Sunday, March 29, 2009

I'm Not The American Idiot!

Apparently my scoop on the Green Day American Idiot musical is actually for REAL! And I beat the NYTimes by a full 10 days!!! (It's exciting for me okay? Even if no one except Esther really noticed and who also sent me the NYT article).

So according to the NYTimes, Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening) will direct the show for the Berkeley Repertory Theater in California this fall (Sept. 4 through Oct. 11 2009) after rehearsals this summer. (Apparently tickets and show details will be announced on Monday)

Tom Kitt (Next to Normal) is doing the orchestrations, but even more exciting, choreography for the last workshop was by Steven Hoggett who did the mesmerizing Black Watch!!! Seriously, the non-traditional choreography in Black Watch was breathtaking and literally brought tears to my eyes.

No word if American Idiot (which is in fact the name it will actually go by now) The Musical, based on Green Day's album, will ever hit Broadway but I'm sure that's producer Tom Hulce's (who also produced Spring Awakening) hope and long term plan.

And if you don't remember the awesome music, it's awesome!

Hmm... might be time to make a trip to the Bay area this fall. I've been meaning to visit my friend and her new kids anyways... this might sweeten the deal!

UPDATE: According to playbill, Tony winner John Gallagher Jr. (Spring Awakening) is attached in the cast of 20. No surprise considering Michael Mayer's involvement.

Apparently Mary Faber, Patina Miller, Theo Stockman, Alysha Umphress, Brian Charles Johnson, Gerard Canonico, Rebecca Naomi Jones, and Miguel Cervantes were in the last workshop (though Theo is now in Hair and Patina Miller moves to London for Sister Act so I doubt they will be involved, or at least Miller)


Vance at http://tapeworthy.blogspot.com

2 comments:

Esther said...

Hey, as soon as I saw the story I thought, "Vance scooped The New York Times!" I'm insanely jealous but at the same time I'm very happy for you. And yeah, Steven Hoggett's participation does sound great. You don't usually think of a play being choreographed the way he did with Black Watch but it was so inventive and memorable.

Pun said...

Wow, you totally scooped the NYT! How'd you do that?? Well, now that the news is broken, I can tell you that the "When Sept Ends" video is a little misleading. It won't be a conventional musical with lots of dialogue. It's literally a rock opera. Oh, and it's not just the American Idiot album. It also includes new songs that will be on Green Day's next album. The wrkshop in NYC was a huge success. I can't say much, but I will tell you that every single one of the band members had tears streaming down their faces. Goose bumps!

Pun
Blogmaster for Spring Awakening Tour http://www.totallytrucked.blogspot.com