Green Day's "American Idiot" announced for Sept debut at Berkeley Rep- Page 5

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/30/09 at 1:16am

I hope it's a triumph and transfers to Broadway. This season could use a big kick in the ass.

[silversurfer2]

Posted: 7/30/09 at 7:45am

DRAMAMAMA: Was there for the TUES night show--on the floor-10th row center and it was AMAZING. And some of the cast did remain to see the MSG shows and arrived yesterday. Wish I could see this, I know it will be awesome.

[lindatnyc2]

Posted: 7/30/09 at 8:33am

I was there as well. I ended up in the loge area about 8 rows off the pit area.

It was a great concert indeed. Still recovering from the 3 hrs. of fun!!

[viola13]

Posted: 8/3/09 at 12:02pm

Full cast list posted.

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/131618-Gallagher_Faber_Caplan_Esper_Vincent_and_More_Will_Bring_American_Idiot_to_Life

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 8/3/09 at 1:00pm

This isn't the full cast. It's just the principals.

Updated On: 8/3/09 at 01:00 PM

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 8/3/09 at 1:02pm

If you read the whole article you would have seen the ensemble listed towards the bottom.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 8/3/09 at 1:24pm

I stand corrected.

[Craww]

Posted: 8/3/09 at 3:40pm

Ugh, I don't even care, I would love to see that cast do this ridiculous album (made even more ridiculous by the musical treatment).

[taylorPHENOMENON2]

Posted: 8/3/09 at 3:45pm

I am SO looking forward to this. The cast list is phenomenal, and this album is just perfect to made into a theatre piece.

[EugLoven]

Posted: 8/3/09 at 5:52pm

Now THAT is a f*cking AMAZING cast!!! I mean, I kept reading and my smile just kept getting bigger and bigger!

Gallagher is a shoe-in, but the return of Vincent and Caplan to some legit rock stage! And Esper is just automatically cool. Welcome back to the Rep, Naomi. And how sweet for Mary Faber (maybe her boyfriend Adam Duritz will be a friendly-face around the theatre).

AAAAHHH!!!

[adamgreer]

Posted: 8/3/09 at 6:40pm

This is a very exciting project (I love this album), and they've assembled a top-notch group, with this cast and creative team. I'm very much looking forward to watching th development of this project.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/3/09 at 6:49pm

SomethingWicked -- I didn't see the whole article either. I stopped reading at the break! I almost posted the same comment!!



I STILL don't know this music specifically, and very little of Green Day more generally. I'm SO not the target audience...but I keep getting drawn to it as well! Here's to hoping it finds it's way back to NY1

[GoodbyeLoveRENT]

Posted: 8/3/09 at 7:51pm

I'd be very, very disappointed if this doesn't transfer. What a great cast!

[rowlinvale2]

Posted: 8/3/09 at 11:21pm

I am so freaking stoked! And the casting looks so incredible, I can't get over it. I am so glad they're doing it here on the West Coast! Finally the bay area gets something amazing!

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 8/3/09 at 11:29pm

Fantastic cast. Updated On: 8/3/09 at 11:29 PM

[singalongsong2]

Posted: 8/4/09 at 1:44am

What a cast! I wish I could see this.

[Ariella]

Posted: 8/4/09 at 10:20am

Hah, speculations confirmed. Regardless how this turns out, the cast is one gigantic asset. Not a weak link among the principlals, and the ensemble members I'm familiar with are all terrific. Cheers.

And Tony Vincent is hardcore too.

[tonyvincentworld]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 10:06am

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

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 1:06pm

I can't wait to hear more about this. I actually am beginning to think that it's going to be legitimately awesome. I'm probably being influenced by a total revival of my Green Day fandom after having seen them at MSG, though, so I don't know how logical I'm being. Still, the cast looks amazing and there seems to be a lot of buzz about the show.

[Ariella]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 4:40pm

Ah, I was wondering how the Jesus/St. Jimmy identity was going to work. Obviously they've been cast as separate roles but in the album they're different aspects of the same person. The Fight Club comparison clarifies it, and I hope they can pull it off.

[wendilin622]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 4:44pm

I am so rooting for this production to make its way to broadway. American Idiot is without a doubt one of my "desert island" cd's and I think this production has the potential to be genius. For once in my life, I wish I lived on the West Coast so I can check it out!

[singalongsong2]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 6:34pm

I am strongly considering going to California for this. I am a huge Green Day fan and I can't wait to see this production.

[singalongsong2]

Posted: 8/21/09 at 1:40pm

Rolling Stone magazine just put this article on their site.
American Idiot Musical: Meet the Show's Rocker Cast

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/21/09 at 1:56pm

Got my tix. Woohoo!

[James885]

Posted: 8/21/09 at 1:58pm

I'd really love to get out to CA to see this. Hopefully if it's received well, it'll make its way east.