Welcome back to the Musical-A-Day blog! Yesterday (well, this morning actually, since I was a day behind in posting), we looked at the Broadway smash "Rock of Ages," which surpassed all expectations and became a monster hit. Today, we look at "American Idiot," a show that many people thought would prove to be just as successful, even the next "Rent," but which didn't quite make the expected impact.
The plot of "American Idiot" concerns three twentysomething burnouts, Johnny (John Gallagher, Jr.), Will (Michael Esper) and Tunny (Stark Sands), living in suburban Jingletown, California in the spring and summer of 2008, seven years after 9-11. With their thirties nearing and no life accomplishments on the table except getting high, the three men decide to leave town to travel and find themselves. Will, however, finds out that he got his girlfriend pregnant, and stays home to help her raise the baby. In the city, Tunny joins the army, leaving Johnny alone to discover his three new loves: Whatshername (Rebecca Naomi Jones), a punk rocker girl he falls in love with, heroin, and Saint Jimmy (Tony Vincent), the dark side of his own personality that becomes dominant over sensitive, passive Johnny. As Will sits on the couch drinking bongwater, Tunny ends up in an army hospital, and Johnny is forced to choose between love and drugs with Whatshername and Saint Jimmy, they all realize that running away from their problems is just as bad as sitting at home ignoring them, and look for a way back home.
On paper, it's a pretty simple story, and fairly easy to tell, right? The critics, on the other hand, were mixed in how well "American Idiot" actually tells its tale. There is relatively little book to the musical- a few sparse dialogue scenes appear in between the songs, mainly letters and journal entries of the various characters. Rather, the staging and the somewhat expressionistic, abstracted lyrics are called on to do most of the storytelling. In the style of "Spring Awakening," "Rent" or "Hair," the unit set is transformable enough to portray multiple locations, everything from the Army Recruitment Center to a Greyhound bus. Multimedia such as recordings of news announcements, live video feeds, and television clips help move the story along and set the scene.
As Johnny, in the lead, John Gallagher Jr. turns in a soulful, understanding performance. The heart of the drama rests with him, and he gives it a grounded, moving center. Stark Sands and Michael Esper, as Tunny and Will, also do well, though their roles give them slightly less chances to shine. But despite having a smaller role than any of the above, the actor playing Saint Jimmy always managed to steal the show, with the best songs and the most gripping onstage performances. Though the role was created by Tony Vincent, Green Day frontman and show composer Billie Joe Armstrong played the role for the second half of the run, alternating during his vacations with fellow rock stars Melissa Etheridge and Davey Havok of AFI.
Why, in the end, didn't American Idiot work? Was it because the plot was too oblique? Was the hour-and-a-half of authentic modern punk rock too alienating for a Broadway crowd still weaned on jazz-based compositions and lite-rock-and-pop stylings? Or was "American Idiot" simply the wrong show at the wrong time for the market? A national tour has just launched, so perhaps time will tell if "American Idiot" gets a legacy, or a footnote. But for my money, a better, more fist-pumpingly energetic time would be hard to find.
American Idiot: B+
LESSON FOR ACTORS: Pick up an instrument, any instrument, and learn to play! "American Idiot," like many other shows, features slots to showcase actors who are also musicians, and in the curtain call, every member of the cast breaks out an acoustic guitar for a full-cast acoustic jam session on "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)" by Green Day.
WARNING FOR ACTORS: No matter how much the critics love you, no matter how many awards you win, you are never the biggest star out there- there is ALWAYS someone better or more famous than you. Tony Vincent got great reviews as Saint Jimmy, but when Billie Joe Armstrong replaced him in the role, critics were surprised and gave the rock star Armstrong better reviews, saying that he understood and portrayed the character better and with more genuine star power.
LESSON FOR WRITERS: Realism is not the only style of theatre worth exploring. "American Idiot," though extremely modern in its feel, actually hearkens back the most to two turn-of-the-century theatrical forms, Biomechanics and Expressionism. Expressionism focused on nonrepresentative, abstracted communication to tell universal stories of human fears and weaknesses, while Biomechanics focused on the use of the human body through dance, movement and physical prowess to communicate more effectively than with words or plots. Both are extremely prevalent in the aggressively modern, abstract choreography and set design.
WARNING FOR WRITERS: Don't be too obscure with the points you try to make. Only one spoken line, possible to miss under a pounding drum solo, establishes that Saint Jimmy is Johnny's dark side, and not just a mysterious drug dealer that Johnny embarks on a homosexual relationship with. If you don't catch that plot point, or choose to overlook it, the second half of the show tells a much different story than intended.
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