American Idiot

America’s rebellious alternative rock band Green Day brings to life its revolutionary album American Idiot in an award-winning musical that challenges shallow, media-saturated culture and inspires youth to explore life outside of stifling suburbia.

Direct from Broadway, the smash-hit musical AMERICAN IDIOT tells the story of three lifelong friends, forced to choose between their dreams and the safety of their hometowns. Johnny battles the tensions of loneliness and love when he moves to the big city, Will deals with a rollercoaster of emotions as a result of his girlfriend’s pregnancy, and Tunny faces the bodily horrors of a faraway war when he enlists in the army. Their quest for true meaning in a post September 11 world leads them on an exhilarating theatrical journey.

American Idiot reflects Green Day’s musical roots that exploded with the band’s smash-hit album Dookie in 1994. Over the years, Green Day continued to top the charts with their subsequent studio albums Insomniac, Nimrod, and Warning. But it was their landmark 2004 album American Idiot that launched Green Day’s immense popularity. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard chart, spawned five hit singles, earned seven Grammy nominations (winning two), produced two hit singles, and won the band an American Music Award for Favorite Alternative Rock Music Artist.

In June of 2008, fueled by a passion for the narrative embedded in the album, Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer and Green Day began a collaboration to bring American Idiot to the stage. Since its premiere at the Berkeley Repertory Theater in New York City, the musical has won two Tony Awards and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.

The musical features the hits “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” “Holiday,” and the title track from the 2004 American Idiot album. The score also includes several songs from Green Day’s Grammy Award-winning 2009 release 21st Century Breakdown, including “21 Guns” and an unreleased love song, “When It’s Time.” Finally, the beloved hit single, “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” befittingly ends the musical. Brilliantly pieced together, the songs unfold the fluid narrative that challenges obstacles facing the 21st century youth and offers hope that there is no one right way to be an American.

The New York Times wrote, “Invigorating, moving and thrilling! Performed with galvanizing intensity by a terrific cast, the emotional charge is as memorable as the music. A true rock opera.”

SPECIAL NOTE:

IU Cinema will be screening Broadway Idiot on September 4 at 3:00 p.m. This film follows Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong from a punk rock concert at Madison Square Garden to the opening of his musical
American Idiot on Broadway – only ten blocks away, but worlds apart. Go backstage as Green Day takes on Broadway – and ultimately see how the world of theater transformed Billie Joe. Director Doug Hamilton is scheduled to be present and will introduce and discuss this ‘rough cut’ of his film, before it appears in festivals.