Tonight I was lucky enough to snag front row (well 5th row, if you want to be technical) seats to Green Day’s American Idiot, which is currently playing on Broadway at the ST. James Theatre. The directer, Michael Mayer (of Spring Awakening fame) did a wonderful job connecting the songs together with monologues and dancing to tell the story of three friends living in Jingletown, USA but wanting to break out into the world. I don’t want to give away any more than that in case you plan on going to see it (which you really should). I will tell you that you can feel the pain and anger the characters are feeling throughout the show, and that it is made possible thanks to the acting job of the three stars, John Gallagher (also from Spring Awakening), Michael Esper, and Stark Sands.
After the show, the three leads plus the director and people in charge of orchestration, lighting, and choreography all came on stage to do a brief talk back/Q&A session with some of the audience. The session was called American Idiot U, and it’s a special thing that is going on for Broadway week. Oh, and Billie Joe Armstrong was there too. So that was kinda cool. They took us on a mental tour behind the making of the show, including when Mayer first came up with the idea and how Billie Joe was approached. It may surprise some avid Green Day fans to know that there was no hesitation from Billie Joe on the matter – he was actually very much into the idea from the start, or so he said at tonight’s panel. Personal, I can believe it. When you write a rock opera like they did, it shouldn’t be hard to imagine it when someone asks about putting it on stage. I’m gad they approved, because this theater-goer was very much impressed. For more information about the show you can visit their website. You can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter.