AMERICAN IDIOT to Close April 24; Billie Joe Armstrong to Return April 5

The producers of the critically acclaimed AMERICAN IDIOT announced that Green Day frontman and the musical’s composer and co-author Billie Joe Armstrong will return to the role of “St. Jimmy” on Tuesday, April 5, 2011 for the final three weeks of the Broadway production at the St. James Theatre, 246 West 44 Street. Following 421 performances on Broadway and 27 previews, the final show is Sunday, April 24, 2011 at 7:30pm. The first national tour launches in the fall of 2011.

AMERICAN IDIOT began preview performances on March 24, 2010 and opened on Broadway to critical acclaim on April 20, 2010, following its world premiere, twice extended, limited engagement at Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theatre (September 4, 2009 - Sunday, November 15, 2009). The show garnered the 2011 GRAMMY® Award for “Best Musical Show Album,” two 2010 Tony Awards, a Drama Desk Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, a record 10 Broadwayworld.com Fan Choice Awards and the show was honored with Actors’ Equity Association’s Award for “Extraordinary Excellence in Diversity and Equal Opportunity on Broadway.”

AMERICAN IDIOT tells the story of three lifelong friends, forced to choose between their dreams and the safety of suburbia. Their quest for meaning in a post 9-11 world leads them on an exhilarating journey.

Based on Green Day’s groundbreaking rock opera American Idiot, Billie Joe Armstrong and the band collaborate with one of the theatre's most acclaimed creative teams, led by the Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer, Pulitzer Prize and two-time Tony Award-winning composer and orchestrator Tom Kitt, and Olivier Award-winning choreographer Steven Hoggett, to bring this explosive, iconic album to the stage.

AMERICAN IDIOT currently stars Van Hughes as Johnny, AFI’s lead singer Davey Havok as St. Jimmy, Tony Award Nominee Stark Sands as Tunny, Justin Guarini as Will, Rebecca Naomi Jones as Whatsername, Libby Winters as The Extraordinary Girl and Jeanna de Waal as Heather. The cast also features Krystina Alabado, Declan Bennett, Jennifer Bowles, Andrew Call, Gerard Canonico, Miguel Cervantes, P.J. Griffith, Brian Charles Johnson, Jason Kappus, Lorin Latarro, Omar Lopez-Cepero, Leslie McDonel, Chase Peacock, Wallace Smith, Ben Thompson, Alysha Umphress, Aspen Vincent and Mikey Winslow.

The show features Tony Award winning scenic design by Christine Jones (Spring Awakening), costume design by Baryshnikov fellow Andrea Lauer (The Butcher of Baraboo), Tony Award winning lighting design by Kevin Adams (Hair), Sound design by Olivier and Obie Award-winner Brian Ronan (Cabaret), as well as video design by Darrel Maloney. The Music Director is Carmel Dean, Johanna McKeon is the Associate Director and Lorin Latarro is the Associate Choreographer.

Reprise Records released The Original Broadway Cast Recording of AMERICAN IDIOT on April 20, 2010, the same day as the show opened. The official album, which just won the 2011 GRAMMY® Award for “Best Musical Show Album,” features the original 24-member cast accompanied by Green Day, marking another incredible collaboration between the band and the musical.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos