for more info on tony vincent and his role as "st jimmy' in the GD rock-opera, check out his website:
http://www.tonyvincent.com or visit him live and interactive via his personal facebook acct:
http://www.facebook.com/tonyvincentmusic and myspace acct:
http://www.myspace.com/tonyvincent this is an extract fro his latest (summer) newsletter:
"While Aspen and I were packing up our apartment in NYC, I got a phone call to come in and be seen for the new Green Day opera-- based on their record "American Idiot". At that point I was completely unaware that Green Day had teamed up with Tony Award winning director Michael Mayer to develop a stage production of their Grammy Award winning rock record. For those who don't know the "American Idiot" record, Green Day took inspiration from concept records by The Who, as well as musicals including "West Side Story" and "Jesus Christ Superstar". It was a bold move by the band to do something in that genre, but boy did it pay off-- selling over 14 million records worldwide. Anyway, the creative team had done two workshops of the "opera" over the past year-- and decided to put it on its feet this fall at The Berkeley Playhouse beginning September 4th. From what I understand, the entire show had been cast for quite some time-- apart from this one character called "St. Jimmy"-- an alter ego of the principle male "Jesus of Suburbia". The storyline nods to the likes of the film "Fight Club", where a man (played by Edward Norton) has a psychological melt-down against the consumer-based machine of America. Mr. Norton has an alter ego (played by Brad Pitt), who encourages him to create this underground "boys club", in which the members take an oath and sign-up to be part of an army, whose goal is to take down the credit card companies and erase the debt that is owed by basically every single individual on the planet. I'm not sure if the Green Day opera's theme is as carbon copied as the film's, but the main role relationships (Edward's, his alter ego and their girlfriend, played by Helen Bonham Carter, are very similar in nature from what I'm told.
So, long story short, I had 3 auditions in New York and 1 in Los Angeles... and I received a call that Billie Joe Armstrong (lead singer and lyricist of Green Day) and Michael Mayer had tagged me as the man for the role of St. Jimmy. I'm thrilled to get an opportunity to work with the band and Michael on this project-- and to experience this process from its beginning stages. Green Day has been publicly talking about this project for quite some time, and there is great anticipation for the show-- due to the current high-profile status of the band and the history of success stories associated with director Michael Mayer ("Spring Awakening", "Thoroughly Modern Millie"and "Side Man").
The show begins previews on Friday, September 4th at The Berkeley Playhouse. It's set to close October 11th, with a possible 4-week extension. If you wanna see this show, I'm thinkin' ya best get your tickets ASAP. If this production explodes like Duncan Sheik's Spring Awakening did, this is going to be the hottest show to see on any American stage this year. (Tickets will be available from the Berkeley Playhouse web site at
http://wwwberkeleyrep.com closer to the dates of the performances.)
It feels very strange to be leaving the new "home" that we've JUST established, but duty calls and I'm chomping at the bit to participate in a full-on rock-opera. I leave Monday for a two-week creation-period at Vassar College's New York Film and Stage school. We'll be working with the band and Mr. Mayer during these initial two weeks-- solidifying the complete productionâ?? before moving the show to Berkeley, CA.
I hope you all get an opportunity to come out and see the production-- and, hell, Berkeley is so close to Napa you have no excuses not to make a weekend out of it! (Who can go wrong with Green Day and nice California Cab!?)"
Updated On: 8/9/09 at 10:06 AM