Green Day American Idiot
Viewers of the new Green Day rock opera “American Idiot” were given an extra special treat at the April 22 show at St. James Theatre on Broadway when the band showed up for a surprise set! After the main cast completed their bows, mics were plopped on stage and the band waltzed on. Front man Billie Joe Armstrong would proclaim “This is my first night on Broadway!” before exploding into the plays title track. The band closed the performance with an ode to the days or yore by playing “Basket Case” off of their 1994 breakthrough album.
American Idiot the Musical is a stage adaptation of the award-winning Green Day album. The play, which is a through-sung rock opera, was written by both Billie Joe Armstrong and director of the hit show Spring Awakening Michael Mayer. American Idiot the Musical first premiered at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre before jumping across the country straight to Broadway with Tony award winning actor John Howard Gallagher, Jr. RENT vet Matt Caplan and Avenue Q vet Mary Faber.
The show has garnered a slew of positive reviews including this one from New York Times journalist Charles Isherwood, “In any case the music is thrilling: charged with urgency, rich in memorable melody and propulsive rhythms that sometimes evolve midsong. The orchestrations by Tom Kitt (the composer of “Next to Normal”) move from lean and mean to lush, befitting the tone of each number. Even if you are unfamiliar with Green Day’s music, you are more likely to emerge from this show humming one of the guitar riffs than you are to find a tune from “The Addams Family” tickling your memory.”
