Is it safe to say at this moment that American Idiot The Musical is the first full-length musical to use punk music? Does it matter? If ever there was one band that expressed best the paranoia and uncertainty of the Post 9/11 Era, it would be Green Day. So when their album American Idiot got a musical spin-off, musical theater fans familiar with the political stand of Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day’s lead vocalist, and the rest of the bad, they expected one angry musical.
Debuting in Berkeley, California in 2009, American Idiot The Musical featured mostly songs from the album of the same name. They added some songs from Green Day’s other album 21st Century Breakdown. The book was by director Michael Mayer and Billie Joe Armstrong. All lyrics are written by Armstrong.
American Idiot The Musical expressed anger in an era where most idealists are too angry to even put their emotion into words. The words are expressed through the main characters of this musical – Johnny, Will and Tunny. Just like most people at that time, they have dreams and aspirations that took a sudden halt. With the Twin Towers down, everyone seemed uncertain of the future. Everyone needed escape from reality if this musical will be used as basis.
Listening to the songs on their own, the rage at everyone else (not just the people whom you think deserved all this hatred) is evident. And perhaps that’s the main reason why American Idiot The Musical worked. Because it gave a face or character to almost every song in the album.
Sometimes I feel tempted to think that each of the characters of Johnny, Will and Tunny are loose adaptations of Billie Joe Armstrong himself. It gives credence to the feedback about the album, American Idiot. It was allegedly where Armstrong produced an alter-ego with whom he can better express his left-leaning views. The internal conflict was expressed in most of the lyrics in the song “St. Jimmy”, one of the songs that made it to the playlist
I’m the patron saint of denial
With an angel face and a taste for suicidal
The song “Wake Me Up When September Ends” makes it to the repertoire as well. In American Idiot The Musical, it was presented as Will’s nostalgia over things that he can never bring back. For a song that almost reached karaoke levels in popularity, it is often given interpretations related to 9/11. Getting it reinterpreted in a way that Armstrong saw fit is nice. Most fans and casual listeners still think of 9/11 just by the title alone.
Punk has a way of expressing political opinions through music. For most fans of Green Day, they have referred to punk as a lifestyle. A way to tell everyone else that they don’t conform and they are happy to be different from everyone else. That may be the reason behind the decision to go with the title track “American Idiot” as its opening song.
Through Green Day, the majority of television viewers expressed angrily that they are fed up with the stuff they see and hear. This was demonstrated on the opening scene before the first song. Televisions are hanging on the walls while several news audio clips played in the background at random. So much information with its recipients clueless as what to do with it, the characters in American Idiot The Musical snap and start singing “American Idiot”.
In one of the previews of American Idiot The Musical, director Michael Mayer shared how listening to the album, American Idiot, got him thinking of the potential of turning it into a musical. Some songs are just meant to be in musical theater regardless of genre. He proposed this idea to Armstrong. The latter agreed. Today when almost everyone is still trying to figure out what really happened, there are more people that don’t trust the media anymore.
If music is meant to be an expression, musical theater can present the anger, confusion and frustration going on in everyone’s head. People worldwide are never the same after 9/11. So if theater can encourage the public into critical thinking, American Idiot The Musical is the best way to go.
And American Idiot The Musical is coming to West End on July 17, 2015 at the Arts Theater. Tickets are not available on sale. You can call them to buy at 0843 886 1436 or you can click here to purchase them online.
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