American Idiot (musical)
Encyclopedia
American Idiot is a one-act, through-sung
stage musical
. The show is an adaptation of punk rock band Green Day
's concept album of the same name
. Additional Green Day songs were interpolated from other sources, including 21st Century Breakdown
, American Idiot
b-sides, and an unreleased song called "When It's Time
". The book
is by Green Day
's lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong
and director Michael Mayer
. The music is by Green Day and the lyrics are by Armstrong.
The story, expanded from that of the concept album, centers on three disaffected young men, Johnny, Will, and Tunny. Johnny and Tunny flee stifling suburbia and their parents' restrictions. The pair look for meaning in life and try out the freedom and excitement of the city. Will stays home to work out his relationship with his pregnant girlfriend. Tunny quickly gives up on life in the city, joins the military, and is shipped off to war. Johnny finds a part of himself that he grows to dislike, has a relationship and experiences lost love.
After a run at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre
2009, the show moved to Broadway
, at the St. James Theatre
. Previews began on March 24, 2010 and officially opened on April 20, 2010. The show closed on April 24, 2011 after 422 performances. While Green Day did not appear in the production, lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong performed the role of "St. Jimmy" occasionally throughout the run. The show also had an onstage band.
The show opened to mixed to positive reviews from critics, but got a rave review from The New York Times
. American Idiot won two 2010 Tony Award
s: Best Scenic Design of a Musical
for Christine Jones, and Best Lighting Design of a Musical for Kevin Adams. It also received a nomination for Best Musical
. On February 13, 2011, it won a Grammy Award
for Best Musical Show Album.
. Village Voice music critic Robert Christgau
compared Warning to the band's previous album (Nimrod) and noted that "[Billy Joe Armstrong is] abandoning the first person. He's assuming fictional personas. And he's creating for himself the voice of a thinking left-liberal." Christgau also detected "a faint whiff" of the work from the theatrical composer/lyricist team of Kurt Weill
and Bertolt Brecht
.
The trend of writing in the third person came to fruition with Green Day's next studio album, American Idiot in 2004. The first new song Green Day wrote was the single "American Idiot
". The band had difficulty following it up.
One day, bassist Mike Dirnt
was in the studio recording a 30-second song by himself. Armstrong decided he wanted to do the same, and drummer Tré Cool
followed suit. Armstrong recalled, "It started getting more serious as we tried to outdo one another. We kept connecting these little half-minute bits until we had something." This musical suite became "Homecoming", and the group subsequently wrote another suite, "Jesus of Suburbia
".
Armstrong was so emboldened by the creation of the two suites that he decided to make the record an album-long conceptual piece. The band took inspiration from concept records by The Who
. The album also was deliberately created with a plot arc and that some of their inspiration was from sources in the musical theater repertoire like The Rocky Horror Show
and West Side Story
and the concept album cum stage musical Jesus Christ, Superstar. Armstrong also said the band intended "that it would be staged or we'd create a film or something... we were thinking in terms that it kind of felt like scoring a movie."
Director Michael Mayer heard the album and expressed an interest in adapting it for the stage. When he approached the band about a collaboration, they agreed to work with him. The band also gave Mayer wide latitude for his adaptation after seeing the director's earlier work with Spring Awakening. Though additional songs were included from the Green Day catalog, Mayer added very little dialogue to the show. He felt instead that the music and lyrics were expressive enough on their own, and even removed some of the dialogue that was part of the Berkeley production before the show moved to Broadway.
. Previews began on September 4, 2009 and the official opening was on September 15, 2009. After becoming the top-grossing show in Berkeley Rep history, the producers extended the limited run twice to November 15, 2009. The cast included John Gallagher Jr. as Johnny, Matt Caplan
as Tunny, Michael Esper as Will, Tony Vincent
as St. Jimmy, Rebecca Naomi Jones as Whatsername, Mary Faber
as Heather, and Christina Sajous as the Extraordinary Girl.
at the St. James Theatre
with previews beginning on March 24, 2010 and officially opened on April 20, 2010. It is rumored that the show cost between $8 million and $10 million to produce. After six months of performances, the show was "still a ways off from possibly turning a profit" according to a New York Times report.
The original Broadway cast included John Gallagher Jr. as Johnny, Michael Esper as Will, Stark Sands
as Tunny, Tony Vincent
as St. Jimmy, Rebecca Naomi Jones as Whatsername, Mary Faber as Heather, and Christina Sajous as the Extraordinary Girl.
Tom Kitt
is the music supervisor and orchestrator for both the Berkeley and Broadway productions. The lead producers
for the show are Ira Pittelman and Tom Hulce
. The creative team for the show is largely the same as for the musical adaptation of Spring Awakening
: Michael Mayer, director, Christine Jones, scenic designer, and Kevin Adams, lighting designer. Andrea Lauer is the costume designer. Brian Ronan is the Sound Designer.
On September 26, 2010, Billie Joe Armstrong
wrote on the official Green Day Twitter
account that from September 28 to October 3 he would play the role of St. Jimmy. The announcement led to an immediate increase in sales of tickets at the St. James Theatre. Ticket sales for the week Armstrong performed were up 77%, average ticket prices increased 22%, and gross sales increased 127% from the previous week's totals. The singer-songwriter filled in for cast member Tony Vincent who took time off for personal matters; the following week after Armstrong's run, St. Jimmy's understudies, Andrew Call and Joshua Kobak, split covering the role. On November 30, 2010, the producers announced that Armstrong would make another 50 appearances as St. Jimmy between January 1 and February 27, 2011.
Armstrong's Broadway performances were among of a number of personal appearances he has made to help promote the show. As part of the promotion for the show, the cast performed at the Grammy Awards on January 31, 2010 with Green Day.
In addition to Billie Joe Armstrong's stint as St. Jimmy, Melissa Etheridge
played the part of St. Jimmy on Broadway from February 1–6, 2011, and Davey Havok
took the role from March 1-15, 2011.
In the wake of weak sales following the departure of Billie Joe Armstrong from the role of St. Jimmy, The New York Times hinted that the producers could soon post a closing notice for the production. The Broadway production was then scheduled to close on April 24, 2011 after 27 previews and 421 performances. Billie Joe Armstrong returned to the role of St. Jimmy for the final three weeks.
, Canada
. The cast has been announced as Van Hughes reprising his role as Johnny, Jake Epstein as Will, Scott J. Campbell as Tunny, Leslie McDonel as Heather, Gabrielle McClinton as Whatsername, and Nicci Claspell as The Extraordinary Girl. Broadway alumni Joshua Kobak will be rejoining the cast as St. Jimmy. The ensemble will include Talia Aaron, Krystina Alabado, Gabriel Antonacci, Larkin Bogan, Matt Deangelis, Dan Gleason, Kelvin Moon Loh, Okieriete Onaodowan, and Kaitlyn Terrill. Tommy McDowell, Jillian Mueller, Vince Oddo have joined the tour cast as swings. Additional casting has yet to be announced.
", is the main protagonist of the story and most of the plot points revolve around his picaresque journey. On his quest for self-discovery he experiences nihilism
, drug abuse, and lost love. The role was created for the Berkeley and Broadway runs by Tony-Award-winner John Gallagher, Jr.
When Gallagher left the production, Van Hughes, who was previously the three leads' standby, took over the role full-time. Van will continue playing the role of Johnny in the first national tour.
alumnus Justin Guarini
for the remainder of the run. It was recently announced that Jake Epstein will play the character of Will on tour this December.
for rock artists, allowing several of them to make their Broadway debuts. Billie Joe Armstrong
covered for Tony Vincent
from September 27, 2010 to October 3, 2010 and then took over the role for two months when Vincent left the production in January 2011. Melissa Etheridge
then covered for Billie Joe Armstrong
from February 1, 2011 to February 6, 2011. Davey Havok
of AFI
replaced Billie Joe Armstrong
in the role of "St. Jimmy" beginning on March 1, 2011. Billie Joe Armstrong
reprised the role of St. Jimmy on April 5, 2011 until the show closed on April 24, 2011. Former American Idiot swing and St. Jimmy understudy Joshua Kobak will take over the role during the first national tour.
, Andrew Call, Gerard Canonico
, Miguel Cervantes, Joshua Henry
, Brian Charles Johnson, Lorin Latarro, Omar Lopez-Cepero, Chase Peacock, Theo Stockman
, Ben Thompson, Alysha Umphress, Morgan Weed, and Libby Winters. The Broadway Opening Night cast included Declan Bennett, Andrew Call, Gerard Canonico, Miguel Cervantes, Joshua Henry, Van Hughes, Brian Charles Johnson, Joshua Kobak, Lorin Latarro, Omar Lopez-Cepero, Leslie McDonel, Chase Peacock, Theo Stockman, Ben Thompson, Alysha Umphress, Aspen Vincent, and Libby Winters. Throughout the course of the Broadway run, Krystina Alabado, Jennifer Bowles, P.J. Griffith, Sydney Harcourt, Jason Kappus, Sean Michael Murrary, Corbin Reid, Wallace Smith, and Mikey Winslow had joined the ensemble.
The original ensemble company for the first national tour includes Talia Aaron, Krystina Alabado, Gabriel Antonacci, Larkin Bogan, Matt Deangelis, Dan Gleason, Kelvin Moon Loh, Tommy McDowell, Jillian Mueller, Jarran Muse, Vince Oddo, Okieriete Onaodowan, and Kaitlyn Terrill.
(identified as Jingletown, USA) and saturated with TV. Fed up with the state of the union, the company explodes in frustration ("American Idiot
"). The musical then focuses on three best friends: Johnny, Will, and Tunny. The three feel threatened by their mundane lives. Johnny goes to commiserate with Will ("Jesus of Suburbia
"). The appearance of a third friend, Tunny, spurs change when the three run out of beer. At the 7-Eleven
, Tunny exposes the do-nothing go-nowhere quicksand of their lives ("City of the Damned"). They get riled up, and Johnny challenges his friends to engage ("I Don't Care"). Will's girlfriend Heather appears. She is pregnant and doesn't know what to do ("Dearly Beloved"). Johnny borrows money from his mother and buys bus tickets to the city for himself and his friends. Heather reveals to Will that he is going to be a father, so he decides to stay home ("Tales of Another Broken Home"). Johnny and Tunny depart for the city with a group of other jaded youths ("Holiday
").
While Johnny wanders the city and pines for a woman he sees in an apartment window ("Boulevard of Broken Dreams
"), Tunny finds it hard to adjust to urban life and is seduced by a television ad for the army ("Favorite Son"). Tunny realizes that his generation has been so numbed and apathetic that nothing, not even the bright lights of the city, will excite him ("Are We the Waiting"). He enlists in the army.
Frustrated by his friend's departure and his inability to find girls or fun, Johnny conjures a rebellious powerful reflection of himself called "St. Jimmy" and shoots heroin for the first time ("St. Jimmy"). Back in Jingletown, Will sits on the couch as his girlfriend's pregnancy progresses. He drinks beer and begs for a release. Meanwhile, Tunny is deployed to a war zone, and is soon shot and wounded ("Give Me Novacaine").
Johnny finds that St. Jimmy has given him everything he's ever wanted—girls and fun—and spends the night with the girl he saw in the window, whom he calls "Whatsername". Johnny is smitten with Whatsername and wants to celebrate, but St. Jimmy has other plans for them ("Last of the American Girls/She's a Rebel"). Johnny and Whatsername go to a club, shoot drugs together, and have passionate sex. By this time, Will and Heather's baby girl has been born, and Will is increasingly oblivious as Heather tenderly commits herself to her baby's future ("Last Night on Earth").
Heather has had enough of Will's pot-and-alcohol-fueled apathy. Despite Will's protestations, she takes the baby and walks out ("Too Much, Too Soon"). Around the same time, lying in a bed in an army hospital ("Before the Lobotomy
"), Tunny falls victim to the hopelessness he has seen during wartime and hallucinates. He and his nurse engage in a balletic aerial dance ("Extraordinary Girl"). He quickly falls in love with her.
Back in the city, Jimmy reappears but Johnny ignores him, watching Whatsername sleep. Johnny muses on their relationship and reveals the depth of his love for her ("When It's Time
"). The temptation of drugs, however, is too great; Jimmy forces Johnny to become increasingly erratic, and he eventually threatens Whatsername (and then himself) with a knife ("Know Your Enemy
"). Whatsername attempts to talk about his behavior, but is shocked at the depths to which he has spun out of control. Meanwhile, the Extraordinary Girl dresses Tunny's wounds and Will sits on the couch, once again alone ("21 Guns
"). After this, Johnny leaves with Jimmy after leaving a note for Whatsername, saying that he has chosen Jimmy and his drugs over her. Frightened and fed up, Whatsername explodes at Johnny, telling him that he is not the "Jesus of Suburbia" and revealing to him that St. Jimmy is nothing more than "a figment of [his] father's rage and [his] mother's love" ("Letterbomb"). She leaves him.
Hurt by Whatsername's departure, Johnny is forced to admit that his life has amounted to nothing; he longs for better days ahead, Tunny longs for home, and Will longs for all the things he's lost ("Wake Me Up When September Ends
"). St. Jimmy appears and makes one last attempt to get Johnny's attention, but that part of Johnny has died, resulting in the metaphorical suicide
of St. Jimmy ("The Death of St. Jimmy"). Johnny cleans up and gets a desk job but soon realizes that he can find no place for him in the city ("East 12th Street"). Will, all alone with his television, bemoans his outcast state ("Nobody Likes You"). As he finally gets up off the couch, Heather appears with her new show-off rockstar boyfriend ("Rock and Roll Girlfriend"). Will heads to the 7-Eleven to get away from them and, surprisingly, finds Johnny there. Johnny had sold his guitar for a bus ticket home. Tunny returns from the war zone (as an amputee) with the Extraordinary Girl. As Tunny introduces his friends to the Extraordinary Girl, Johnny becomes furious with him for leaving the group, but quickly forgives him and the three friends embrace. Heather and her boyfriend arrive. In an uneasy truce, she gives the baby to Will. Other friends show up to greet the three men they haven't seen in a year ("We're Coming Home Again"). One year later, Johnny laments that he lost the love of his life, but he accepts that he can live inside the struggle between rage and love that has defined his life. With this acceptance comes the possibility of hope ("Whatsername").
After the cast takes their bows, the curtain rises to reveal the entire company with guitars, with which they perform the song, "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
".
.
Green Day
re-released the single "21 Guns
" with the musical cast on Spinner.com on December 3, 2009. This version features Billie Joe Armstrong
, together with Christina Sajous, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Mary Faber
and Matt Caplan
, with backup from the rest of American Idiot cast. Another version was released with John Gallagher, Jr., Michael Esper and Caplan singing the parts that Armstrong had previously sung. Green Day and the cast of the musical also performed the song at the 2010 Grammy Awards on January 31, 2010.
The original cast recording of the musical was released on April 20, 2010. The cast album includes all the songs featured in the musical plus a brand new recording of "When It's Time" by Green Day. The instrumentation of the recording is also played by Green Day. The album won Best Musical Show Album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.
, has been prepackaged as Velveeta
", and continued sarcastically, "In other words, it should do big business on Broadway." Charles Isherwood of The New York Times
commented that the show contained "characters who lack much in the way of emotional depth or specificity, and plotlines that are simple to the point of crudity" but also felt that "the show possesses a stimulating energy and a vision of wasted youth that holds us in its grip."
Isherwood's review for the Broadway production was enthusiastic. He called the show "a pulsating portrait of wasted youth that invokes all the standard genre conventions ... only to transcend them through the power of its music and the artistry of its execution, the show is as invigorating and ultimately as moving as anything I’ve seen on Broadway this season. Or maybe for a few seasons past." Jed Gottlieb of the Boston Herald
enjoyed the premise of the show but found that "the music and message suffer in a setting where the audience is politely, soberly seated". Michael Kuchwara
of the Associated Press
found the show to be "visually striking [and] musically adventurous", but noted that "the show has the barest wisp of a story and minimal character development". Paul Kolnik in USA Today
enjoyed the contradiction that Green Day's "massively popular, starkly disenchanted album ... would be the feel-good musical of the season". Time magazine's Richard Zoglin opined that the score "is as pure a specimen of contemporary punk rock as Broadway has yet encountered [yet] there's enough variety. ... Where the show fall short is as a fully developed narrative." He concluded that "American Idiot, despite its earnest huffing and puffing, remains little more than an annotated rock concert. ... Still, [it] deserves at least two cheers – for its irresistible musical energy and for opening fresh vistas for that odd couple, rock and Broadway." Peter Travers from Rolling Stone
, in his review of American Idiot, wrote "Though American Idiot carries echoes of such rock musicals as Tommy, Hair
, Rent
and Spring Awakening
, it cuts its own path to the heart. You won’t know what hit you. American Idiot knows no limits — it's a global knockout." UpVenue described the musical as a "groundbreaking piece of artistry," having the "emotional charge of Rent," and congratulated Green Day for immortalizing American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown.
nomination because less than 50% of it was written for the stage production.
and his production company, Playtone
, optioned the musical to create a film version. On April 13, 2011, it was announced that Universal Pictures
had begun initial negotiations. Dustin Lance Black
has been selected to adapt the screenplay from the musical for the film. Michael Mayer, who also directed the Broadway version will be directing the film while the producers will be Green Day
, Pat Magnarella, Playtone
and Tom Hulce
, who served as producer of the Broadway production. Magnarella is Green Day's manager and was a producer for the band's live albums Bullet in a Bible
, Awesome as Fuck
, and the documentary Heart Like a Hand Grenade. Rolling Stone
reported that Billie Joe Armstrong would be starring as St. Jimmy in the film, and that it was set for a 2013 released date. However, Armstrong later posted on his Twitter account that he hadn't "totally committed to St. Jimmy for the AI movie." and "Yes, I'm interested. Yes someone jumped the gun..." No other cast members have been confirmed.
Sung-through
Sung-through refers to a musical or opera with no spoken dialogue, except perhaps for some occasional lines included in some part of a song, but never as stand-alone dialogue...
stage musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
. The show is an adaptation of punk rock band Green Day
Green Day
Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool...
's concept album of the same name
American Idiot
American Idiot is the seventh studio album by the American punk rock band Green Day. It was released on September 21, 2004 through Reprise Records and was produced by longtime collaborator Rob Cavallo. In mid-2003, the band began recording songs for an album entitled Cigarettes and Valentines...
. Additional Green Day songs were interpolated from other sources, including 21st Century Breakdown
21st Century Breakdown
21st Century Breakdown is the eighth studio album by the American punk rock band Green Day. It is the band's second rock opera, following American Idiot, and their first album to be produced by Butch Vig. Green Day commenced work on the record in January 2006...
, American Idiot
American Idiot
American Idiot is the seventh studio album by the American punk rock band Green Day. It was released on September 21, 2004 through Reprise Records and was produced by longtime collaborator Rob Cavallo. In mid-2003, the band began recording songs for an album entitled Cigarettes and Valentines...
b-sides, and an unreleased song called "When It's Time
When It's Time
-Chart positions:"When It's Time" began its chart performance on the United Kingdom Singles Chart, where on June 20, 2010, it entered at number 71. It moved up to a peak of 68 the next week....
". The book
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
is by Green Day
Green Day
Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool...
's lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong
Billie Joe Armstrong
Billie Joe Armstrong is an American rock musician and occasional actor, best known as the lead vocalist, main songwriter and lead guitarist for the American punk rock band Green Day...
and director Michael Mayer
Michael Mayer (director)
Michael Mayer is an American stage and film director. He won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical in 2007 for directing Spring Awakening.-Biography:...
. The music is by Green Day and the lyrics are by Armstrong.
The story, expanded from that of the concept album, centers on three disaffected young men, Johnny, Will, and Tunny. Johnny and Tunny flee stifling suburbia and their parents' restrictions. The pair look for meaning in life and try out the freedom and excitement of the city. Will stays home to work out his relationship with his pregnant girlfriend. Tunny quickly gives up on life in the city, joins the military, and is shipped off to war. Johnny finds a part of himself that he grows to dislike, has a relationship and experiences lost love.
After a run at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a regional theater company located in Berkeley, California. It was founded in 1968, as the East Bay’s first resident professional theatre. Michael Leibert was the founding artistic director, who was then succeeded by Sharon Ott in 1984. The company runs seven...
2009, the show moved to Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, at the St. James Theatre
St. James Theatre
The St. James Theatre is located at 246 W. 44th St. Broadway, New York City, New York. It was built by Abraham L. Erlanger, theatrical producer and a founding member of the Theatrical Syndicate, on the site of the original Sardi's restaurant. It opened in 1927 as The Erlanger...
. Previews began on March 24, 2010 and officially opened on April 20, 2010. The show closed on April 24, 2011 after 422 performances. While Green Day did not appear in the production, lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong performed the role of "St. Jimmy" occasionally throughout the run. The show also had an onstage band.
The show opened to mixed to positive reviews from critics, but got a rave review from The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. American Idiot won two 2010 Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
s: Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Tony Award for Best Scenic Design of a Musical
This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Scenic Design for outstanding set design of a play or musical. The award was first presented in 1947...
for Christine Jones, and Best Lighting Design of a Musical for Kevin Adams. It also received a nomination for Best Musical
Tony Award for Best Musical
This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Musical, first awarded in 1949. This award is presented to the producers of the musical.-1940s:* 1949: Kiss Me, Kate – Music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Samuel and Bella Spewack...
. On February 13, 2011, it won a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Musical Show Album.
Background
In 2000 Green Day released the album WarningWarning (Green Day album)
Warning is the sixth studio album by American punk rock band Green Day. It was released on October 3, 2000 through Reprise Records. Building upon its predecessor, Nimrod , the album eschewed the band's trademark punk rock sound and incorporated acoustic and pop rock elements...
. Village Voice music critic Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
compared Warning to the band's previous album (Nimrod) and noted that "[Billy Joe Armstrong is] abandoning the first person. He's assuming fictional personas. And he's creating for himself the voice of a thinking left-liberal." Christgau also detected "a faint whiff" of the work from the theatrical composer/lyricist team of Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
and Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
.
The trend of writing in the third person came to fruition with Green Day's next studio album, American Idiot in 2004. The first new song Green Day wrote was the single "American Idiot
American Idiot (song)
"American Idiot" is a song by the American punk rock band Green Day. It was released as the first single from their album of the same name.Released in 2004, the single peaked at #61 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Green Day's first Billboard Hot 100 chart entry , helping revive the band's career...
". The band had difficulty following it up.
One day, bassist Mike Dirnt
Mike Dirnt
Michael Ryan Pritchard is an American musician, best known as the bassist, backing vocalist and co-founder of the American Rock band Green Day. While at school, he would play "air-bass." While pretending to pluck the strings, he made the noise, "dirnt, dirnt, dirnt"...
was in the studio recording a 30-second song by himself. Armstrong decided he wanted to do the same, and drummer Tré Cool
Tre Cool
Frank Edwin Wright III, a.k.a. Tré Cool, is an American drummer, best known as the drummer for the punk rock band Green Day. He replaced the group's former drummer John Kiffmeyer in 1990...
followed suit. Armstrong recalled, "It started getting more serious as we tried to outdo one another. We kept connecting these little half-minute bits until we had something." This musical suite became "Homecoming", and the group subsequently wrote another suite, "Jesus of Suburbia
Jesus of Suburbia
"Jesus of Suburbia" is a song by American rock band Green Day. It was released as the fifth and final single from their seventh album, American Idiot. The studio version of the song, a five movement piece, runs just over 9 minutes and was considered to be unfriendly for radio, so it was cut down to...
".
Armstrong was so emboldened by the creation of the two suites that he decided to make the record an album-long conceptual piece. The band took inspiration from concept records by The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
. The album also was deliberately created with a plot arc and that some of their inspiration was from sources in the musical theater repertoire like The Rocky Horror Show
The Rocky Horror Show
The Rocky Horror Show is a long-running British horror comedy stage musical, which opened in London on 19 June 1973. It was written by Richard O'Brien, produced and directed by Jim Sharman. It came eighth in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the "Nation's Number One Essential Musicals"...
and West Side Story
West Side Story
West Side Story is an American musical with a script by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreographed by Jerome Robbins...
and the concept album cum stage musical Jesus Christ, Superstar. Armstrong also said the band intended "that it would be staged or we'd create a film or something... we were thinking in terms that it kind of felt like scoring a movie."
Director Michael Mayer heard the album and expressed an interest in adapting it for the stage. When he approached the band about a collaboration, they agreed to work with him. The band also gave Mayer wide latitude for his adaptation after seeing the director's earlier work with Spring Awakening. Though additional songs were included from the Green Day catalog, Mayer added very little dialogue to the show. He felt instead that the music and lyrics were expressive enough on their own, and even removed some of the dialogue that was part of the Berkeley production before the show moved to Broadway.
Berkeley tryout
The musical premiered at the Berkeley Repertory TheatreBerkeley Repertory Theatre
Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a regional theater company located in Berkeley, California. It was founded in 1968, as the East Bay’s first resident professional theatre. Michael Leibert was the founding artistic director, who was then succeeded by Sharon Ott in 1984. The company runs seven...
. Previews began on September 4, 2009 and the official opening was on September 15, 2009. After becoming the top-grossing show in Berkeley Rep history, the producers extended the limited run twice to November 15, 2009. The cast included John Gallagher Jr. as Johnny, Matt Caplan
Matt Caplan
- Career :Caplan has appeared on Broadway in Rent as Mark Cohen, in the revival of South Pacific and in High Fidelity. He has also been featured in the films Across the Universe and Painting Abby Long, and on the television show New Amsterdam....
as Tunny, Michael Esper as Will, Tony Vincent
Tony Vincent
Tony Vincent, born Anthony Peter Strascina, is an American actor, singer and songwriter born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and based out of New York City, New York. He took the stage name Tony Vincent when he was preparing to release his first EP in 1993 .-Early career:Vincent's professional career...
as St. Jimmy, Rebecca Naomi Jones as Whatsername, Mary Faber
Mary Faber
Mary Faber is an American singer, actress, and dancer. Faber graduated from the Governor's School for the Arts and Brandeis University.-Stage career:...
as Heather, and Christina Sajous as the Extraordinary Girl.
Broadway
The musical transferred to BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
at the St. James Theatre
St. James Theatre
The St. James Theatre is located at 246 W. 44th St. Broadway, New York City, New York. It was built by Abraham L. Erlanger, theatrical producer and a founding member of the Theatrical Syndicate, on the site of the original Sardi's restaurant. It opened in 1927 as The Erlanger...
with previews beginning on March 24, 2010 and officially opened on April 20, 2010. It is rumored that the show cost between $8 million and $10 million to produce. After six months of performances, the show was "still a ways off from possibly turning a profit" according to a New York Times report.
The original Broadway cast included John Gallagher Jr. as Johnny, Michael Esper as Will, Stark Sands
Stark Sands
Stark Bunker Sands is an American actor of film, television and theatre.-Biography:Sands was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, where he began acting on the stage at age 13 at Highland Park High School. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in acting from the University of Southern California...
as Tunny, Tony Vincent
Tony Vincent
Tony Vincent, born Anthony Peter Strascina, is an American actor, singer and songwriter born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and based out of New York City, New York. He took the stage name Tony Vincent when he was preparing to release his first EP in 1993 .-Early career:Vincent's professional career...
as St. Jimmy, Rebecca Naomi Jones as Whatsername, Mary Faber as Heather, and Christina Sajous as the Extraordinary Girl.
Tom Kitt
Tom Kitt (musician)
Tom Kitt is an American composer, conductor, orchestrator and musician. For his score for the musical Next to Normal, he shared the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Brian Yorkey...
is the music supervisor and orchestrator for both the Berkeley and Broadway productions. The lead producers
Theatrical producer
A theatrical producer is the person ultimately responsible for overseeing all aspects of mounting a theatre production. The independent producer will usually be the originator and finder of the script and starts the whole process...
for the show are Ira Pittelman and Tom Hulce
Tom Hulce
Thomas Edward "Tom" Hulce is an American actor and theater producer. As an actor, he is perhaps best known for his Oscar-nominated portrayal of Mozart in the movie Amadeus and his role as "Pinto" in National Lampoon's Animal House. Additional acting awards included a total of four Golden Globe...
. The creative team for the show is largely the same as for the musical adaptation of Spring Awakening
Spring Awakening
Spring Awakening is a rock musical adaptation of the controversial 1892 German play of the same title by Frank Wedekind. It features music by Duncan Sheik and a book and lyrics by Steven Sater. Set in late-19th century Germany, it concerns teenagers who are discovering the inner and outer tumult of...
: Michael Mayer, director, Christine Jones, scenic designer, and Kevin Adams, lighting designer. Andrea Lauer is the costume designer. Brian Ronan is the Sound Designer.
On September 26, 2010, Billie Joe Armstrong
Billie Joe Armstrong
Billie Joe Armstrong is an American rock musician and occasional actor, best known as the lead vocalist, main songwriter and lead guitarist for the American punk rock band Green Day...
wrote on the official Green Day Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
account that from September 28 to October 3 he would play the role of St. Jimmy. The announcement led to an immediate increase in sales of tickets at the St. James Theatre. Ticket sales for the week Armstrong performed were up 77%, average ticket prices increased 22%, and gross sales increased 127% from the previous week's totals. The singer-songwriter filled in for cast member Tony Vincent who took time off for personal matters; the following week after Armstrong's run, St. Jimmy's understudies, Andrew Call and Joshua Kobak, split covering the role. On November 30, 2010, the producers announced that Armstrong would make another 50 appearances as St. Jimmy between January 1 and February 27, 2011.
Armstrong's Broadway performances were among of a number of personal appearances he has made to help promote the show. As part of the promotion for the show, the cast performed at the Grammy Awards on January 31, 2010 with Green Day.
In addition to Billie Joe Armstrong's stint as St. Jimmy, Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Lou Etheridge is an American rock singer-songwriter and musician.Etheridge is known for her mixture of confessional lyrics, pop-based folk-rock, and raspy, smoky vocals...
played the part of St. Jimmy on Broadway from February 1–6, 2011, and Davey Havok
Davey Havok
David Paden Marchand , more commonly known by the stage name Davey Havok, is the lead vocalist of the American rock band AFI and the electronic music band Blaqk Audio....
took the role from March 1-15, 2011.
In the wake of weak sales following the departure of Billie Joe Armstrong from the role of St. Jimmy, The New York Times hinted that the producers could soon post a closing notice for the production. The Broadway production was then scheduled to close on April 24, 2011 after 27 previews and 421 performances. Billie Joe Armstrong returned to the role of St. Jimmy for the final three weeks.
First National Tour
It was announced on February 11, 2011 that the musical will begin a national touring production in December 28, 2011, on TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The cast has been announced as Van Hughes reprising his role as Johnny, Jake Epstein as Will, Scott J. Campbell as Tunny, Leslie McDonel as Heather, Gabrielle McClinton as Whatsername, and Nicci Claspell as The Extraordinary Girl. Broadway alumni Joshua Kobak will be rejoining the cast as St. Jimmy. The ensemble will include Talia Aaron, Krystina Alabado, Gabriel Antonacci, Larkin Bogan, Matt Deangelis, Dan Gleason, Kelvin Moon Loh, Okieriete Onaodowan, and Kaitlyn Terrill. Tommy McDowell, Jillian Mueller, Vince Oddo have joined the tour cast as swings. Additional casting has yet to be announced.
UK and Ireland Tour
On 1st December 2011, it was announced that the musical would be touring the UK, as well as Dublin, in Autumn 2012. The tour will visit Manchester, Southampton, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dublin, Birmingham and London.Characters and Casts
There are seven principal characters in American Idiot: Johnny, Will, Heather, Whatsername, The Extraordinary Girl, Tunny, and St. Jimmy. They are joined on stage by as many as twelve ensemble players.Johnny
Johnny, also known as the "Jesus of SuburbiaJesus of Suburbia
"Jesus of Suburbia" is a song by American rock band Green Day. It was released as the fifth and final single from their seventh album, American Idiot. The studio version of the song, a five movement piece, runs just over 9 minutes and was considered to be unfriendly for radio, so it was cut down to...
", is the main protagonist of the story and most of the plot points revolve around his picaresque journey. On his quest for self-discovery he experiences nihilism
Nihilism
Nihilism is the philosophical doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more putatively meaningful aspects of life. Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism which argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value...
, drug abuse, and lost love. The role was created for the Berkeley and Broadway runs by Tony-Award-winner John Gallagher, Jr.
John Gallagher, Jr.
John Howard Gallagher, Jr. is an American actor and musician perhaps best known for originating the role of Moritz Stiefel in Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater's rock musical Spring Awakening...
When Gallagher left the production, Van Hughes, who was previously the three leads' standby, took over the role full-time. Van will continue playing the role of Johnny in the first national tour.
Will
Will is one of Johnny's best friends. He plans to leave town with the group until his girlfriend, Heather, reveals she is pregnant with his child. Will stays at home and descends in to an alcohol and drug infused depression. The role was created for the Berkeley and Broadway runs by Michael Esper. When Esper left the production, the role was taken over by American IdolAmerican Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
alumnus Justin Guarini
Justin Guarini
Justin Guarini is an American singer/songwriter and actor who rose to fame in 2002 as the first runner-up on the debut season of the television show American Idol.-Background:...
for the remainder of the run. It was recently announced that Jake Epstein will play the character of Will on tour this December.
Tunny
Tunny is another of Johnny's best friends. He accompanies Johnny to the city, but is soon seduced in to joining the military and is sent off to war. Tunny suffers serious injuries and loses a leg. During his rehabilitation, he falls in love with his nurse, The Extraordinary Girl, and the two accompany each other home at the end of the story. Matt Caplan created the role of Tunny for the Berkeley performances. When American Idiot opened on Broadway, Stark Sands played the role. When Sands left the production, the role was taken over by David Larsen. Scott J. Campbell will play the role of Tunny during the first national tour.Whatsername
Whatsername is a nameless, attractive young woman who accompanies Johnny on his pleasure-seeking journey of sex and drugs. She eventually realizes their relationship is mutually destructive and leaves him. The role was created for the Berkeley and Broadway runs by Rebecca Naomi Jones, who played the part until the end of the Broadway run. Gabrielle McClinton will take over the role of Whatsername for the first national tour.Heather
Heather is Will's girlfriend. Her unplanned pregnancy causes Will to stay behind when his friends leave town. She leaves Will and begins a relationship with another man to protect their child. She eventually leads a life of glamour that is in stark contrast to Will's couch-wallowing ways. The role was created for the Berkeley and Broadway runs by Mary Faber. She was replaced on Broadway by Jeanna de Waal for the remainder of the run. Leslie McDonel, who understudied the role of Heather on Broadway, will take over full time for the first national tour.The Extraordinary Girl
The Extraordinary Girl is a nurse who treats Tunny after he is wounded in war. She also appears in Tunny's dreams and hallucinations. The two eventually fall in love and accompany each other home after the war. The role was created for the Berkeley and Broadway runs by Christina Sajous. When Sajous left the production, ensemble member and Extraordinary Girl understudy Libby Winters was promoted to full-time.It was announced that Nicci Claspel will be performing as Extraordinary Girl this December, for the first national tour.St. Jimmy
St. Jimmy is an energetic, thrill-seeking drug dealer. It is eventually revealed that Jimmy is only a drug-addled manifestation of Johnny's id. The role of St. Jimmy was created for the Berkeley and Broadway runs by Tony Vincent. The part has become something of a star vehicleStar vehicle
A star vehicle has historically been a movie, play, TV series, or other production whose primary purpose, besides turning a profit, is to enhance someone's career. Vehicles are most commonly produced when a young or inexperienced actor has signed a long-term contract with a major studio...
for rock artists, allowing several of them to make their Broadway debuts. Billie Joe Armstrong
Billie Joe Armstrong
Billie Joe Armstrong is an American rock musician and occasional actor, best known as the lead vocalist, main songwriter and lead guitarist for the American punk rock band Green Day...
covered for Tony Vincent
Tony Vincent
Tony Vincent, born Anthony Peter Strascina, is an American actor, singer and songwriter born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and based out of New York City, New York. He took the stage name Tony Vincent when he was preparing to release his first EP in 1993 .-Early career:Vincent's professional career...
from September 27, 2010 to October 3, 2010 and then took over the role for two months when Vincent left the production in January 2011. Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Lou Etheridge is an American rock singer-songwriter and musician.Etheridge is known for her mixture of confessional lyrics, pop-based folk-rock, and raspy, smoky vocals...
then covered for Billie Joe Armstrong
Billie Joe Armstrong
Billie Joe Armstrong is an American rock musician and occasional actor, best known as the lead vocalist, main songwriter and lead guitarist for the American punk rock band Green Day...
from February 1, 2011 to February 6, 2011. Davey Havok
Davey Havok
David Paden Marchand , more commonly known by the stage name Davey Havok, is the lead vocalist of the American rock band AFI and the electronic music band Blaqk Audio....
of AFI
AFI (band)
AFI is an American alternative rock band from Ukiah, California that formed in 1991. They have consisted of the same lineup since 1998: lead vocalist Davey Havok, drummer and backup vocalist Adam Carson, with bassist Hunter Burgan and guitarist Jade Puget, who both play keyboard and contribute...
replaced Billie Joe Armstrong
Billie Joe Armstrong
Billie Joe Armstrong is an American rock musician and occasional actor, best known as the lead vocalist, main songwriter and lead guitarist for the American punk rock band Green Day...
in the role of "St. Jimmy" beginning on March 1, 2011. Billie Joe Armstrong
Billie Joe Armstrong
Billie Joe Armstrong is an American rock musician and occasional actor, best known as the lead vocalist, main songwriter and lead guitarist for the American punk rock band Green Day...
reprised the role of St. Jimmy on April 5, 2011 until the show closed on April 24, 2011. Former American Idiot swing and St. Jimmy understudy Joshua Kobak will take over the role during the first national tour.
Ensemble
Ensemble cast members for the Berkeley run included Declan BennettDeclan Bennett
Declan Bennett is an English singer/songwriter, from 2001 to 2006 appearing under the name Sumladfromcov, now performing under his own name. As a teenager he was a member of pop/rock band Point Break, and he has also performed lead roles in shows in London's West End and throughout the United...
, Andrew Call, Gerard Canonico
Gerard Canonico
Gerard Canonico is an American actor and singer, best known for his roles in Broadway and off-Broadway musicals.-Biography:...
, Miguel Cervantes, Joshua Henry
Joshua Henry
Joshua Anthony Charlton Henry is an African-American actor of stage and screen. He is best known for portraying Haywood Patterson in Kander and Ebb's 2010 musical The Scottsboro Boys, for which he received a Tony Award nomination...
, Brian Charles Johnson, Lorin Latarro, Omar Lopez-Cepero, Chase Peacock, Theo Stockman
Theo Stockman
Theo Stockman is an American actor, singer, and disc jockey, best known for his roles in Broadway musicals.-Early life:...
, Ben Thompson, Alysha Umphress, Morgan Weed, and Libby Winters. The Broadway Opening Night cast included Declan Bennett, Andrew Call, Gerard Canonico, Miguel Cervantes, Joshua Henry, Van Hughes, Brian Charles Johnson, Joshua Kobak, Lorin Latarro, Omar Lopez-Cepero, Leslie McDonel, Chase Peacock, Theo Stockman, Ben Thompson, Alysha Umphress, Aspen Vincent, and Libby Winters. Throughout the course of the Broadway run, Krystina Alabado, Jennifer Bowles, P.J. Griffith, Sydney Harcourt, Jason Kappus, Sean Michael Murrary, Corbin Reid, Wallace Smith, and Mikey Winslow had joined the ensemble.
The original ensemble company for the first national tour includes Talia Aaron, Krystina Alabado, Gabriel Antonacci, Larkin Bogan, Matt Deangelis, Dan Gleason, Kelvin Moon Loh, Tommy McDowell, Jillian Mueller, Jarran Muse, Vince Oddo, Okieriete Onaodowan, and Kaitlyn Terrill.
Plot
Set in the recent past, the musical opens on a group of angry youths unhappily living in suburbiaSubUrbia
subUrbia is a play by Eric Bogosian chronicling the nighttime activities of a group of aimless 20-somethings still living in their suburban Boston hometown and their reunion with a former high school classmate who has become a successful musician...
(identified as Jingletown, USA) and saturated with TV. Fed up with the state of the union, the company explodes in frustration ("American Idiot
American Idiot
American Idiot is the seventh studio album by the American punk rock band Green Day. It was released on September 21, 2004 through Reprise Records and was produced by longtime collaborator Rob Cavallo. In mid-2003, the band began recording songs for an album entitled Cigarettes and Valentines...
"). The musical then focuses on three best friends: Johnny, Will, and Tunny. The three feel threatened by their mundane lives. Johnny goes to commiserate with Will ("Jesus of Suburbia
Jesus of Suburbia
"Jesus of Suburbia" is a song by American rock band Green Day. It was released as the fifth and final single from their seventh album, American Idiot. The studio version of the song, a five movement piece, runs just over 9 minutes and was considered to be unfriendly for radio, so it was cut down to...
"). The appearance of a third friend, Tunny, spurs change when the three run out of beer. At the 7-Eleven
7-Eleven
7-Eleven is part of an international chain of convenience stores, operating under Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Ltd, which in turn is owned by Seven & I Holdings Co...
, Tunny exposes the do-nothing go-nowhere quicksand of their lives ("City of the Damned"). They get riled up, and Johnny challenges his friends to engage ("I Don't Care"). Will's girlfriend Heather appears. She is pregnant and doesn't know what to do ("Dearly Beloved"). Johnny borrows money from his mother and buys bus tickets to the city for himself and his friends. Heather reveals to Will that he is going to be a father, so he decides to stay home ("Tales of Another Broken Home"). Johnny and Tunny depart for the city with a group of other jaded youths ("Holiday
Holiday (Green Day song)
7" picture discVinyl Boxset* Live tracks recorded September 21, 2004 at Irving Plaza, New York-Music video:The first half of the video takes place in a car , where Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool are partying around the town...
").
While Johnny wanders the city and pines for a woman he sees in an apartment window ("Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Green Day song)
"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" is a song by American punk rock band Green Day. It was released as the second single from their seventh album, American Idiot. The song was written by Green Day, with lyrics by lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong...
"), Tunny finds it hard to adjust to urban life and is seduced by a television ad for the army ("Favorite Son"). Tunny realizes that his generation has been so numbed and apathetic that nothing, not even the bright lights of the city, will excite him ("Are We the Waiting"). He enlists in the army.
Frustrated by his friend's departure and his inability to find girls or fun, Johnny conjures a rebellious powerful reflection of himself called "St. Jimmy" and shoots heroin for the first time ("St. Jimmy"). Back in Jingletown, Will sits on the couch as his girlfriend's pregnancy progresses. He drinks beer and begs for a release. Meanwhile, Tunny is deployed to a war zone, and is soon shot and wounded ("Give Me Novacaine").
Johnny finds that St. Jimmy has given him everything he's ever wanted—girls and fun—and spends the night with the girl he saw in the window, whom he calls "Whatsername". Johnny is smitten with Whatsername and wants to celebrate, but St. Jimmy has other plans for them ("Last of the American Girls/She's a Rebel"). Johnny and Whatsername go to a club, shoot drugs together, and have passionate sex. By this time, Will and Heather's baby girl has been born, and Will is increasingly oblivious as Heather tenderly commits herself to her baby's future ("Last Night on Earth").
Heather has had enough of Will's pot-and-alcohol-fueled apathy. Despite Will's protestations, she takes the baby and walks out ("Too Much, Too Soon"). Around the same time, lying in a bed in an army hospital ("Before the Lobotomy
Lobotomy
Lobotomy "; τομή – tomē: "cut/slice") is a neurosurgical procedure, a form of psychosurgery, also known as a leukotomy or leucotomy . It consists of cutting the connections to and from the prefrontal cortex, the anterior part of the frontal lobes of the brain...
"), Tunny falls victim to the hopelessness he has seen during wartime and hallucinates. He and his nurse engage in a balletic aerial dance ("Extraordinary Girl"). He quickly falls in love with her.
Back in the city, Jimmy reappears but Johnny ignores him, watching Whatsername sleep. Johnny muses on their relationship and reveals the depth of his love for her ("When It's Time
When It's Time
-Chart positions:"When It's Time" began its chart performance on the United Kingdom Singles Chart, where on June 20, 2010, it entered at number 71. It moved up to a peak of 68 the next week....
"). The temptation of drugs, however, is too great; Jimmy forces Johnny to become increasingly erratic, and he eventually threatens Whatsername (and then himself) with a knife ("Know Your Enemy
Know Your Enemy (Green Day song)
-Charts:-Year-end charts:-Personnel:* Billie Joe Armstrong - guitar, lead vocals* Mike Dirnt - bass guitar, backing vocals* Tre Cool - drums, percussion...
"). Whatsername attempts to talk about his behavior, but is shocked at the depths to which he has spun out of control. Meanwhile, the Extraordinary Girl dresses Tunny's wounds and Will sits on the couch, once again alone ("21 Guns
21 Guns
21 Guns is a melodic hard rock band formed in the early 1990s by Thin Lizzy's guitarist Scott Gorham, bass player Leif Johanson and drummer Mike Sturgis who met through their work with Tom Galley's and Wilfried Rimensberger's Phenomena. At the time the band was fronted by vocalist Tommy La Verdi,...
"). After this, Johnny leaves with Jimmy after leaving a note for Whatsername, saying that he has chosen Jimmy and his drugs over her. Frightened and fed up, Whatsername explodes at Johnny, telling him that he is not the "Jesus of Suburbia" and revealing to him that St. Jimmy is nothing more than "a figment of [his] father's rage and [his] mother's love" ("Letterbomb"). She leaves him.
Hurt by Whatsername's departure, Johnny is forced to admit that his life has amounted to nothing; he longs for better days ahead, Tunny longs for home, and Will longs for all the things he's lost ("Wake Me Up When September Ends
Wake Me Up When September Ends
"Wake Me Up When September Ends" is a song by American rock band Green Day released as the fourth single from their seventh album, American Idiot. The single peaked at number six in the United States, becoming Green Day's second Top 10 single. It also peaked at number eight in Canada and the UK,...
"). St. Jimmy appears and makes one last attempt to get Johnny's attention, but that part of Johnny has died, resulting in the metaphorical suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
of St. Jimmy ("The Death of St. Jimmy"). Johnny cleans up and gets a desk job but soon realizes that he can find no place for him in the city ("East 12th Street"). Will, all alone with his television, bemoans his outcast state ("Nobody Likes You"). As he finally gets up off the couch, Heather appears with her new show-off rockstar boyfriend ("Rock and Roll Girlfriend"). Will heads to the 7-Eleven to get away from them and, surprisingly, finds Johnny there. Johnny had sold his guitar for a bus ticket home. Tunny returns from the war zone (as an amputee) with the Extraordinary Girl. As Tunny introduces his friends to the Extraordinary Girl, Johnny becomes furious with him for leaving the group, but quickly forgives him and the three friends embrace. Heather and her boyfriend arrive. In an uneasy truce, she gives the baby to Will. Other friends show up to greet the three men they haven't seen in a year ("We're Coming Home Again"). One year later, Johnny laments that he lost the love of his life, but he accepts that he can live inside the struggle between rage and love that has defined his life. With this acceptance comes the possibility of hope ("Whatsername").
After the cast takes their bows, the curtain rises to reveal the entire company with guitars, with which they perform the song, "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
-Charts:-Covers:* Rancid have covered the song in some acoustic performances, Matt Freeman is the lead vocalist in the cover.* Comedian Tim Hawkins plays a parody of the song entitled "These Are Things You Don't Say to Your Wife"...
".
Musical numbers
The show features all of the songs from the album American Idiot, some B-tracks and a few of the songs from Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown21st Century Breakdown
21st Century Breakdown is the eighth studio album by the American punk rock band Green Day. It is the band's second rock opera, following American Idiot, and their first album to be produced by Butch Vig. Green Day commenced work on the record in January 2006...
.
- "American IdiotAmerican Idiot (song)"American Idiot" is a song by the American punk rock band Green Day. It was released as the first single from their album of the same name.Released in 2004, the single peaked at #61 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Green Day's first Billboard Hot 100 chart entry , helping revive the band's career...
" - Company - "Jesus of SuburbiaJesus of Suburbia"Jesus of Suburbia" is a song by American rock band Green Day. It was released as the fifth and final single from their seventh album, American Idiot. The studio version of the song, a five movement piece, runs just over 9 minutes and was considered to be unfriendly for radio, so it was cut down to...
"- "Jesus of Suburbia" - Johnny and Will
- "City of the Damned" - Tunny, Johnny, Will, & Company
- "I Don't Care" - Johnny, Will, Tunny, & Company
- "Dearly Beloved" - Heather & Men
- "Tales of Another Broken Home" - Johnny, Will, Tunny, Heather, & Company
- "HolidayHoliday (Green Day song)7" picture discVinyl Boxset* Live tracks recorded September 21, 2004 at Irving Plaza, New York-Music video:The first half of the video takes place in a car , where Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool are partying around the town...
" - Johnny, Tunny, Theo, & Company - "Boulevard of Broken DreamsBoulevard of Broken Dreams (Green Day song)"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" is a song by American punk rock band Green Day. It was released as the second single from their seventh album, American Idiot. The song was written by Green Day, with lyrics by lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong...
" - Johnny, Whatsername, Tunny, & Men - "Favorite Son" - Favorite Son & Women
- "Are We the Waiting" - Tunny, Favorite Son, & Company
- "St. Jimmy" - Johnny, Miguel, Declan, Theo, St. Jimmy, & Company
- "Give Me Novacaine" - Will, Tunny, & Company
- "Last of the American GirlsLast of the American Girls-Chart performance:...
/She's a Rebel" - Johnny, Whatsername, Gerard, Chase, St. Jimmy, & Company - "Last Night on Earth" - St. Jimmy, Whatsername, Heather, & Company
- "Too Much Too Soon" - Theo, Alysha, Will, & Heather
- "Before the Lobotomy" - Tunny, Joshua, Ben, & Chase
- "Extraordinary Girl" - Extraordinary Girl, Tunny, & Company
- "Before the Lobotomy (reprise)" - Tunny, Joshua, Ben, & Chase
- "When It's TimeWhen It's Time-Chart positions:"When It's Time" began its chart performance on the United Kingdom Singles Chart, where on June 20, 2010, it entered at number 71. It moved up to a peak of 68 the next week....
" - Johnny - "Know Your EnemyKnow Your Enemy (Green Day song)-Charts:-Year-end charts:-Personnel:* Billie Joe Armstrong - guitar, lead vocals* Mike Dirnt - bass guitar, backing vocals* Tre Cool - drums, percussion...
" - St. Jimmy, Will, Johnny, & Company - "21 Guns21 Guns (song)"21 Guns" is a song by American rock band Green Day. It was released as the second single from their eighth album, 21st Century Breakdown. The single was released through Reprise Records on May 25, 2009 as a digital download and July 14, 2009 as a CD single...
" - Whatsername, Extraordinary Girl, Heather, Tunny, Johnny, Will, & Company - "Letterbomb" - Whatsername & Women
- "Wake Me Up When September EndsWake Me Up When September Ends"Wake Me Up When September Ends" is a song by American rock band Green Day released as the fourth single from their seventh album, American Idiot. The single peaked at number six in the United States, becoming Green Day's second Top 10 single. It also peaked at number eight in Canada and the UK,...
" - Johnny, Will, Tunny, & Company - "Homecoming"
- "The Death of St. Jimmy" - St. Jimmy & Johnny
- "East 12th St." - Johnny, Theo, Gerard, & Company
- "Nobody Likes You" - Will & Company
- "Rock and Roll Girlfriend" - Miguel, Heather, Will, & Company
- "We're Coming Home Again" - Johnny, Tunny, Will, & Company
- "Whatsername" - Johnny & Company
- "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)-Charts:-Covers:* Rancid have covered the song in some acoustic performances, Matt Freeman is the lead vocalist in the cover.* Comedian Tim Hawkins plays a parody of the song entitled "These Are Things You Don't Say to Your Wife"...
" - Company
Green Day
Green Day
Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool...
re-released the single "21 Guns
21 Guns (song)
"21 Guns" is a song by American rock band Green Day. It was released as the second single from their eighth album, 21st Century Breakdown. The single was released through Reprise Records on May 25, 2009 as a digital download and July 14, 2009 as a CD single...
" with the musical cast on Spinner.com on December 3, 2009. This version features Billie Joe Armstrong
Billie Joe Armstrong
Billie Joe Armstrong is an American rock musician and occasional actor, best known as the lead vocalist, main songwriter and lead guitarist for the American punk rock band Green Day...
, together with Christina Sajous, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Mary Faber
Mary Faber
Mary Faber is an American singer, actress, and dancer. Faber graduated from the Governor's School for the Arts and Brandeis University.-Stage career:...
and Matt Caplan
Matt Caplan
- Career :Caplan has appeared on Broadway in Rent as Mark Cohen, in the revival of South Pacific and in High Fidelity. He has also been featured in the films Across the Universe and Painting Abby Long, and on the television show New Amsterdam....
, with backup from the rest of American Idiot cast. Another version was released with John Gallagher, Jr., Michael Esper and Caplan singing the parts that Armstrong had previously sung. Green Day and the cast of the musical also performed the song at the 2010 Grammy Awards on January 31, 2010.
The original cast recording of the musical was released on April 20, 2010. The cast album includes all the songs featured in the musical plus a brand new recording of "When It's Time" by Green Day. The instrumentation of the recording is also played by Green Day. The album won Best Musical Show Album at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.
Reception
Reviews for the Berkeley Rep production were mixed. Charles McNulty of latimes.com called the show "Kinetically entertaining in a way that intentionally reflects the shallow, media-saturated culture the album rails against". Karen D'Souza of MercuryNews.com called the production "a thrashing collage of songs fused together with hypnotic movement and eye-popping visuals" and thought the show "as compelling as it is abstract [and] channels the grungy spirit of punk while also plucking at the heartstrings." However, Jim Harrington of the Oakland Tribune compared the show unfavorably to the original album, writing: "[what] once was a fine GoudaGouda (cheese)
Gouda is an orange cheese made from cow's milk. The cheese is named after the city of Gouda in the Netherlands, but its name is not protected. However, the European Commission has confirmed that "Gouda Holland" is to be protected...
, has been prepackaged as Velveeta
Velveeta
Velveeta is the brand name of a processed cheese product having a taste that is identified as a type of American cheese with a texture that is softer and smoother. It was first made in 1918 by Swiss immigrant Emil Frey of the Monroe Cheese Company in Monroe, New York. In 1923, The Velveeta Cheese...
", and continued sarcastically, "In other words, it should do big business on Broadway." Charles Isherwood of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
commented that the show contained "characters who lack much in the way of emotional depth or specificity, and plotlines that are simple to the point of crudity" but also felt that "the show possesses a stimulating energy and a vision of wasted youth that holds us in its grip."
Isherwood's review for the Broadway production was enthusiastic. He called the show "a pulsating portrait of wasted youth that invokes all the standard genre conventions ... only to transcend them through the power of its music and the artistry of its execution, the show is as invigorating and ultimately as moving as anything I’ve seen on Broadway this season. Or maybe for a few seasons past." Jed Gottlieb of the Boston Herald
Boston Herald
The Boston Herald is a daily newspaper that serves Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and its surrounding area. It was started in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States...
enjoyed the premise of the show but found that "the music and message suffer in a setting where the audience is politely, soberly seated". Michael Kuchwara
Michael Kuchwara
Michael Charlies Kuchwara was an American theater critic, columnist and journalist. Kuchwara worked as both a critic and journalist for the Associated Press for more than from 1984 until 2010, writing pieces that were read worldwide...
of the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
found the show to be "visually striking [and] musically adventurous", but noted that "the show has the barest wisp of a story and minimal character development". Paul Kolnik in USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
enjoyed the contradiction that Green Day's "massively popular, starkly disenchanted album ... would be the feel-good musical of the season". Time magazine's Richard Zoglin opined that the score "is as pure a specimen of contemporary punk rock as Broadway has yet encountered [yet] there's enough variety. ... Where the show fall short is as a fully developed narrative." He concluded that "American Idiot, despite its earnest huffing and puffing, remains little more than an annotated rock concert. ... Still, [it] deserves at least two cheers – for its irresistible musical energy and for opening fresh vistas for that odd couple, rock and Broadway." Peter Travers from Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, in his review of American Idiot, wrote "Though American Idiot carries echoes of such rock musicals as Tommy, Hair
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
, Rent
Rent (musical)
Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème...
and Spring Awakening
Spring Awakening
Spring Awakening is a rock musical adaptation of the controversial 1892 German play of the same title by Frank Wedekind. It features music by Duncan Sheik and a book and lyrics by Steven Sater. Set in late-19th century Germany, it concerns teenagers who are discovering the inner and outer tumult of...
, it cuts its own path to the heart. You won’t know what hit you. American Idiot knows no limits — it's a global knockout." UpVenue described the musical as a "groundbreaking piece of artistry," having the "emotional charge of Rent," and congratulated Green Day for immortalizing American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown.
Awards and nominations
American Idiot won a total of six awards from 20 nominations. At a meeting of the Tony Administration Committee on April 30, 2010, the score of American Idiot was deemed ineligible for a Tony Award for Best Original ScoreTony Award for Best Original Score
The Tony Award for Best Original Score is the Tony Award given to the composers and lyricists of the best original score written for a musical in that year. The score consists of music and lyrics...
nomination because less than 50% of it was written for the stage production.
Original Broadway production
| Year | Award Ceremony | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Broadway.com Audience Award | Favourite New Broadway Musical | ||
| Favourite Ensemble Cast | ||||
| Favourite Leading Actor in a Musical | John Gallagher, Jr. John Gallagher, Jr. John Howard Gallagher, Jr. is an American actor and musician perhaps best known for originating the role of Moritz Stiefel in Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater's rock musical Spring Awakening... |
|||
| Favourite Performance by a Featured Actor in a Broadway Musical | Michael Esper | |||
| Stark Sands Stark Sands Stark Bunker Sands is an American actor of film, television and theatre.-Biography:Sands was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, where he began acting on the stage at age 13 at Highland Park High School. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in acting from the University of Southern California... |
||||
| Tony Vincent Tony Vincent Tony Vincent, born Anthony Peter Strascina, is an American actor, singer and songwriter born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and based out of New York City, New York. He took the stage name Tony Vincent when he was preparing to release his first EP in 1993 .-Early career:Vincent's professional career... |
||||
| Favourite Performance by a Featured Actress in a Broadway Musical | Rebecca Naomi Jones | |||
| Favourite Onstage Pair | John Gallagher, Jr. John Gallagher, Jr. John Howard Gallagher, Jr. is an American actor and musician perhaps best known for originating the role of Moritz Stiefel in Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater's rock musical Spring Awakening... and Rebecca Naomi Jones |
|||
| Drama Desk Award Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category... |
Outstanding Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical was first awarded at the 1974-1975 Drama Desk Awards and has been awarded every year since. Before the 21st Drama Desk Awards, acting awards were given without making distinctions between roles in straight dramas as opposed to musicals, nor were there... |
|||
| Outstanding Director of a Musical Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical was first awarded at the 1974–1975 Drama Desk Awards and has been awarded every year since... |
Michael Mayer Michael Mayer (director) Michael Mayer is an American stage and film director. He won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical in 2007 for directing Spring Awakening.-Biography:... |
|||
| Outstanding Orchestrations Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors... |
Tom Kitt Tom Kitt (musician) Tom Kitt is an American composer, conductor, orchestrator and musician. For his score for the musical Next to Normal, he shared the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Brian Yorkey... |
|||
| Drama League Award Drama League Award The Drama League Awards, created in 1935, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing... |
Distinguished Production of a Musical | |||
| Distinguished Performance | John Gallagher, Jr. John Gallagher, Jr. John Howard Gallagher, Jr. is an American actor and musician perhaps best known for originating the role of Moritz Stiefel in Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater's rock musical Spring Awakening... |
|||
| Tony Vincent Tony Vincent Tony Vincent, born Anthony Peter Strascina, is an American actor, singer and songwriter born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and based out of New York City, New York. He took the stage name Tony Vincent when he was preparing to release his first EP in 1993 .-Early career:Vincent's professional career... |
||||
| Outer Critics Circle Award Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on and Off-Broadway and were begun during the 1949-1950 theater season. The awards are decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media outlets... |
Outstanding New Broadway Musical | |||
| Outstanding Lighting Design | Kevin Adams | |||
| Tony Award Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway... |
Best Musical Tony Award for Best Musical This is a list of winners and nominations for the Tony Award for Best Musical, first awarded in 1949. This award is presented to the producers of the musical.-1940s:* 1949: Kiss Me, Kate – Music and lyrics by Cole Porter, book by Samuel and Bella Spewack... |
|||
| Best Scenic Design of a Musical | Christine Jones | |||
| Best Lighting Design of a Musical Tony Award for Best Lighting Design This is a list of the winners of the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design in a play or musical, first presented in 1970. In 2005 the category was divided with each genre represented separately.-1970s:* 1970: Jo Mielziner – Child's Play... |
Kevin Adams | |||
| 2011 | Grammy Award Grammy Award A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry... |
Best Musical Show Album Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album The Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album has been awarded since 1959. The award was given only to the album producer, and to the composer and lyricist who wrote at least 51% of the music which had not been recorded previously.... |
||
Broadway attendances, performances, and gross receipts
The following is a month-by-month breakdown of sales, attendance, and performance data for the production at the 1709-seat St. James Theater.| Time period | Attendance | Gross sales | Average Paid Admission | Percent of Capacity | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 24 – April 4, 2010 (12 previews) | 16,879 | $1,312,033 | $77.73 | 82.3% | |
| April 5 – May 2, 2010 (14 previews, 16 performances) | 38,195 | $2,591,496 | $67.85 | 74.5% | |
| May 3 – June 6, 2010 (40 performances) | 47,371 | $3,898,058 | $82.29 | 69.3% | |
| June 7 – July 4, 2010 (31 performances) | 36,876 | $3,082,501 | $83.59 | 69.6% | |
| July 5 – August 1, 2010 (32 performances) | 39,793 | $3,199,187 | $80.40 | 72.8% | |
| August 2 – September 5, 2010 (40 performances) | 45,125 | $3,535,540 | $78.35 | 66.0% | |
| September 6 – October 3, 2010 (31 performances) | 36,363 | $2,491,234 | $68.51 | 68.6% | |
| October 4 – 31, 2010 (32 performances) | 28,202 | $1,983,404 | $70.33 | 51.6% | |
| November 1 - December 5, 2010 (40 performances) | 33,334 | $2,452,032 | $73.56 | 48.8% | |
| December 6, 2010 - January 2, 2011 (32 performances) | 33,694 | $2,694,839 | $79.98 | 61.6% | |
| January 3 - February 6, 2011 (40 performances) | 47,347 | $3,912,616 | $82.64 | 69.3% | |
| February 7 - March 6, 2011 (32 performances) | 43,148 | $3,818,799 | $88.50 | 78.9% | |
| March 7-April 3, 2011 (32 performances) | 32,498 | $1,912,847 | $58.86 | 59.4% | |
| April 4–24, 2011 (24 performances) | 31,898 | $2,913,465 | $91.34 | 77.8% | |
| Totals | |||||
| 422 performances, 26 previews | 510,723 | $39,798,051 | $77.92 | 66.7% |
Film adaptation
In 2010, Tom HanksTom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
and his production company, Playtone
Playtone
The Playtone Company is an American film and television production company and record label established in 1996 by actor Tom Hanks and producer Gary Goetzman....
, optioned the musical to create a film version. On April 13, 2011, it was announced that Universal Pictures
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
had begun initial negotiations. Dustin Lance Black
Dustin Lance Black
Dustin Lance Black is an American screenwriter, director, film and television producer, and LGBT rights activist. He has won two Writers Guild of America Awards for his work on the television series Big Love and an Academy Award for the 2008 film Milk.-Early life:Black was born in Sacramento,...
has been selected to adapt the screenplay from the musical for the film. Michael Mayer, who also directed the Broadway version will be directing the film while the producers will be Green Day
Green Day
Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool...
, Pat Magnarella, Playtone
Playtone
The Playtone Company is an American film and television production company and record label established in 1996 by actor Tom Hanks and producer Gary Goetzman....
and Tom Hulce
Tom Hulce
Thomas Edward "Tom" Hulce is an American actor and theater producer. As an actor, he is perhaps best known for his Oscar-nominated portrayal of Mozart in the movie Amadeus and his role as "Pinto" in National Lampoon's Animal House. Additional acting awards included a total of four Golden Globe...
, who served as producer of the Broadway production. Magnarella is Green Day's manager and was a producer for the band's live albums Bullet in a Bible
Bullet in a Bible
-Certifications:-Personnel:* Billie Joe Armstrong – lead vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, harmonica* Mike Dirnt – bass, backing vocals* Tré Cool – drums, percussion-Additional musicians:* Jason White – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, backing vocals...
, Awesome as Fuck
Awesome as Fuck
Awesome as Fuck is a live album by the American punk rock band Green Day, released March 22, 2011 through Reprise Records...
, and the documentary Heart Like a Hand Grenade. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
reported that Billie Joe Armstrong would be starring as St. Jimmy in the film, and that it was set for a 2013 released date. However, Armstrong later posted on his Twitter account that he hadn't "totally committed to St. Jimmy for the AI movie." and "Yes, I'm interested. Yes someone jumped the gun..." No other cast members have been confirmed.