AMERICAN IDIOT Reviews

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 10:50am

Today is Tuesday, April 20, marking the official opening of 'American Idiot', the new American musical based on the Grammy Award-winning rock album by Green Day, at the St. James following a tryout run at Berkeley Repertory Theatre last fall, and previews that began March 24. Tony Award winner Michael Mayer directs.

The 90-minute rock musical draws on all the songs from the Grammy-winning album of the same name, plus material that did not make the album, plus a handful of numbers from Green Day's latest Grammy-winning album, "21st Century Breakdown". The book of the musical is by Green Day frontman and lyricist Billie Joe Armstrong and Mayer himself. Music and lyrics are by Green Day.

According to production notes: "American Idiot follows the exhilarating journey of a new generation of young Americans as they struggle to find meaning in a post 9/11 world, borne along by Green Day's electrifying score."

Best.

[Famebroadway2]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 11:04am

Boston Herald is pretty Mixed

"Tale told by ‘Idiot’ lacks sound, fury"

Boston Herald review Updated On: 4/20/10 at 11:04 AM

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 11:38am

That's at least mixed.

The reviewer liked the show well enough, but said the inherent issue with any show is that it's in a stodgy theatre atmosphere, not a punk rock atmosphere.

Can you imagine if the audience was screaming along and jumping on seats?

The show queens on this site would have a conniption.

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 11:45am

I assume we'll see much of the same reviews about this. "Entertaining, but ultimately hollow thanks to the setting." I'm excited to see this and have no problem with the show not having a solid plotline, but I had never really given any thought to the fact that the rebellious nature of the show doesn't really lend itself to the theatre.

[harris007]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 11:52am

Lol piragua Guy

[MiracleElixir]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 12:05pm

"...the rebellious nature of the show doesn't really lend itself to the theatre."

I hate to keep jumping back to the HAIR comparisons, but absolutely nothing about that show screams "performing to a house of middle-aged-to-elderly-folks-who-paid-$116.50 a ticket." Same goes for RENT. If you think about it too much, the "messages"/themes in these shows are kind-of the antithesis of what's entailed in modern-day "theatre" yet it doesn't detract from their power.

The show is the show is the show.

AMERICAN IDIOT won't work for a lot of people, and I'm sure many of those people will have valid reasons for their disdain. But I think for reviews to dismiss the show purely based on the belief that theatre is inherently "not punk" is incredibly closed-minded and simplistic.

I don't particularly think the majority of the reviews are necessarily going to follow this trajectory -- I would guess the reviews will be largely positive (with some mixeds and negatives thrown in there), and the negatives will mostly cite the supposedly weak book.

Personally, I loved the show, and think those who criticize the book are largely missing the point, but I knew as soon as I left the St. James that that would be the point of attack for the show's detractors.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 12:23pm

I just want to see the kids jump up and down and slap their heads with all that "youthful energy".

[winston89]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 12:32pm

MiracleElixir, I agree and I don't think that the older theatre crowd were the ones that Green Day was worried about pleasing in the first place. I do remember reading an interview with them somewhere that was talking about how they were trying to please Green Day fans first due to the fact that they have been so loyal to them over the years. And, you know what, it worked.

[taylorPHENOMENON2]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 12:35pm

Best to the show, but I mostly hope John Gallagher and Rebecca Naomi Jones get good reviews.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 12:38pm

Taylor- I agree. Rebecca and John need to get raves tonight. I really am pulling for Rebecca to get a Tony nom this year!

[fetzles1490]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 12:45pm

I 100% agree, Miracle. I think what works best about this show is that it falls somewhere between Hair and Rent in terms of its storytelling. It doesn't reach for the concrete storytelling that Rent does, and isn't as vague or abstract as Hair. It's mostly about the music, with just enough story to give it a thru-line. Perhaps there isn't much in the way of traditional dramatic arcs, and I believe that's what most critics of this show will call it out on. But this show is more thematic than anything else, and it does a damn good job at exploring the themes it does.

Good luck to everyone involved :)

[sgv123]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 12:46pm

Clips from the show posted on Broadway.com:

http://www.broadway.com/videos/show/american-idiot/show-clips-american-idiot-broadway-video/

[Famebroadway2]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 1:54pm

After hearing the OBC today I CANT WAIT to see this show. So happy i have tix right before the Tonys. ;o)

Hope they get tons of Raves!!!!!!!!

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 2:13pm

AMERICAN IDIOT won't work for a lot of people, and I'm sure many of those people will have valid reasons for their disdain. But I think for reviews to dismiss the show purely based on the belief that theatre is inherently "not punk" is incredibly closed-minded and simplistic.

I don't particularly think the majority of the reviews are necessarily going to follow this trajectory -- I would guess the reviews will be largely positive (with some mixeds and negatives thrown in there), and the negatives will mostly cite the supposedly weak book.

Personally, I loved the show, and think those who criticize the book are largely missing the point, but I knew as soon as I left the St. James that that would be the point of attack for the show's detractors.

Amen, brotha. To condemn this show for not having spoken dialogue, of all things, is to condemn Tommy, Evita, and every other rock opera, and to condemn it for having a theatrical atmosphere in a THEATRE REVIEW, of all things, is so ridiculous and mind-boggling that I can't even respond.

American Idiot is a visceral, loud, kinetic experience that can't be replicated. Sitting in the theatre, I truly felt like I was experiencing something new, extraordinary, and unforgettable. To fault it for not having a fleshed-out book is missing the point entirely.

It's normally unfair to so vehemently discredit a show's detractors, but the reasons for which people bash this show make zero sense.

They're going to be in for a very rude awakening when American Idiot wins the Tony award for Best Musical.

Updated On: 4/20/10 at 02:13 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 2:15pm

Rebecca is very talented, but she does not deserve a Tony nomination. She is not give much to do at all. It is not her fault though, she works with the little she was given.

[Amneris]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 2:15pm

I think the Times will be a rave since he reviewed it out of town and really liked it. It could have only gotten better. I am very excited to see the show.

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 2:24pm

Isherwood gave it a mixed review out in Berkeley because he didn't think it had a book or was fleshed-out enough, and seeing as those are qualms that were not addressed here, I don't see him modifying it at all, unless he puts down the crack pipe for once.

The show's changed so little from the Berekeley incarnation, I don't expect repeat reviewers to change their opinions too much.

God, I wish they would give this one to Brantley.

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 2:51pm

I do remember reading an interview with them somewhere that was talking about how they were trying to please Green Day fans first due to the fact that they have been so loyal to them over the years. And, you know what, it worked.

Not entirely. I've been listening to them since before Dookie came out and the more I think about the production, the less I like it.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 3:01pm

American Idiot is a visceral, loud, kinetic experience that can't be replicated. Sitting in the theatre, I truly felt like I was experiencing something new, extraordinary, and unforgettable.

This is exactly how I felt. I really hope this show does well.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 3:05pm

I really wish we let the review threads be reserved for the reviews. It's kind of frustrating to see them bumped over and over again, making me expect more reviews, only to have people giving their opinions as they would on any other thread. Not to mention sorting through all of that once the reviews actually do come in.
Updated On: 4/20/10 at 03:05 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 3:37pm

Whatevs.

::Today’s kids and sucked-in parents don’t stigmatize musicals. Look no further than the success of “Glee” for proof.:::

Dream on, Boston Herald reviewer!

[ssSerendipityss]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 4:27pm

I really want to like this show. I truely do. As a child of the 90s I grew up with Green Day, so you would think that combining one of my favorite bands with theater, I would be all over it. Instead I'm a little aprehensive.
The thing that bothers me the most about it is that I feel like they treat it like everything they're doing has never been done before.
A rock band writing a musical? Um...try Tommy. TV screens on stage? Tommy...once again. But it's a rock OPERA! So was Rent. Not to mention how it looks like they borrowed half the set from the touring production of Rent as well as the costumes.

Like I said, I really want to like the show but there's just nothing new about it that hasn't been done before.

Also, I'm really dreading the class of MT students who will now be singing songs from this show at auditions. Ugh.

[PReeves2]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 4:42pm

^ couldn't agree more! sorry about the auditions they will most certainly become mostly Green Day.
Updated On: 4/20/10 at 04:42 PM

[sgv123]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 4:54pm

In this video at 2 min. John Gallagher says something interesting. I know it has been heard before, but I think it is especially true for this show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eua_r-_rCbA

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 5:07pm

Inarticulate platitudinal fluff is especially true for this show?