subject: American Idiot Tickets : Tom Kitt Is The Music Supervisor For The Berkeley And Broadway Productions [print this page] American Idiot is a one-act, through-sung stage musical. The show is an adaptation of rock band Green Day's concept album of the same name. Additional Green Day songs were interpolated from other sources, including 21st Century Breakdown, American Idiot b-sides, and an unreleased song called When It's Time.
The book is by Green Day's lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong and the production is directed by Michael Mayer. The lyrics are by Armstrong, and the music is written by Armstrong and band mates Mike Dirnt and Cool.
The musical transferred to Broadway at the St. James Theatre with previews beginning on March 24, 2010 and officially opened on April 20, 2010.It is rumored that the show cost between $8 million and $10 million to produce. After six months of performances, the show was "still a ways off from possibly turning a profit" according to a New York Times report.
The original Broadway cast includes John Gallagher Jr. as Johnny, Michael Esper as Will, Stark Sands as Tunny, Tony Vincent as St. Jimmy, Rebecca Naomi Jones as Whatsername, Mary Faber as Heather, and Christina Sajous as the Extraordinary Girl.
Tom Kitt is the music supervisor and orchestrator for both the Berkeley and Broadway productions. The lead producers for the show are Ira Pittelman and Tom Hulce.The creative team for the show is largely the same as for the musical adaptation of Spring Awakening: Michael Mayer, director, Christine Jones, scenic designer, and Kevin Adams, lighting designer. Andrea Lauer is the costume designer.
On September 26, 2010, Billie Joe Armstrong wrote on the official Green Day Twitter account that from September 28 to October 3 he would play the role of St. Jimmy. The announcement led to an immediate increase in sales of tickets at the St. James Theatre.
Ticket sales for the week Armstrong performed were up 77%, average ticket prices increased 22%, and gross sales increased 127% from the previous week's totals. The singer-songwriter filled in for cast member Tony Vincent who took time off for personal matters; the following week after Armstrong's run, St. Jimmy's understudies, Andrew Call and Joshua Kobak, split covering the role. On November 30, 2010, the producers announced that Armstrong would make another 50 appearances as St. Jimmy between January 1 and February 27, 2011.
Armstrong's Broadway performances were among of a number of personal appearances he has made to help promote the show.As part of the promotion for the show, the cast performed at the Grammy Awards on January 31, 2010 with Green Day.
Green Day released the concept album American Idiot in 2004. According to lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong, the album was deliberately created with a plot arc and that some of their inspiration was from sources in the musical theater repertoire like The Rocky Horror Show and West Side Story. Armstrong also said the band intended "that it would be staged or we'd create a film or something... we were thinking in terms that it kind of felt like scoring a movie."
Director Michael Mayer heard the album and expressed an interest in adapting it for the stage. When he approached the band about a collaboration, they agreed to work with him. The band also gave Mayer wide latitude for his adaptation after seeing the director's earlier work with Spring Awakening.
Though additional songs were included from the Green Day catalog, Mayer added very little dialogue to the show. He felt instead that the music and lyrics were expressive enough on their own, and even removed some of the dialogue that was part of the Berkeley production before the show moved to Broadway.
