On April 20, 2010, 'American Idiot' opened on Broadway to standing ovations. The show was based on the album by the band Green Day, who said they felt the music was written as a rock opera, so the transition from recording studio to stage was quite easy. The 2004 album was universally praised, and went 6x Platinum. It won award after award, including the Grammy for Rock Album of the Year. The show ran just over a year, closing in April of 2011. The production featured the talented John Gallagher, Jr., whose impressive resume includes 'Rabbit Hole' and 'Spring Awakening' on Broadway as well as 'American Idiot', and a featured role on HBO's 'The Newsroom'. As part of the promotion for the show, the cast performed many places, including this rather wonderful version of the song "Whatsername" for 'AOL Music Sessions'. John Gallagher Jr. takes the lead on the song.
The 'American Idiot' Original Cast Album also took home the Grammy for Best Musical Show Album. You can purchase the album from iTunes and Amazon.
"American Idiot" is one of my favorite albums. I didn't see the show although a friend did and she was disappointed. She likened it to "Mama Mia" - taking songs and thinly threading them together with a story. Although it worked better here than for the ABBA vehicle, she thought. But the music is terrific.
ReplyDeleteBehr, it is a great album, and it made a good, but not great, musical. There was an amazing amount of talented doing the show, but it just goes to show you great records and great musicals are not the same thing...
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