AMERICAN IDIOT is not a jukebox musical!

[kyle4]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 3:09am

i never started a thread before... so forgive me if i did it wrong...

since AMERICAN IDIOT Is closing soon... i wanted to get this off my chest... i wrote a blog post about it...

http://thetheaterbuff.typepad.com/the-theater-buff/2011/04/american-idiot-we-hardly-knew-ya.html

but, if you don't care to read it... cool... i was just asserting that AMERICAN IDIOT is NOT a JUKEBOX musical... i also menton that i will miss it VERY MUCH once it checks out of BROADWAY...

ok, lets see if i actually started a thread... i will press this button and find out!

[JP2]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 3:17am

I THINK I may have LOST a few BRAIN CELLS just NOW. But, I'm GLAD you are PASSIONATE about a SHOW.

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 4:14am

YES it IS A JUKEBOX musical. DEAL WITH it. It'll BE OKAY...

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 4:22am

Saying American Idiot is a jukebox musical is like saying Jesus Christ Superstar or EVITA are jukebox musicals...

[chewy5000]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 4:41am

It all comes down to what the composers intention was. In a way, The Lloyd Webber (as well as others) concept albums were very much similar to releasing the cast recording before the show opened. Are you saying that Love Never Dies is a jukebox musical, just because it was released as an album before it premiered on stage?

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 6:04am

It's a jukebox musical in the sense that it wasnt written/released as a stage show.

It's not a jukebox musical in the senses that the music is culled from a library of a single artist but rather from a single album with an already existing concept. (even though there is one -- or is it two -- songs from another source)


But it's not a big deal either way.

[chewy5000]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 6:11am

It IS a big deal, dammit!

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 6:52am

Well, then. Nevermind.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 8:01am

The album was always intended to tell a story as a musical (though originally they thought on film), meaning the intention of the album was always to go on to another outlet and tell a story. Not a jukebox show.

[kdogg36]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 9:59am

American Idiot means a lot to me, and by the 24th I will have seen it 8 times. It's the only show that's ever been able to make me cry, and I deeply love it.

Regarding the designation "jukebox musical," I think American Idiot is a borderline case. If the show were just the songs from the Green Day album and the story implicit in it, then there would be no reason at all to give it that label. But the (incredible, moving) show at the St. James has those songs, plus assorted others from the Green Day catalog, and the story has been expanded to include new characters and situations. So I wouldn't yell at anyone for calling it a jukebox musical.

As dramamama said, it's not a big deal, but since that's what the thread's about, I thought I'd type out a few words about it.

Finally, kyle is right, it's full of hot guys, and Andrew Call is my favorite, too. He's also my favorite St. Jimmy.

[wexy]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 10:07am

Agreed

[Donthatecongratulate]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 10:19am

AI isn't necessarily a jukebox musical, in the traditional sense of the word, but it is basically just a concert of an album. The problem with AI is that it doesn't tell a great story as a whole musical. Individual songs do portray passionate stories, but the whole piece just never gelled.
That being said, it's great that those kids had a great & successful run on Broadway, Grammy's, & such, but as visually stunning as it was, it was never a great musical. That's why it's closing.

[kdogg36]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 10:33am

Donthatecongratulate, I don't want to get too defensive, but since it's one of my favorites... :)

I do think it tells some decent stories. I find Tunny's story to be complete and compelling, and very moving. And I think the reason I was drawn to the show was because of Johnny's story, which I realize has a lot to do with my own life, so that it might not appeal to everyone.

On the other hand, I do recognize that, while American Idiot, as they say, speaks to me, it's not approaching "great" in the sense of The Most Happy Fella or A Chorus Line. On yet another hand, length of original Broadway run doesn't always correlate closely with quality.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 10:41am

All musicals close. Every one. It has nothing to do with quality or anything else. All. Musicals. Close.

[newintown]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 10:52am

Armstrong has actually made both claims in different interviews that
a) it always was intended to be a show, and
b) it wasn't originally intended to be a show, just a set of linked songs.

So I guess it's the individual's choice to believe either story.

[Donthatecongratulate]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 10:52am

true indeed joe & kdogg. i think everyone expected it to be a lot more successful than it actually was though. remember talk of it being the next "RENT"? and no matter how many marketing pushes and highly visible appearances, it just never got the legs everyone expected it to unless billie joe was in it. people just didn't want to see it. billy elliott is still open. and so is MDQ for that matter. all musicals close, but this one just didn't have the legs. but congrats to them for the limited success they did have.

[kdogg36]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 10:56am

Fair enough on all points. Their PR people sure did try their best!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 11:55am

BUT WHAT.... about... RAUL ESPARZA's.... stomach....?!?!

On a serious note, for the coherent people who are discussing this, because I think it's interesting, I'm inclined to consider it a jukebox musical because it was created around existing songs from a particular band, and that's basically what a jukebox musical is. If the album really was always intended to be a show, I guess that's sort of a different story, but I find it peculiar that there are two contradicting claims about this, and rather convenient that it only comes out now, when the album has been made into a fairly successful show. I'm also inclined to give it a little bit of a pass because the album did always have a story intrinsically there and the musical more or less tells an expansion of that story -- you know, rather than imposing a terrible and stupid story on a hodge-podge of hits. But I still think I'd consider it a jukebox musical. Just one of the better ones.

Updated On: 4/5/11 at 11:55 AM

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 11:57am

I wonder if the contradictory claims might have something to do with an attempt when it was opening to somehow petition it for Best Score. Either way, I would classify it as a jukebox musical, though, after this thread, I could potentially make the other argument now as well.

[sorano916]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 12:20pm

But was it petitioned for "Best Score"? I thought I read somewhere that the producers weren't petitioning it to be.

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 1:28pm

You're right, it was not petitioned for Best Score. A lot of people assumed it would be and many arguments cropped up here based on the assumption that they were petitioning, but it turned out that the producers never even attempted to have the score considered, which in my opinion pretty much solidifies the fact that the album was not always intended to be a musical (like TOMMY or JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR) as Billie Joe occasionally stated.

[perfectliar]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 1:37pm

... But American Idiot has material from two Green Day albums. So it's a jukebox musical (or a "catalog" musical, if you wanna get really specific).

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 1:42pm

I wish they had been able to get it into that category. It would've had a much-deserved win there if they had managed to make it eligible. My memory is being jogged now...I was wondering at that time as well why they didn't even attempt to petition it.

[Taryn]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 2:55pm

I can't really consider it a jukebox musical without considering Tommy one, which I definitely don't. Even if they culled other albums for more songs to fill in.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 4/5/11 at 3:11pm

I can't really consider it a jukebox musical without considering Tommy one,

Except that Tommy was referred to as a Rock Opera by The Who long before it hit the stage. Can't say the same thing for American Idiot where the "We envisioned it as a musical" came only once it began to be produced.