Le monde des musicals

Johnny, Will and Tunny long to escape their unhappy, media-saturated suburban lives, but pregnancy, drugs and the military keep them from pursuing the lives they are destined to lead.

Set in the recent past, , the musical opens on a group of angry youths unhappily living in suburbia (identified as Jingletown, USA) and saturated with TV. Fed up with the state of the union, the company explodes in frustration American Idiot). The musical then focuses on three best friends: Johnny, Will, and Tunny. The three feel threatened by their mundane lives. Johnny goes to commiserate with Will Jesus of Suburbia. The appearance of a third friend, Tunny, spurs change when the three run out of beer. At the 7-Eleven, Tunny exposes the do-nothing go-nowhere quicksand of their lives City of the Damned. They get riled up, and Johnny challenges his friends to engage I Don't Care. Will's girlfriend Heather appears. She is pregnant and doesn't know what to do Dearly Beloved. Johnny borrows money from his mother and buys bus tickets to the city for himself and his friends. Heather reveals to Will that he is going to be a father, so he decides to stay home Tales of Another Broken Home. Johnny and Tunny depart for the city with a group of other jaded youths Holiday.
While Johnny wanders the city and pines for a woman he sees in an apartment window Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Tunny finds it hard to adjust to urban life and is seduced by a television ad for the army Favorite Son. Tunny realizes that his generation has been so numbed and apathetic that nothing, not even the bright lights of the city, will excite him Are We the Waiting. He enlists in the army.
Frustrated by his friend's departure and his inability to find girls or fun, Johnny conjures a rebellious powerful reflection of himself called "St. Jimmy" and shoots heroin for the first time St. Jimmy. Back in Jingletown, Will sits on the couch as his girlfriend's pregnancy progresses. He drinks beer and begs for a release. Meanwhile, Tunny is deployed to a war zone, and is soon shot and wounded Give Me Novacaine.
Johnny finds that St. Jimmy has given him everything he's ever wanted—girls and fun—and spends the night with the girl he saw in the window, whom he calls "Whatsername". Johnny is smitten with Whatsername and wants to celebrate, but St. Jimmy has other plans for them Last of the American Girls/She's a Rebel. Johnny and Whatsername go to a club, shoot drugs together, and have passionate sex. By this time, Will and Heather's baby girl has been born, and Will is increasingly oblivious as Heather tenderly commits herself to her baby's future Last Night on Earth.
Heather has had enough of Will's pot-and-alcohol-fueled apathy. Despite Will's protestations, she takes the baby and walks out Too Much, Too Soon. Around the same time, lying in a bed in an army hospital Before the Lobotomy, Tunny falls victim to the hopelessness he has seen during wartime and hallucinates. He and his nurse engage in a balletic aerial dance Extraordinary Girl. He quickly falls in love with her.
Back in the city, Jimmy reappears but Johnny ignores him, watching Whatsername sleep. Johnny muses on their relationship and reveals the depth of his love for her When It's Time. The temptation of drugs, however, is too great; Jimmy forces Johnny to become increasingly erratic, and he eventually threatens Whatsername (and then himself) with a knife Know Your Enemy. Whatsername attempts to talk about his behavior, but is shocked at the depths to which he has spun out of control. Meanwhile, the Extraordinary Girl dresses Tunny's wounds and Will sits on the couch, once again alone 21 Guns. After this, Johnny and Jimmy leave and Johnny leaves a note for Whatsername, saying that he has chosen Jimmy and his drugs over her. Frightened and fed up, Whatsername explodes at Johnny, telling him that he is not the "Jesus of Suburbia" and revealing to him that St. Jimmy is nothing more than "a figment of [his] father's rage and [his] mother's love" Letterbomb. She leaves him.
Hurt by Whatsername's departure, Johnny is forced to admit that his life has amounted to nothing; he longs for better days ahead, Tunny longs for home, and Will longs for all the things he's lost Wake Me Up When September Ends. St. Jimmy appears and makes one last attempt to get Johnny's attention, but that part of Johnny has died, resulting in the metaphorical suicide of St. Jimmy The Death of St. Jimmy. Johnny cleans up and gets a desk job but soon realizes that he can find no place for him in the city East 12th Street. Will, all alone with his television, bemoans his outcast state Nobody Likes You. As he finally gets up off the couch, Heather appears with her new show-off rockstar boyfriend Rock and Roll Girlfriend. Will heads to the 7-Eleven to get away from them and, surprisingly, finds Johnny there. Johnny had sold his guitar for a bus ticket home. Tunny returns from the war zone (as an amputee) with the Extraordinary Girl. As Tunny introduces his friends to the Extraordinary Girl, Johnny becomes furious with him for leaving the group, but forgives him and the three friends embrace. Heather and her boyfriend arrive. In an uneasy truce, she gives the baby to Will. Other friends show up to greet the three men they haven't seen in a year We're Coming Home Again. One year later, Johnny laments that he lost the love of his life, but he accepts that he can live inside the struggle between rage and love that has defined his life. With this acceptance comes the possibility of hope Whatsername.
After the cast takes their bows, the curtain rises to reveal the entire company with guitars, with which they perform the song, "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)".

Discussions about a movie version have been reported since 2009, with interest from producers Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman. Rumors surfaced again in 1/2011 at a public discussion hosted by the New York Times. Michael Mayer and Billie Joe Armstrong talked about possibly collaborating on a film version. Armstrong stated that he and his bandmates had always imagined the album as the basis for a film. In June 2011, Tom Hanks' company Playtone Productions would release the film in 2013.

The show is an adaptation of punk 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".

Background
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.
Berkeley tryout
The musical premiered at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Previews began on September 4, 2009 and the official opening was on September 15, 2009. After becoming the top-grossing show in Berkeley Rep history, the producers extended the limited run twice to November 15, 2009. The cast included John Gallagher Jr. As Johnny, Matt Caplan as Tunny, Michael Esper as Will, Tony Vincent as St. Jimmy, Rebecca Naomi Jones as Whatsername, Mary Faber as Heather, and Christina Sajous as the Extraordinary Girl.
Broadway
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 included 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. Brian Ronan is the Sound 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.
In addition to Billie Joe Armstrong's stint as St. Jimmy, Melissa Etheridge played the part of St. Jimmy on Broadway from February 1–6, 2011, and Davey Havok took the role from March 1-15, 2011.

In the wake of weak sales following the departure of Billie Joe Armstrong from the role of St. Jimmy, The New York Times hinted that the producers could soon post a closing notice for the production.[27] The Broadway production was then scheduled to close on April 24, 2011 after 27 previews and 421 performances. Billie Joe Armstrong returned to the role of St. Jimmy for the final three weeks.[28]

"American Idiot" - Company
"Jesus of Suburbia" "Jesus of Suburbia" - Johnny and Will
"City of the Damned" - Tunny, Johnny, Will, & Company
"I Don't Care" - Johnny, Will, Tunny, & Company
"Dearly Beloved" - Heather & Men
"Tales of Another Broken Home" - Johnny, Will, Tunny, Heather, & Company
"Holiday" - Johnny, Tunny, Theo, & Company
"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" - Johnny, Whatsername, Tunny, & Men
"Favorite Son" - Favorite Son & Women
"Are We the Waiting" - Tunny, Favorite Son, & Company
"St. Jimmy" - Johnny, Miguel, Declan, Theo, St. Jimmy, & Company
"Give Me Novacaine" - Will, Tunny, & Company
"Last of the American Girls/She's a Rebel" - Johnny, Whatsername, Gerard, Chase, St. Jimmy, & Company
"Last Night on Earth" - St. Jimmy, Whatsername, Heather, & Company
"Too Much Too Soon" - Theo, Alysha, Will, & Heather
"Before the Lobotomy" - Tunny, Joshua, Ben, & Chase
"Extraordinary Girl" - Extraordinary Girl, Tunny, & Company
"Before the Lobotomy (reprise)" - Tunny, Joshua, Ben, & Chase
"When It's Time" - Johnny
"Know Your Enemy" - St. Jimmy, Will, Johnny, & Company
"21 Guns" - Whatsername, Extraordinary Girl, Heather, Tunny, Johnny, Will, & Company
"Letterbomb" - Whatsername & Women
"Wake Me Up When September Ends" - Johnny, Will, Tunny, & Company
"Homecoming" "The Death of St. Jimmy" - St. Jimmy & Johnny
"East 12th St." - Johnny, Theo, Gerard, & Company
"Nobody Likes You" - Will & Company
"Rock and Roll Girlfriend" - Miguel, Heather, Will, & Company
"We're Coming Home Again" - Johnny, Tunny, Will, & Company
"Whatsername" - Johnny & Company
"Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" - Company

Johnny: Johnny, also known as the "Jesus of Suburbia", is the main protagonist of the story and most of the plot points revolve around his picaresque journey. On his quest for self-discovery he experiences nihilism, drug abuse, and lost love.
Will: Will is one of Johnny's best friends. He plans to leave town with the group until his girlfriend, Heather, reveals she is pregnant with his child. Will stays at home and descends in to an alcohol and drug infused depression.
Tunny: Tunny is another of Johnny's best friends. He accompanies Johnny to the city, but is soon seduced in to joining the military and is sent off to war. Tunny suffers serious injuries and loses a leg. During his rehabilitation, he falls in love with his nurse, The Extraordinary Girl, and the two accompany each other home at the end of the story.
Whatsername: Whatsername is a nameless, attractive young woman who accompanies Johnny on his pleasure-seeking journey of sex and drugs. She eventually realizes their relationship is mutually destructive and leaves him.
Heather: Heather is Will's girlfriend. Her unplanned pregnancy causes Will to stay behind when his friends leave town. She leaves Will and begins a relationship with another man to protect their child. She eventually leads a life of glamour that is in stark contrast to Will's couch-wallowing ways.
The Extraordinary Girl: The Extraordinary Girl is a nurse who treats Tunny after he is wounded in war. She also appears in Tunny's dreams and hallucinations. The two eventually fall in love and accompany each other home after the war.
St. Jimmy
St. Jimmy is an energetic, thrill-seeking drug dealer. It is eventually revealed that Jimmy is only a drug-addled manifestation of Johnny's id. The role of St. Jimmy was created for the Berkeley and Broadway runs by Tony Vincent.[30][31] The part has become something of a star vehicle for rock artists, allowing several of them to make their Broadway debuts. Billie Joe Armstrong covered for Tony Vincent from September 27, 2010 to October 3, 2010 and then took over the role for two months when Vincent left the production in January 2011. Melissa Etheridge then covered for Billie Joe Armstrong from February 1, 2011 to February 6, 2011.[32] Davey Havok of AFI replaced Billie Joe Armstrong in the role of "St. Jimmy" beginning on March 1, 2011.[33] Billie Joe Armstrong reprised the role of St. Jimmy on April 5, 2011 until the show closed on April 24, 2011.
Ensemble

Aucun dossier informatif complémentaire concernant American Idiot

Aucun dossier informatif complémentaire concernant American Idiot