As some of our readers may know, Green Day’s last two albums have been turned into a musical, on Broadway no less. Their massively successful rock opera album American Idiot has been taken in its entirety, along with a selection of songs from their most recent and in some ways sequel rock opera 21st Century Breakdown, and transformed them into a musical score. However, they have not been modified much, as they are performed live by an on stage rock band (no, this show does not have an orchestra). The show runs for an hour and a half straight, intermission free.
Music alone does not make a musical, and while I went in to see this show with an exceptionally open mind, I was not thrilled by it. I would consider myself one of the least critical people of musicals, I enjoy nearly everything I see and find some appreciation for a show from some new found perspective. The real problem here is the lack of a substantial plot. The show is literally a concatenation of songs from Green Day’s two albums played live straight through, with a maximum of five minutes of consecutive dialogue interspersed between various songs. I understand that the albums from which the songs are taken are rock operas and thus the lyrics are substantial, including themes and recurring characters etcetera. I consider myself a fan of Green Day and I enjoyed both albums on their own, definitely their best stuff since their debut album Dookie. I also respect the fact that they tried to do something different, and step outside the box of the traditional rock music song format. However, I just didn’t feel that it was working in a live musical format.
I don’t wish to discredit any of the individual actors who definitely gave it their all and sang their hearts out to Green Day’s lyrics while sweating their way across the stage. I don’t doubt that it is difficult to properly turn a rock opera album into a live musical, but it just didn’t appeal to me. The audience’s standing ovation at the end may be an indication to the contrary, that the general public liked it. However, standing ovations occur at nearly all the shows I attend, like a wave effect-a few people stand and then everyone else does, moreso because they want to see the stage than anything else I think. It just makes the act of a standing ovation less meaningful.
A couple of asides. Tobey Maguire was present the night I was there. But more importantly, rumor has it that Tom Hanks is seeking the movie rights to the musical. Granted he turned Mamma Mia into a huge success of a movie following the musical, but I see this task being quite a bit more challenging.