THERE is no doubt that the band Green Day are one of the most
accomplished and successful pop rock outfits of all time, with over 75
million albums sold and You Tube views of their videos still clocking up
millions of views.
The trio
of front man and lyrist Billie Joe Armstrong, Bass player Mike Dirnt and
Drummer Tré Cool certainly at their height , captured the mood of the
youth in America.
Armstrong’s lyrics were always challenging and thoughtful and though the
songs were well crafted and produced for the commercial market there
seemed to be an underlying angst and intelligence in their music that
was in contrast to their international pop success.
The album
American Idiot, released in 2004, was written as a rock opera with its
narrative core exploring the growing frustration people had with the
government and the USA’s involvement in many overseas conflicts and went
on to sell 15 million copies worldwide. It was only when theatre
director Michael Mayer approached the band in 2008 with a proposal to
make the concept album into an actual stage production, did the band
consider it to be a real possibility.
In 2009
the musical was first staged in California transferring to Broadway in
2010 and with the shock wave of the tragedies of the 9/11 attacks still
being felt, it opened to a mixed reception.
Whilst the
album was made with sincerity, the transfer of the themes into a
polished musical sometimes feels awkward in that it reflects the real
life events of world terrorism yet places them alongside some typical
choreographed dance routines and clever staging, that is pure
entertainment. The overall message remains, but at times the original
sentiment of Armstrong’s incisive message is lost.
American
Idiot follows the course
of three friends who travel down very separate paths. One moves into
drugs and despair, the other into the military and the third into the
responsibility of fatherhood. Jonny played by Newton Faulkner takes the
drugs path. Faulkner’s character certainly captured the lost spirit of
youth and his clear voice and solo acoustic guitar playing were the most
poignant and some of the best moments such as in the song Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
Amelia
Lily plays Whatsername, Jonnys first true love, failing though to keep
him from his descent into drug abuse. Lily, an X Factor runner up,
clearly has a powerful singing voice which often seemed underused but
while her performance was solid the chemistry between herself and
Faulkner as lovers seemed lacking, even during their partial disrobing
of a bedroom scene.
Tunny
played by Alexis Gerred is the friend that takes the military path and
Will played by Steve Ruston is the eventual father and both added a
great deal of impact to the gritty songs of Green Day.
The first
staging of the musical originally featured an onstage live band and this
is now reduced to a couple of token guitarists. As this musical is all
about the music the band presence was missed and the sound quality of
the first half was not up to standard. Very few, other than hardened
Green Day fans, would have been able to recognise many of the words that
were being sung.
This
always seems to be an issue with touring companies relying solely on a
house PA and with Green Days songs having such high quality production
values and impact, it was especially evident here.
The second
half though started with some improvement in the sound with Lucas Rush
in the devilish role of St Jimmy . It continued but still never came
close to creating the driving energy or sound Green Day are known for.
Also notable in support roles were Alice Stokoe as Heather and Karina
Hind as Extra Ordinary Girl.
American
Idiot is perhaps more
suited to Green Day fans as much of the supporting narrative of the
lyrics were often being blurred in the energy and muscle of a rock
musical ensemble, meaning a lot of the connective tissue is lost.
With
little added in the way of supporting dialogue, the music is king here
and better sound quality on the night would have gone a long way to
adding to what is already an intelligent and powerful musical. To
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