Waste of my 85 minutes... AMERICAN IDIOT — Page 2

Back in the olden days, when RENT first opened, and I was still waiting tables in the theatre district, I remember the 40-something couples (or just the wives at matinees) coming in after the show, and repeating "La vie boheme! La vie boheme!" It was pretty clear that they suspected that, by growing up, they had lost whatever "cool" they may have possessed in their youth, and that appreciating the more repeatable aspects of the show helped them re-capture that cool. More power to 'em, I thought, if it gets them through the day in Mamaroneck.

P.S. they should just turn this show into a RENT revival...i'd certainly see that more than once. this cast wouldn't have a problem singing that show. they are all talented enough.

Well the ENORMOUS success of Mamma Mia started this. Now all bands think they can slap a loose story around their catalog and throw it on a stage. UGH!

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@Lizzie I think that statement to the press was just a line to sell tickets and help Green Day feel somewhat attached to the b'way show. looks to me like the producers wanted to give michael mayer another show to sell on b'way and find another hit like Spring Awakening.

I've seen Mamma Mia three times and will happily go again and again. Why? Because I love the music and I think it's a fun night at the theatre.

I saw Rent numerous times on Broadway and on tour, starting with the original cast when I was in my mid-20s. My 64 year-old parents have seen it numerous times as well.

I hated Spring Awakening.

I have no desire to see American Idiot.

It's possible that people simply do not fit all generalizations and may enjoy shows for their own reasons which have nothing to do with other shows whatsoever.

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Wasn't the original AI album written with a storyline already in mind?
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I think that statement to the press was just a line to sell tickets and help Green Day feel somewhat attached to the b'way show.
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Uh, no. Lizzie is correct. The album was created to tell a story, that was not just something added for Broadway. Here is what Rolling Stone said about the album when it was released in 2004.


"But here [Green Day] are with American Idiot: a fifty-seven-minute politically charged epic depicting a character named Jesus of Suburbia as he suffers through the decline and fall of the American dream. "

"American Idiot is the kind of old-school rock opera that went out of style when Keith Moon still had a valid driver's license, in the tradition of the Who's Tommy"

"On American Idiot, the thirteen tracks segue together, expanding into piano balladry and acoustic country shuffles. The big statement "Jesus of Suburbia" is a nine-minute five-part suite, with Roman-numeral chapters including "City of the Damned," "Dearly Beloved" and "Tales of Another Broken Home." "

"The plot has characters with names such as St. Jimmy and Whatsername, young rebels who end up on the "Boulevard of Broken Dreams." But the individual tunes are tough and punchy enough to work on their own."

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Uh, no. Lizzie is correct. The album was created to tell a story, that was not just something added for Broadway. Here is what Rolling Stone said about the album when it was released in 2004

It's just not a good story...

My daughter and I saw it (the show, not the bj) Tuesday night. She loved it...I liked it. We knew pretty much what to expect going in and no, it is not your mother's musical. And given the amount of tattoos surrounding me on all sides, it's not your mother's audience either.

Very impressed by John Gallagher and Stark Sands...didn't realize the latter has such a good singing voice.

I got tickets to see it for my birthday tomorrow, because it was chepeast I could find, and it's 85 minutes so it won't take up my whole day. When you were in the audience did you find any like teenagers like high school teenagers, because I don't want to be the odd one out at the theatre.

Michael Mayer had a different story than the one Green Day had in mind. His version had more characters, more situations more diversity. Unfortunately it didn't have the songs to back it up. So the songs are forced onto a plot. In the original St Jimmy was the ****ed up older tough who held court down at the 7-11 that Jesus of Suburbia admired. Whatshername was the politically minded girl who actually got Jesus thinking in a new way. In Mayer-land St Jimmy is some kind of pusher (is he even real?) and Whatshername is a drug addict.