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. This high-octane show includes every song from the acclaimed album American Idiot, as well as several songs from the band’s Grammy-nominated new release, 21st Century Breakdown.
Green Day won two Grammy Awards for the groundbreaking rock opera American Idiot, which sold more than 12 million copies worldwide. Now Billie Joe Armstrong and the band collaborate with one of the theatre's most acclaimed creative teams, led by the Tony Award-winning director of Spring Awakening, Michael Mayer, two-time Tony Award-winning composer and orchestrator Tom Kitt, and Olivier Award-winning choreographer Steven Hoggett, to bring this explosive, iconic album to the stage.
The musical, which opened Tuesday at the St. James Theatre, is short, some 95 minutes. Just right for an MTV generation weaned on YouTube clips and music videos. 'American Idiot,' in fact, plays like one. Wildly diverting to look it, the show has the barest wisp of a story and minimal character development. At best, its slacker guys are sketchy portraits, prototypes rather than real people.
Director Michael Mayer has dressed the story and score up with a relentless staging that owes its inspiration to many sources, from the musicals Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair, and Rent to Twyla Tharp's Movin' Out and Des McAnuff's Tommy. Steven Hoggett's choreography feels mostly indebted to Michael Jackson music videos, as indeed does the entire short-attention-span ambience of the entire piece. I was hoping to experience something new in this new-generation rock opera, but American Idiot is instead a long string of cliches. There's diverting stuff to watch, and the music is almost always pretty good, but it's ultimately derivative, boring theatre.
2010 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
2011 | US Tour |
National Tour US Tour |
2012 | US Tour |
National Tour [Non-Equity] US Tour |
2015 | West End |
West End Production West End |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Choreography | Steven Hoggett |
2010 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Direction of a Musical | Michael Mayer |
2010 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Featured Actor in a Musical | Tony Vincent |
2010 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Featured Actress in a Musical | Rebecca Naomi Jones |
2010 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Leading Actor in a Musical | John Gallagher, Jr. |
2010 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Lighting Design | Kevin Adams |
2010 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Musical | American Idiot |
2010 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Orchestrations | Tom Kitt |
2010 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Scenic Design | Christine Jones |
2010 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Sound Design | Brian Ronan |
2010 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Director of a Musical | Michael Mayer |
2010 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Musical | American Idiot |
2010 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Orchestrations | Tom Kitt |
2010 | The Hewes Awards | Lighting Design | Kevin Adams |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Musical | Kevin Adams |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Scott Delman |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Larry Welk |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Bensinger Filerman and Moellenberg Taylor |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Tom Hulce |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Ira Pittelman |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Ruth and Stephen Hendel |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Vivek Tiwary/Gary Kaplan |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Aged in Wood and Burnt Umber |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Scott Delman |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Allan S. Gordon/Elan V. McAllister |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | HOP Theatricals |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Jeffrey Finn |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | John Domo |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | John Pinckard |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Awaken Entertainment |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Musical | Berkeley Repertory Theatre |
2010 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Musical | Christine Jones |
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