American Idiot Dramaturgy

By Christa Tandana

Green Day is back onstage…on Broadway? Yes, my friends, it’s true! The hit song “American Idiot” is also now the name of the newest rock musical to hit Broadway!

Packed with angst and set to a punk rock soundtrack, American Idiot is certainly not your average trip to the theatre. The story is a coming-of-age story about American youth in suburbia who are trying to find meaning in a post 9/11 world.

Director Michael Mayer came up with the idea for this show by listening to Green Day's Grammy Award winning album. He then collaborated with Billy Joel Armstrong from the band to write the book for the show.

Michael Mayer won a Tony Award for Best Director of Spring Awakening. John Gallagher Jr., who played Melchior in Spring Awakening, is now starring in American Idiot as Johnny. Rebecca Naomi Jones, who was in the rock musical Passing Strange, is now playing Whatsername – (Note: I didn’t make a mistake, that’s the character’s actual name.) These are just a few names of the best and talented in theatre today – and they all collaborated on one show!