AMERICAN IDIOT Reviews

Boston Herald is pretty Mixed

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

Boston Herald review

Updated On: 4/20/10 at 11:04 AM

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.

"...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.

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.

---

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

---

Clips from the show posted on Broadway.com:

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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