At last American Idiot is coming to Cardiff. Fresh from the West End, the show dubbed as unpredictable and high octane is about to grace the stage at The New Theatre and Green Day fans can’t wait.
When Green Day’s rock opera was released in 2004 it won the award for Best Rock Album of the year, and is often mentioned as one of the top albums of the noughties. The musical followed in the wake of that success and has already won two Tony Awards and a Grammy. The show expands on the album and centres around three childhood friends, Johnny, Will, and Tunny, searching for meaning in their restricted suburban lives. Johnny and Tunny flee the suburbs, while Will works out his relationship with his pregnant girlfriend Heather. Disillusioned with the world, Johnny falls into drugs, while Tunny joins the military to fight. Billy Joe Armstrong’s lyrics are hard-hitting and emotive, filled with sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, life, death, war and dissatisfaction. This isn’t a show for the faint-hearted, and is a rock opera for the modern age. Originally envisioned as a punk rock opera, it seems that American Idiot’s home is on stage. Inspired by the likes of Jesus Christ Superstar and The Who’s Tommy and Quadrophenia, and a sense of unease in the world with the backdrop of the Iraq War, this musical is a gift for Green Day fans and is surprisingly as relevant now as when it was initially released.
The score includes popular hits such as Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Wake Me Up When September Ends and Holiday plus songs especially written for the show. The cast includes X Factor finalist Amelia Lily, who reprises her acclaimed role as Whatsername, Steve Rushton (Son Of Dork) as Will, and singer-song writer Newton Faulkner as Johnny.
The show has been called ‘an affecting snapshot of our times’ that ‘throbs with the energy of a rock gig’ and ‘pluses with raw energy and rage few shows can muster’. If the reviews are anything to go by, you’d be an idiot to miss it.
LYNDA NASH
American Idiot, New Theatre, Cardiff, Tue 19 Apr-Sat 23 Apr. Tickets: £10-£166. Info: 029 2087 8889 / www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk
