AMERICAN IDIOT Reviews- Page 2

[newintown]

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

One man's profound is another man's banal. Always painful to experience.

[mybigsplash]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 5:30pm

In this link, Green Day admits that they had always been big Broadway fans, growing up on Mermon and Minnelli, dreamed of making it out of their WASPy suburbs, and making it on Broadway. That's why they wrote American Idiot as a concept album with the specific goals of putting it on Broadway Someday.

"I always wanted to be a Broadway Star when I was younger" says Green Day lead singer Billy Joe, "My fans are theatre-loving people, who always knew American Idiot was a Broadway Musical-bound album, and I think this is what they always wanted and expected to happen..." "



Green Day's Billy Joe talks about American Idiot's viability for Best Original Score nomination.

Updated On: 4/20/10 at 05:30 PM

[strummergirl]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 5:32pm

To a degree I agree with ssSerendipityss but I am beginning to think it is just because the members of Green Day are not well-read on musical theater rather than thinking this is the greatest thing since sliced bread (I love Green Day and American Idiot the album was zeitgeist for me in 2004-2005). There's great music, of course, and listening to the OBC there are great renditions of the songs but there seems to be no book judging by reviews and word-of-mouth on here.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 6:32pm

Just watched the BWW sneak peak, and... is that really considered good singing? Does the generally amazing cast have to lower themselves to using 95% straight tone? Oy... it just doesn't sound good IMHO.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 6:44pm

Does the generally amazing cast have to lower themselves to using 95% straight tone?

It's the trend with this kind of music I guess. Same thing with Spring Awakening, which is very vibrato-deficient, especially on the recording. I mean, the lead singer of Green Day doesn't sing with much vibrato... so the musical director was in favor of mimicking the record perhaps?

~Steven

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 6:54pm

SA had a helluva lot more vibrato than anything I heard in that preview, or at least for some reason I didn't mind the (relative) lack of vibrato in that show.
Why should the cast sound just like the CD? Why not just play the CD instead of seeing the show, then? I guess I'm just biased since I don't like the way it sounds...

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 6:59pm

"I always wanted to be a Broadway Star when I was younger" says Green Day lead singer Billy Joe, "My fans are theatre-loving people, who always knew American Idiot was a Broadway Musical-bound album, and I think this is what they always wanted and expected to happen..." "

That is a crock of sh*t.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 7:03pm

I'm not condoning no vibrato (I'm a musical director, I'm a fan of actual singing). I just watched the preview, bwaylvsong. It would have been more creative to have changed something in the music... it definitely just sounds like the CD. I definitely see what you mean.

~Steven

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 7:07pm

TheaterFan4, isn't that quote a joke? The link above (in Mybigsplash's posting) only leads to a photo of Liza Minnelli. If it's not a joke, the link needs to be corrected.
Updated On: 4/20/10 at 07:07 PM

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 7:10pm

Oh god, I am stupid. LOL.

[amn]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 7:11pm

Really looking forward to this show. Quick question: For those who have been to the St. James, what is the front Mezz like? I thought I remembered hearing that the Mezzanine there was questionable. Would you recommend Orchestra Row N (Towards the Back) or the front Mezzanine?

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 7:12pm

Backstage.com is POSITIVE:

It's loud, angry, and thrilling. It's "American Idiot," the stage adaptation of Green Day's smash 2004 album. Director Michael Mayer and Billie Joe Armstrong, the band's lead guitarist and vocalist, who share credit for the book, have fashioned a 90-minute rock opera for the generation that came of age after Sept. 11. The score, which also includes material from Green Day's subsequent Grammy-winning release "21st Century Breakdown," passionately expresses the frustrations of an alienated culture. As he did with "Spring Awakening," Mayer creates a moving portrait of youth in revolt.
Review

[strummergirl]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 7:12pm

Green Day have a motley crew of tastes/musical influences beyond the punk genre and Billy Joe Armstrong's father was a jazz musician but yeah, I copy and pasted that quote onto google and found nothing.
Updated On: 4/20/10 at 07:12 PM

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 7:13pm

The Chicago Tribune is VERY POSITIVE:

And thus “American Idiot,” the show, delivers a thick, gorgeous head rush of a musical soundscape without current Broadway parallel. It turns out to offer the kind of sensual lushness that a lot more traditional musicals would kill to emulate. That's mostly due to the brilliance of Tom Kitt's orchestrations, adding violin, cello, weight and gravitas to the Green Day sound without blunting its aggressive edge. With the gifted director Michael Mayer spreading his eight-member band out across a beautifully cacophonous setting — more a video-filled installation, really — from Christine Jones that evokes a constant blaring of Fox News in an endless sea of 7-Eleven parking lots and crappy urban apartments, you get a stunning musical wash of all corners of human emotion.
Review

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 7:16pm

The Associated Press is MIXED-TO-POSITIVE/POSITIVE:

The songs excel at portraying emotion if not plot, and you can see why the "American Idiot" recording was such a success. The catchy Green Day melodies are often hypnotic while Armstrong's lyrics are big and bold. Fans of the recording most likely will marvel at this theatrical take on "American Idiot." It will give then a stunning visualization of what they already have on their iPods or CD players. Others might want a little more from the characters who are displaying such all-consuming angst.
Review

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 7:53pm

USA Today is VERY POSITIVE:
Few could have predicted that American Idiot, the new adaptation of the band's massively popular, starkly disenchanted album of the same name, would be the feel-good musical of the season. But in the hands of director Michael Mayer, who also co-wrote the libretto with Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, Idiot has become just that — as well as a case study in the power of teamwork in musical theater.
Review

[BwayTday]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 7:56pm

Although vibrato suggests proper vocal technique, a strait tone doesn't necessary indicate bad or "fake" singing. And there really weren't many sustained solo notes in that video. I also have a feeling that video was looped with the cast recording.

I like listening to the songs, but I am not sure how I feel about the staging. It defiantly seems like a very visceral experience. It does seem a bit rock concert-y in these clips which is probably just due to the lack of continuity. I wish this show the best, it is defiantly intriguing.

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 7:58pm

The Hollywood Reporter is MIXED:

For all of the rock musicals that have appeared on Broadway in the decades since "Hair," "American Idiot" comes the closest to providing a theatrical equivalent to the music of the moment. This adaptation of Green Day's critically acclaimed and huge-selling 2004 album stays pure to its inspiration, musically and aesthetically. But in terms of dramatic impact, it falls far short of predecessors like "The Who's Tommy," and it might prove a tough sell for audiences not predisposed to the band's music. The marketing folks have their work cut out for them.

Review

Updated On: 4/20/10 at 07:58 PM

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 8:13pm

I am all for vibrato but with the punk/rock sound, vibrato is usually not used. In fact, I think it's weird when I hear a punk/rock song and I hear a vibrato used a great deal. But, everyone has their own tastes. :)

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 8:20pm

Oh geez. Vibrato? Is this conversation really happening?

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 8:32pm

It's bww where anything can happen *plays twilight zone music*

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 8:35pm

Rock music of this type sung with vibrato would sound like a cheesy cruise ship revue...come on...

[kidbroadway2]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 8:38pm

Gallagher is getting really great reviews in all of these. Any chance he snags another Tony (I doubt it)?

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 8:40pm

I completely agree with you munky!

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 8:44pm

Gallagher is getting really great reviews in all of these. Any chance he snags another Tony (I doubt it)?

I think most people are assuming it will go to Douglas Hodge.