Green Day calls "American Idiot" musical "incredible"

Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong says in a new interview with Rolling Stone that the upcoming stage version of the band's 2004 punk rock opera American Idiot is "incredible." The musical, which opens on September 4th at the Berkeley Repertory Theater in Berkeley, California, is directed by Michael Mayer, who won a Tony Award for his production of the Broadway rock musical Spring Awakening. Armstrong says that he attended a workshop of the show and "couldn't f***ing believe it. It's incredible -- all those voices singing your songs at you . . . There's no intermission. It's just blasting straight through for 75 minutes. It's not a long play. He stuck to the spirit of the record, which is pulverizing."

Armstrong's bandmates, drummer Tre Cool and bassist Mike Dirnt, had equally positive words about the show: [ Click to listen if you have a backstage pass] (Cool) "You know, that album sort of lent itself quite easily to the stage and it's gonna really kick ass if you're lucky enough to go see it." (Dirnt) "Yeah, the performers that are in it are absolutely inspirational and just amazing. They live their whole life for the stage and this is not your grandparents' musical. It's dangerous, it's fun, it's sexy and it's relevant."

Armstrong said that there were initially plans to turn American Idiot into a film, but that the project "fell through the cracks, which was a bummer."

Mayer has added several other Green Day songs to the show, explaining, "The version we will end up performing will have other songs in it -- two B-sides from the European release and four from the new album (21st Century Breakdown)."

Mayer revealed he was drawn to American Idiot because of Armstrong's songwriting, saying, "His songs have a richness and emotional pull that you don't get from other songs in that genre . . . there is a purity of humanity deep inside Billie's songs." The director added that Armstrong wants to write something new exclusively for Mayer to direct next.

American Idiot will run at the Berkeley through October 9th. As yet there are no official plans to bring the show to Broadway.
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