After many recommendations and suggestions from many people, David and I decided to see Green Day’s American Idiot musical at the St. James Theater on Broadway last night. I’m gonna cut right to the chase and say that the show wasn’t really my thing. I had heard and read many good things about the show and was hopeful that I would love it as much as so many others do … unfortch that turned out not to be the case. Before I get to the negative, let’s talk about the positive. The New Yorker magazine wrote the positive review of the show that I most agree with, here’s what they had to say:

Green Day’s theatrical reimagining of the punk band’s 2004 album is an exciting example of the innovative director Michael Mayer’s single-minded attempt to drag the musical into the twenty-first century. In telling the show’s minimal story, Mayer, who co-wrote the book with Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day’s lead singer and guitarist, jumps between vivid, fragmentary moments, letting sensation substitute for psychology. Three disaffected youths, Johnny (John Gallagher, Jr.), Will (Michael Esper), and Tunny (Stark Sands), decide to leave suburbia (“this hurricane of fucking lies”) and go in search of themselves. Johnny finds drugs; Tunny finds himself in the military and then an amputee; Will, who never actually leaves home, gets a girl pregnant and finds himself a couch potato. “American Idiot” answers the digital age’s requirements of speed, instant gratification, and accessibility. It is a rip-roaring and original musical event. It has not, however, cracked the challenge of characterization. The show has personality, but its characters don’t. Armstrong’s mischievous twinkle is the missing ingredient in the show’s sensational nihilistic hubbub.

While I can sorta see where all the rave reviews are coming from, I do not really agree with them. Wanna know my take on the show? Read on …

For me, musical theater on Broadway really has to come down to the story. The way that shows flesh out storylines, make you feel and identify with the characters AND integrate music is where the magic is for me. This show, IMHO, neither fleshed out any real storyline, did not make me care at all for any of the undeveloped characters and felt like the music of Green Day was being shouted at me. There is no discernible story … things happen in segments, plot development is implied but there is NO explanation of anything to speak of. It seems like American Idiot wants to be the Gen X/Y version of the 60′s musical Hair (young misunderstood kids who rage against the establishment, get inadvertently sucked into the system and thru it all stay true to themselves) but instead seemed more like a rock concert presented in fast forward while channel-flipping thru endless cable channels. The 3 main characters were so one-dimensional that they seemed like clichéd caricatures of the Gen X archetype — slackers who are interesting in nothing more than sex, drugs and rock & roll (Intentional? Probably. Inventive? Not at all) and their female partners were even LESS developed. One of the main characters spends 90% of the show on a couch. Again, I have to believe this is intentional (a shout-out to couch potatoes everywhere) but it seemed like such a waste to me. I was constantly looking for something to grab on to, something to relate to … something to interest me. I never found it, unfortch. I am completely dumbfounded as to why so many people are raving over the show (The New York Times wrote such a glowing review that it has truly shaken my belief in their theater reviews). I wouldn’t say this is the worst show ever … not by a long shot … but it just did not work for me at all. On a positive note, I did like how the cast was full of “real-looking” players … different sizes, different heights, different ethnicities and looks … that was a very nice component of the show. In the end, tho, I was left wanting more … much, much more than I got out of the show. American Idiot, in my mind, could’ve been such a great show about 20-something malaise during the long years of the GWB administration but instead it felt like a mish-mash of scenes that never really gelled in a way that I found interesting.

But … that’s just my take. I suggest if this show looks like something you’d want to see outside of anyone else’s opinion, then by all means see this show. I’m glad I saw it because I had to know if it was as good as everyone seems to say. At least now I know for myself.

After the show last night, David and I grabbed a quiet bite to eat together and then made it an early night. The cold and rain has moved in so we were happy to lay low last night. Tonight we’re planning to venture out to meet up with friends. Cold, rainy or not … we will have fun!

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