STAGE TUBE: Green Day's Surprise Visit to AMERICAN IDIOT

As BroadwayWorld speculated earlier this week (courtesy of BroadwayGirlNYC), Green Day made a surprise appearance at the performance of AMERICAN IDIOT on April 22.

Broadway scoopster BroadwayGirlNYC alerted fans on her Twitter: "OMG HUGE SCOOP you guys!! Just learned that Green Day will be playing a surprise number at tonight's @AmericanIdiotNY performance!!!!!"

In fact, the band (Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tre Cool) took the stage for the encore and gave an impromptu performance, complete with singalongs, crowd surfing and iPhone recording. The band wrapped up their mini-show with drummer Tre Cool flinging his drumsticks into the audience.

Said Billie Joe Armstong, "This is my first night on Broadway," before bellowing out his own redition of his hit song "American Idiot."

AMERICAN IDIOT opened at the ST. James Theatre On Tuesday, April 20, and follows the exhilarating journey of a new generation of young Americans as they struggle to find meaning in a post 9/11 world, borne along by Green Day's electrifying score. The musical includes every song from the acclaimed album American Idiot, as well as several songs from the band's GRAMMY® Award-winning new release, 21st Century Breakdown, such as "21 Guns."

Called a "masterpiece" by Rolling Stone Magazine, Green Day won two GRAMMY® Awards for the groundbreaking rock opera American Idiot, which sold more than 12 million copies worldwide. Now Billie Joe Armstrong and the band collaborate with one of the theatre's most acclaimed creative teams, led by the Tony Award-winning director of Spring Awakening, Michael Mayer, 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.

The cast of AMERICAN IDIOT stars Tony Award winner John Gallagher Jr. (Spring Awakening) alongside Tony Award Nominee Stark Sands (Journey's End), Michael Esper (A Man For All Seasons), Rebecca Naomi Jones (Passing Strange), Christina Sajous (The Wild Party), Mary Faber (Avenue Q) and Tony Vincent (Jesus Christ Superstar). Also featured in the cast are Declan Bennett, Andrew Call, Gerard Canonico, Miguel Cervantes, Joshua Henry, Van Hughes, Brian CharLes Johnson , Joshua Kobak, Lorin Latarro, Omar Lopez-Cepero , Leslie McDonel, Chase Peacock , Theo Stockman, Ben Thompson , Alysha Umphress , Aspen Vincent and Libby Winters .

For more information, visit www.americanidiotonbroadway.com.

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