These artists are supported by an ensemble of 12 young talents. Declan Bennet, a songwriter with two CDs, appeared on Broadway in Rent and on the West End in Taboo. Andrew Call performed on Broadway in Cry Baby, Glory Days, and High Fidelity and off Broadway in Altar Boyz. Gerard Canonico made his Broadway debut at eight years old as Gavroche in Les Misérables; more recently, his credits include Spring Awakening on Broadway. Miguel Cervantes portrayed Chip on Broadway and in the national tour of The Putnam County Spelling Bee; his other credits include Happiness at Lincoln Center. Joshua Henry performed in Serenade off Broadway, In the Heights on and off Broadway, and in TV shows such as Kings and Sex and the City. Brian Charles Johnson appeared in the Broadway and off-Broadway productions of Spring Awakening, and in workshops of noted shows at Manhattan Theatre Club and Roundabout Theatre Company. Chase Peacock has performed for North Carolina Theatre, Paper Mill Playhouse, and the first national tour of Disney's High School Musical. Theo Stockman was named Best Leading Actor at the InterNational Theatre Festival in Warsaw before appearing in the off-Broadway and Broadway productions of Hair. Ben Thompson performed in Cyrano de Bergerac at the Metropolitan Opera and in national tours of Big River, HSM, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Alysha Umphress has been seen on screen in Across the Universe, off Broadway in Make Me a Song, and as an opening act for Diana Krall. Morgan Weed appeared off Broadway in the world premiere of Saved and regionally in world premieres of Bowery Boys, The Boys are Coming Home, In the Bubble, and Was.
Libby Winters' stage credits include the New York Musical Theatre Festival and New York Stage and Film; she also sings and plays guitar for The Fabulous Entourage.
Green Day - vocalist/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tré Cool - were loud, snotty, scrappy kids from working-class backgrounds who came of age in the underground punk scene in Berkeley. Even though they had released two records prior (1039 / Smooth Out Slappy Hours and Kerplunk), they announced their arrival with 1994's Dookie, a dynamic blast of exuberant three-chord punk-pop that spoke to bored teenagers everywhere. The album eventually sold 15 million copies, earned the band its first Grammy Award, and inspired a raft of imitators. Over the years, Green Day continued to top the charts with their subsequent studio albums Insomniac, Nimrod, and Warning while entertaining millions of fans with their frenetic live shows. But it was their landmark 2004 album American Idiot that launched Green Day into the stratosphere. "Jesus of Suburbia" set the tone by telling a tale of the choice between self-destruction and redemption that resonated with listeners of all ages, nationalities, and political persuasions. American Idiot debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard chart. It spawned five hit singles, earned seven Grammy nominations (winning two, including Rock Album of the Year), and raised the bar for modern rock and roll. This year, Green Day released its new album 21st Century Breakdown, which has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, and embarked on a world tour. For more information on Green Day, visit greenday.com.
American Idiot features the work of Olivier Award-winning choreographer Steven Hoggett with Tony-winning composer Tom Kitt providing music supervision, arrangements, and orchestrations. The design team includes Tony-nominee Christine Jones (sets), two-time Tony-winner Kevin Adams (lights), Baryshnikov fellow Andrea Lauer (costumes), and Obie Award-winner Brian Ronan (sound), as well as video designer Darrel Maloney.
The show is supported by several contributors to Berkeley Rep's Annual Fund. Bill Falik and Diana Cohen, John and Helen Meyer, Sally Smith and Don Burns, the Strauch Kulhanjian Family, and Felicia Woytak and Steve Rasmussen serve as executive producers. The lead sponsor is Levi's®, and the show is also sponsored by the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation.
Born in a storefront, Berkeley Rep has moved to the forefront of American theatre - and is still telling unforgettable stories. In four decades, four million people have enjoyed more than 300 shows at Berkeley Rep, including 51 world premieres. In the last four years alone, Berkeley Rep has helped send four shows to Broadway: Bridge & Tunnel, In the Next Room (or the vibrator play), Passing Strange, and Wishful Drinking. Founded in 1968, the Theatre quickly earned respect for presenting the finest plays with top-flight actors. In 1980, with the support of the local community, Berkeley Rep built the 400-seat Thrust Stage where its reputation steadily grew over the next two decades. It gained renown for an adventurous combination of work, presenting important new dramatic voices alongside refreshing adaptations of seldom-seen classics. In recognition of its place on the national stage, Berkeley Rep was honored with the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 1997. The company celebrated by unveiling a 600-seat proscenium stage in 2001, the state-of-the-art Roda Theatre. It also opened the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, a permanent home for its long tradition of outreach and education programs. The addition of these two buildings transformed a single stage into a vital and versatile performing arts complex, the linchpin of a bustling downtown arts district which has helped revitalize Berkeley. The Theatre now welcomes an annual audience of 180,000, serves 20,000 students, and hosts dozens of community groups, thanks to 1,000 volunteers and more than 400 artists, artisans, and administrators.
For more information on American Idiot and the other shows in Berkeley Rep's 2009/10 Season, call (510) 647-2949 or toll-free at (888) 4-BRT-Tix - or just click berkeleyrep.org.
Photo credit Walter McBride
