Playwright: Green Day, Billie Joe Armstrong, Michael Mayer. At: Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St. Tickets: 800-775-2000; www.BroadwayInChicago.com; $27-$95. Runs through: Feb. 19
A needless war far away, an unpopular president and disaffected youth using sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll as rebellion—been there, done that. American Idiot is the 21st-century Hair against the background of Iraq and George Bush instead of Vietnam, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. The war may change but rebellion remains the same, remodeled by each generation as it should be. The difference is that then "Make love, not war" and drug culture were part of an emerging political force and social philosophy, while American Idiot makes today's disaffection seem merely nihilistic.
The cliché storyline is dismissible but it's a workable backdrop for the strong music of Green Day and band leader Billie Joe Armstrong's lyrics in this jukebox-musical variation. Just as in Hair, youth flock to the city. In this case, three 20-ish male friends (the show is heavily male-centric) flee the suburbs, although their behavior is far more hicksville than suburbia. Actually, Will (Jake Epstein) stays behind with his pregnant girlfriend (Leslie McDonel), but Tunny (Scott J. Campbell) and musician-wannabe Johnny (Van Hughes, looking like Billie Joe Armstrong) hit the city. Within six weeks Tunny joins the Army and Johnny meets the girl of his dreams (Gabrielle McClinton) and becomes a junkie, thanks to drug dealer St. Jimmy (Joshua Kobak). The events of two or three years improbably are squeezed into 10 months, narrated by Johnny. Some story angles come directly from Green Day music videos, which doesn't make it better.
So, once you're passed the show's extremely modest literary qualities, you're left with an absolutely dazzling cast, some excellent rock music and a loose-limbed, almost chaotic physical production with complex movement and choreography (by Steven Hoggett) inspired by the mosh pit. And while Green Day was (is? are they still?) a leading alternative rock band, the costumes (by Andrea Lauer) are far more goth- and grunge-inspired.
For me, the show's greatest musical strengths are its ballads and softer numbers (my ancient Hair-generation ears can understand the lyrics better), among them "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (with its perhaps unintended echoes of earlier popular songs), "When It's Time" and the extremely effective "Wake Me Up When September Ends," although several high-energy rockers such as "I Don't Care" are effective in making their points. Green Day fans will find the 95-minute show is a nearly nonstop playback of the band's best stuff.
As for the dazzling cast: imagine 20 or so of your favorite handsome, beautiful, sexy, muscular porn performers, and they all sing like rock stars made in heaven, men and women alike. Their faces are beautiful, their bodies ripple and director/co-author Michael Mayer finds ways to strip several down to their undies. Hooray!
