You will love this production if you are a Green Day fan, and you will likely take it as a feast of Green Day music. If you are not a fan, you will be exposed to the wild and unrepressed music of the ’90s and have an experience to wonder about.
The 13 songs in this rock opera are considered the top of the ladder that Green Day and Billie Joe Armstrong have produced. The original record “American Idiot” sold more than 14 million records worldwide, and was honored with a Grammy for best rock album in 2005.
The hour and a half transition to the stage as a musical does not match the record. The gritty exterior of the music is sometimes lost in a lack of depth in an old format story line that tries to be edgy. The excellent cast works with the vigor of a southern Baptist tent revival and delivers with extra talent and energy.
Three buddies lolling about without purpose in a small town decide to grab at life and shoot for the experience. One gets stuck with an unplanned pregnancy, one goes to the big city and ends up deep into the drug scene and the third goes into the service and loses a leg. They all end up back home with supposedly a better understanding of life. Getting there is a bumpy road.
Michael Mayer (“Spring Awakening”) directs with an electronic charger that moves nonstop until the final curtain.
The mix of unhappy reality with convenient fantasy (especially the flying scene) is at times a difficult transition. The production relies on the songs on the album, and features the hits “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” “21 Guns,” “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” “Are We the Waiting” and “Time of Your Life.” These memorable songs – well orchestrated by Tom Kitt – bring back a strong nostalgia of the time.
“Mamma Mia” took ABBA’s songs and blended them with a sweet plot that was an enjoyable romp. “The Jersey Boys” took the music of that time and told the story of the group with an honest grasp that made sense and left the audience with something to think about. “American Idiot” tries to follow that line of presentation, using Green Day music to tell its story of a culture barraged by resonance and frenzy.
Camille Bounds is the Theatre and Arts editor for Sunrise Publications.
Not for those younger than 17
Where: San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, 255 Almaden Blvd., San Jose
Through: June 9
Details: (408) 792-4111 or broadwaysanjose.com.
