'AMERICAN IDIOT' MUSICAL TO HIT ORANGE COUNTY

"It's not over 'till you're underground

It's not over before it's too late

This city's burnin'

It's not my burden

It's not over before it's too late"

— Green Day, "Letterbomb"

Punk band Green Day skyrocketed to fame in the 1990s, but is winning over an entirely new audience with its latest offering: a Broadway musical.

But their "American Idiot" is a far cry from"Camelot."It's a gritty, urban-inspired show that uses the same punk songs that made the band famous, and adds more than a smattering of simulated drug use, strong language and other adult situations.

"American Idiot," which arrives in Costa Mesa on May 29, follows the lives of three disaffected suburban youths: Johnny, Will and Tunny.

The country's residents are riveted by their television sets, and the boys want a way out. Johnny and Tunny move to the big city, where Tunny soon is brainwashed by an Army recruitment ad, shipped off to war, and wounded. Johnny, in the meantime, discovers heroin — and love. Passive-aggressive Will stays at home to support his pregnant girlfriend, but takes his solace in beer and pot.

The musical is based in part on Green Day's 2004 "American Idiot" studio album, and more specifically with the song that became "Homecoming."

The three band members spent a day in the studio creating solo 30-second songs, which later merged and connected into the song, and inspired a full concept album akin toThe Who's"Tommy" orAndrew Lloyd Webber's"Jesus Christ Superstar."

Michael Mayer, the director of the wildly successful modern musical "Spring Awakening," heard the album and approached the band about adapting it for the stage. It had a successful run on Broadway before being launched as a nationwide touring production.

Full article at Daily Pilot: HERE