Review: "American Idiot" 9.17 & 9.20

[sundaymorning6am]

Posted: 9/22/09 at 9:55pm

Warning: This is long and there are probably spoilers.

So, I saw American Idiot twice in the last five days. I thought it was awesome; absolutely awesome. I love Green Day and I love theatre ? putting them together was a dream-come-true for me. I?ve seen a lot of the cast in other things (I?ll put those in parentheses). The first show (the 17th) was full cast, the second (matinee of the 20th) had one understudy, Omar Lopez-Cepero for one of the ensemble members (he was great, and absolutely adorable). Here are my thoughts:

Well, everyone has been asking me since I saw it, ?is there really a story??? and having only listened to the CD, sung all by Billie Joe (save for Tre?s one brief song), it?s extremely hard to tell there is a story. I remember trying to write the book to American Idiot and I couldn?t decipher characters at all, aside from a main character and St. Jimmy. Seeing it onstage though, with different characters singing parts of the songs, gave the show an incredible life and a definite plot. I was also incredibly excited because I?ve seen many of the cast in multiple other roles. The little bits of dialogue they added in helped immensely too. Anyways.

The set: It?s incredible, and it?s huge. Not terribly complicated, but it?s awe-inspiring because it?s so high (I also have to think the musicians hazard pay is awesome because of how high up some of them sit ? I wouldn?t doubt that they?re harnessed in up there). It?s an extremely minimal, but 100% effective.

Choreography: I felt the choreography in ?City of the Damned? (during the ?Hey!? parts) was extremely cheesy. In fact, the first time, I thought a lot of the choreography was really repetitive and kind of cheesy. The second time though, I appreciated some of it. I really took a liking to the choreography in ?I Don?t Care.? (the hand-on-the-shoulder-slap thing.) And yes, a lot of the choreography was extremely similar to that of Spring Awakening (?Boulevard of Broken Dreams,? ?Before the Lobotomy,? all of the hand gestures are unmistakably reminiscent of Spring Awakening), but it was all appropriate. I usually hate the use of projections in theatre, but I loved the moving back drop of the city in ?Boulevard of Broken Dreams,? it added another level of emotional depth. The choreography for ?Before the Lobotomy II? was reminiscent of Julie Taymors? in ?Across the Universe? in ?I Want You?? Anyone else?

Some Comments on the Songs: I loved the staging and basically everything about ?Holiday,? a long time favorite song of my on the album. I especially love what Theo Stockman did with the ?Zeig Heil? part. I loved when they brought down the part of the set that John Gallgher was standing on (the first time I had no idea how they did it), and when they used it as a bus.

Another favorite number was ?St. Jimmy,? like I said before, and it?s also another favorite song of mine. It was energetic, mind-blowing, and loud ? everything that I?d imagined. Tony Vincent is just unbelievable. This is just the best I?ve ever seen him. I love his duet with Rebecca Naomi Jones, ?Last Night on Earth.? I also love that he sang ?Know Your Enemy.? He really wailed the high note in the middle of the song. If you hate vibrato, I can see how you can hate his voice, but come on, it?s so pretty.

?Letterbomb?: I love that the girls sang this! Rebecca Naomi-Jones nailed it and they turned it into a kick-ass girl power song (kind of). (Choreography is a bit cheesy though.)

?Extraordinary Girl?: Such an awesome concept and staging ? very mysterious and interesting, though Caplan looks kind of asinine in a harness. Christina Sajous does a beautiful rendition of the song.

?Wake Me Up When September Ends?: It was really beautiful, lots of beautiful harmonies, and it was really [again] emotionally gripping. The paper falling at the end, I didn?t think signified 9/11 so much as it did the vast majority of the population getting back to a daily grind of ?pushing paper? daily.

Directional comment: Michael Mayer did the same thing at the end of Spring Awakening: the second the last song, he made feel like it would be the last song (Come on, was "Purple Summer" really necessary?). And honestly, ?Homecoming? does feel like it should be the end so I was afraid of how he would work these last two songs so that they wouldn?t feel disjointed (like in Spring Awakening). Fortunately, he somehow made it work much better here.

?Homecoming?: I loved Vincent?s voice in this, again, of course, but just like on the CD, it brought the whole show together. I also love Stockman?s voice in ?East 12th Street.?

?Whatshername? just gave me chills. That?s it. It was beautiful. It was a beautifully choreographer reminder of everything we?d seen through-out the show with amazing harmonies and beautiful emotional reflection from John Gallagher Jr.

Orchestrations & Arrangements: Hat tip to Mr. Kitt for once again orchestrating beautiful music. I?ve always been a big fan of harmonies, and he just took what was on the CD and made it even better (I?ll have them all in my head for quite some time). He added some really great parts to end some of the songs so there?s a big button ? it was awesome. At the post-show Q&A, one audience member asked what they think when they hear Green Day on the radio and Gerard Canonico responded, ?I think, hey, we sing that! And then I also think, That?s not how it goes!? I?m probably going to think the ?that?s not how it goes!? thought for a while.

The Cast: The cast is all-around fantastic. John Gallagher Jr. can sing, but it?s his brilliant acting ability that makes him such an amazing performer and part of this cast

Other cast members who pull of rock edginess while still sounding beautifully theatre-esque: Tony Vincent, Brian Charles Johnson, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Andrew Call, Theo Stockman, Alysha Umpress, and Michael Esper (Jesus, what a beautiful vibrato he has even while singing rock!).

The rest of the leads and ensemble were all equally as amazing, but I had to make those few special mentions.

The only cast member that I had issues with is an actor I usually have issues with, Matt Caplan. His voice was the best in ?Before the Lobotomy? but I generally think his voice is extremely whiny. I always want to like him, but I never do. Apparently Ben Thompson, I believe, played his role in the workshop that was done in the winter, and dear god, I wish he would play it again.

Anyways, enough negativity. I loved it and I hope it transfer to Broadway - though I don't know how much of an audience it would find - there are only SO many Green Day fans that have the means to get to New York.

Updated On: 9/22/09 at 09:55 PM

[MikeT73]

Posted: 9/23/09 at 1:02am

Thanks for your detailed review - I've been very curious about this show and I hope we get a chance to see it in New York. Do you think it will appeal to people who are not Green Day fans? So far I'm hearing that fans of the band love it, but I wonder if the thinness of the story will be a bigger problem for people who aren't already familiar with the songs.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 9/23/09 at 5:08am

Thanks for taking the time with your thoughts.

Could you elaborate a bit on the story? My fear is that this will be more of a theatrical concert than a musical. Your review which talks about the music piecemail, seems to back that up.

[sundaymorning6am]

Posted: 9/23/09 at 9:36am

Well, I am first and foremost a theatre person - have been since I was 6. I'm a more recent Green Day fan (maybe 5ish years). Theatre fans seem to be really enjoying it - all of the [older] Berkeley subscribers that were around me really liked it too. I'm also not sure how much of a place it has on Broadway, as opposed to off, but I think it's too big of a show to be off-Broadway. I think it needs the Broadway space.

As for the story, yes, there is one, very much so. It centers around three friends [Johnny, Tonnie, and Will]. Johnny and Tonnie go venture off into the city, and Will was going to join them until his girlfriend tells him he's pregnant [end of Jesus of Suburbia] - so he stays behind and falls into a downward depressive spiral, eventually his girlfriend leaves him for a rockstar. When Tonnie and Johnny get to the city, Johnny [I think] feels really small and starts to reflect [Boulevard of Broken Dreams].

Tonnie shortly after leaving for the city with Johnny decides to up and join the army [Are We the Waiting] after seeing an advertisement on TV [Fortunate Son] where he is injured [Give Me Novocaine - also sung by Will who wants Novocaine because staying at home with his pregnant girlfriend wasn't in his plans] and one of the nurses is his muse for recovering [Extraordinary Girl].

Johnny is the only one left in the city, and decides to start living fast after meeting St. Jimmy [hence the song St. Jimmy], who basically falls hard for him [I didn't see this coming either]. Johnny meets Whatshername and is completely taken [Whatshename], thus creating a love triangle between Johnny, St. Jimmy, and Whatshername. St. Jimmy is very much not pleased about this and basically keeps Johnny coming back by offering him more heroin. Whatshername tries this once and decides it's not for her and wants to get Johnny off of it. After Johnny sings a song that he wrote for Whatshername to her [This is the never-before-released Green Day song, same opening chords as Wake Me Up When September Ends, which I'm not sure of the name for], St. Jimmy bursts in and tells him that she's not good for him [Know Your Enemy] and Johnny almost stabs Whatshername, after which he calms down and she sings to him [21 Guns]. Johnny writes Whatshername a letter saying he's leaving to go off with St. Jimmy [using the opening lyrics, spoken, from "Life Before the Lobotomy"], she flips out [Letterbomb].

"Wake Me Up When September Ends" is a song including the entire cast and it shows some of them putting on suits, and it provokes Johnny to say "It's time for me to wake up," and leave the city to go home and get a job. Theo Stockman sings the opening lyrics for "East 12th Street" ["Johnny's filling out paperwork now..." etc.] and Johnny finds himself going crazy at the desk job ["Get Me Out of Here Right Now"] but eventually he re-unites with his friends and everything comes together [Homecoming].

"Whatshername" is basically an epilogue to the show where Johnny starts thinking about her and sees her through the window her first saw her through at the beginning of the show [though I'm not sure if she's really there, or if it's his imagination], though they don't re-unite. It's a song that's, I feel, about reflection on the past.

Anyways, that's most of the plot with most of the songs in it. Sorry if it's disjointed, but yeah, that's how I remember it.

[TheaterLover2]

Posted: 9/24/09 at 2:02am

Did you notice if they are selling any merchandise at the theater?

[kover22]

Posted: 9/24/09 at 2:15am

I hope it makes it to NY. I want to see Tony Vincent in it and I can't travel to Berkley. I don't even know Greendays music but I love Tony and I support the people that I love!!

[Brick]

Posted: 9/24/09 at 11:40am

It was boring and numbingly under-developed. The local critics were, as they always are, being starf***ers.

I hear it isn't going straight to B'way, as Mayer realizes there is work to be done.

[sundaymorning6am]

Posted: 9/24/09 at 1:21pm

Well, Brick. At least you didn't start an entirely new thread to post those minimal and nonconstructive (and I believe, closed-minded) opinions.

Thanks, Johnny Raincloud.

[Brick]

Posted: 9/24/09 at 8:23pm

No, no I didn't. And I don't, thank you.

Close-minded? Because I thought the material was under-developed? That's a new one.