a filmed version is unlikely beyond a bootleg but PLEASE it is so inspiring and I'm not at a place where I can draw a dance from memory. I was itching to sketch the entire time.

● The only bits that took me out of the show even a little were the cheesy kind of heavy handed bits that dragged on. The "now YOU write your story" ending is a bit much but the show earns it so 🤷 I won't say it works for me but I don't mind it.

● I would love to see some different costume choices in the story bits. Either more ramshackle costumes pulled together with the camping equipment or fully realized costumes. Having the founding father zombies both have the full face masks but also just be wearing suit jackets they pulled over their head like Beavis and Butthead is a choice that I don't agree with. I was hoping the move to Broadway might net more attention to costuming, but the turnaround is so quick that I'm doubtful. Not enough to ruin the stories but definitely the weakest aspect in a way that lessened the less powerful stories.

● I really can't overstate how electric and magical the Jacksonville performance was. Much smarter people have captured the vibe and explanation of the original song in regards to the exploration of history and ancestry. I can not put it into words but the feeling was communicated so cleanly.

#Illinoise #Illinoise the Musical

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bluebeardsfinalgirl · 10 months

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in the lake (emilie autumn) // john wayne gacy, jr (sufjan stevens)

#sufjan stevens #emilie autumn #lyrics #lyric parallels

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cheddar-baby · 3 months

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After all these years i still feel like John Wayne Gacy, Jr is my favourite Sufjan Stevens song. The way it explores the sense of shame and self-hatred of realizing you're gay in a homophobic culture is so good and gut wrenching. Its such a good choice to link that shame with a notably queer killer. Growing up in a culture that tells you being queer is a sin, making families disown their kids, send them to conversion camps, kill them. You absolutely do grow up and feel like you might as well be a killer. I have talked to a lot of closeted men and they carry that same shame with them like their life would be over if anyone close to them ever found out they were queer. I grew up with that shame and to a degree still feel it when dealing with close family so that song just really resonates with me.

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haveyoulistenedtothisalbum-poll · 6 months

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Tracklist:

Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois • The Black Hawk War, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning, or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience but You're Going to Have to Leave Now, or, 'I Have Fought the Big Knives and Will Continue to Fight Them Until They Are Off Our Lands!' • Come On! Feel the Illinoise! (Part I: The World's Columbian Exposition — Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me in a Dream) • John Wayne Gacy, Jr. • Jacksonville (free) • A short reprise for Mary Todd, who went insane, but for very good reasons • Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Stepmother! • One Last 'Whoo-Hoo!' for the Pullman • Chicago • Casimir Pulaski Day • To the Workers of the Rock River Valley Region, I have an idea concerning your predicament • The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts • Prairie Fire That Wanders About • A conjunction of drones simulating the way in which Sufjan Stevens has an existential crisis in the Great Godfrey Maze • The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us! • They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh! • Let's hear that string part again, because I don't think they heard it all the way out in Bushnell • In This Temple as in the Hearts of Man for Whom He Saved the Earth" • The Seer's Tower • The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders (Part I: The Great Frontier — Part II: Come to Me Only with Playthings Now) • Riffs and Variations on a Single Note for Jelly Roll, Earl Hines, Louis Armstrong, Baby Dodds, and the King of Swing, to name a few • Out of Egypt, into the Great Laugh of Mankind, and I shake the dirt from my sandals as I run

Spotify ♪ Bandcamp ♪ YouTube

#hyltta-polls #polls #artist: sufjan stevens #language: english #decade: 2000s #Chamber Pop #Singer-Songwriter #Chamber Folk #Progressive Pop #Americana #Folk Pop #Indie Folk #Minimalism

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justslowdown · 7 months

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Accidentally got my close friend into Sufjan Stevens

She's a 40-something year old Christian and I think all she's heard is the same stuff I showed my grandma on a plane 10 years ago. Grandma loved it too

Now I'm figuring out how to give her suggestions bridging between his handful of albums that are Christian crack and... the rest of his 25 year career as a deeply strange, magic, enigmatic musician

Even beyond the apocalyptic electronic intensity of my favorite album, he just writes so beautifully about like. murder, drugs, abuse, cheating, dejected masturbation...

maybe the repression part is some of what my friend likes; she only recently started dating women. I feel like his... muchness goes deeper than sexuality, though. What draws me about Sufjan's music is the poetry of it all and I'd love to talk to her about it 🤞 I'm realizing how dark, more than the soft sadboy stereotype but really dark, some of his work is on deep analysis. Goes beyond John Wayne Gacy Jr.

Excited to have a friend who's starting this journey--I have a 110-song playlist with 3-6 songs from every release just waiting for the day one of them did :')

#sufjan stevens #my brother is also interested but told me hes overwhelmed which. yeah. if you listened to his music straight youd pass the day mark #hence the playlist!

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arqueete · 4 months

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Here's my attempt to explain what the Illinoise musical (currently playing at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, based on Sufjan Stevens' album Illinois though he is not directly involved in this project) is about (full spoilers) for those who aren't able to see it yet or ever. This is just based on my memory, no guarantees of accuracy here.

As warned in the program: "Illinoise explores themes of mental health, including depictions of suicide."

It's mostly a dance piece. The actors on stage only ever dance and act out things, while the band sings the songs from the album on behalf of the characters. There isn't a 1-to-1 of "this singer is the voice of this character," there are three soloists in the band and they wear wings a la Illinoise-era Sufjan tours. There is no dialogue. Sometimes a little bit of context is provided via a changing billboard that more or less refers to the song name.

The lack of dialogue means that character names (other than Carl, who is made to be the one referenced by name in part 2 of "Come On Feel the Illinoise" (etc. etc.)) are only available in the program. The program also has some brief character descriptions along with some bits of original writing by Jackie Sibblies Drury meant to be excerpts from Henry's journal. I didn't read any of these before the show started. (One thing the additional text does clear up for me, is that while the show did seem to suggest that Henry had feelings for Carl, the program makes it clearer to me that Carl probably reciprocated those feelings but the two didn't really talk about it or act on it in a significant way.)

Prologue

We start with a prologue with the main character, Henry, waking in bed next to Douglas, and he quietly gets dressed and seems to be trying to sneak out, but Douglas wakes and they say goodbye. This is over a bit of "Seer's Tower" and "A Conjunction of Drones..." Later we will see this exact moment play out again with context.

Act 1

Through "Concerning the UFO Sighting" we're shown that Henry is haunted by three characters, including Douglas. He then shows up with a bunch of ensemble characters at a campground. The friends gather around the fire. The early songs off the album (like "Come On Feel the Illinois" and "Black Hawk War") are used to establish this scene. The framing device of the whole piece is that these characters are sharing personal things they've written. Several songs from the album ("Jacksonville," "Night Zombies," "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." "Man of Metropolis") are presented as individual ensemble members' stories. When I saw it, "Jacksonville" (with some tap dancing sections in contrast to the style of the rest of the dance in the show) and "Man of Metropolis" (presenting a sweet narrative of the character gaining self-confidence) were crowd-pleasers.

Between each story, the characters try and encourage Henry to tell his story, but he keeps refusing.

Act 2

It's finally time for Henry to tell his story and first we get what I believe are a series of flashbacks (as in, not literally what he tells at the campfire) to explain how we got here. Over "Decatur" we're introduced to Henry's best friends Carl and Shelby and we see that Carl and Shelby are romantically involved (and Henry is maybe a bit jealous.) Then Carl and Henry decide to go on this road trip/move that Shelby declines to join, and obviously that's "Chicago." In New York, we see Henry run into Douglas (there's like a meet-cute where they bump into each other Douglas drops a bunch of artwork) and Douglas gives him his number. Meanwhile, Carl gets a call (presumably saying that Shelby is sick) and he decides to go back to Illinois, but Henry refuses to go back with him.

We see Carl and Shelby back in Illinois and "Casimir Pulaski Day" is, you know, probably the most straightforward bit of the entire show.

Shelby dies and we see Carl's mental health deteriorate over a few songs. We get to "The Seer's Tower" and he takes his own life by jumping off a building.

Back in New York, romance is developing between Henry and Douglas. The arrangement of "The Predatory Wasp" seemed to be based on the one Sufjan performed on Austin City Limits, with the extended ending section that gets very chaotic, where we see that Henry can't stop thinking about Carl's death, and then it transitions into the calmer section at the end which has Douglas comforting Henry. This, in my opinion, is the strongest bit of the entire show (and the crowd seemed to agree.)

Act 3

Back at the campfire, Henry tells his story, which he does via what the program just calls "Chicago (reprise)" but is really one of the Chicago arrangements off The Avalanche--I'm almost certain it was the adult contemporary easy listening version. Afterward the friends all embrace Henry. At some point in here Douglas appears at the campfire.

"Tallest Man..." through the end of the album are just like, typical epilogue type stuff of the friends all together and Henry reflecting on the people he's lost and the new love he's found.

#sufjan stevens #illinoise

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