Strobe lights in American Idiot

Hi there,

My family's coming to New York next month and American Idiot is one show we're interested in seeing. However, having seen them perform at the Tony Awards, I'm a little concerned about the strobe lights as my mother is prone to headaches when it comes to flashing lights. How frequent is the use of strobe lights in the show? Is the amount they use in the opening number exceptional or is the norm in several numbers?

I'm new here so I hope this subject hasn't already been brought up somewhere. Thanks in advance.

Well, they were worse during previews, they seem to have toned them down a bit. But the strobes are frequently used throughtout the show...the opening is the exception I believe. I had no problem with the lighting, but I am not prone to headaches. Perhaps seating in the Mezz might help, I believe they are more intense when sitting in the Orch. If this really bothers your Mom, perhaps this is not the show for her. Good Luck

It's excessive and the visual effects are nearly constant. If your mother is prone to problems from things like that, don't take her. I don't get headaches or anything from strobe lights, but I have trouble with prolonged intense visual effects like the show uses, and I would not sit through it again.

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Updated On: 6/25/10 at 11:03 AM

If she likes musical theatre, don't take her to American Idiot.

Whether you like it or not, AMERICAN IDIOT IS Musical theater...it's a FORM of musical theater.It may not be SOUTH PACIFIC and it wasn't intended to be, but it's here. What the poster should decide is if this is the TYPE of musical theater his Mother would enjoy, and if the Lighting design of the show would be too much for her.

I would say definitely avoid the show. The visual effects that could cause headaches are not limited to strobes...but the projections used could definitely cause problems as well.

I'm a big fan of rock musicals and loved the lighting but the show was not my favorite...if you haven't seen Next To Normal go see it instead...same lighting designer but much less use of strobes...haha.

I'd recommend La Cage Aux Folles if you haven't seen that...I loved it.

I recall in an interview, the lighting designer joking being responsible for "the annoying strobe lights every 45 seconds". It's pretty frequent.