Full Cast Announced for AMERICAN IDIOT; Cast to Appear on Grammy Awards

Producers Tom Hulce and Ira Pittelman announced the complete Broadway cast of AMERICAN IDIOT today. The production will begin previews on Wednesday, March 24, 2010 and open on Broadway Tuesday, April 20, 2010 at the ST. James Theatre (246 West 44 Street).

Tony Award winner John Gallagher Jr. (Spring Awakening) is set to star in AMERICAN IDIOT 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). The cast also features Declan Bennett (RENT), Andrew Call (Cry-Baby), Gerard Canonico (Spring Awakening), Miguel Cervantes (...Spelling Bee), Joshua Henry (In The Heights), Van Hughes (Hairspray), Brian CharLes Johnson (Spring Awakening), Joshua Kobak (RENT), Lorin Latarro (Movin' Out), Omar Lopez-Cepero (North American tour of Evita), Leslie McDonel (Hairspray), Chase Peacock (High School Musical), Theo Stockman (Hair), Ben Thompson (Cyrano with Placido Domingo), Alysha Umphress (bare), Aspen Vincent (Dirty Dancing) and Libby Winters (White Noise).

"This wildly gifted company takes my breath away. They bring such depth and passion to the material. It is a rare honor to be blessed with such spectacularly imaginative performers," says Michael Mayer.

The Broadway cast of AMERICAN IDIOT will perform with Green Day on the band's two-time GRAMMY nominated song "21 Guns" on Music's Biggest Night®. The 52ND Annual Grammy® Awards will take place live on Sunday, January 31, 2010, at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast on the CBS Television Network from 8-11:30pm (ET/PT). On December 22, 2009, Reprise Records released a new version of the hit single "21 Guns," produced by Billie Joe Armstrong and performed by the cast of AMERICAN IDIOT and Green Day.

AMERICAN IDIOT 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. This high-octane show includes every song from the acclaimed album American Idiot, as well as several songs from the band's three-time GRAMMY®-nominated new release, 21st Century Breakdown ("Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals," "Best Rock Song" and "Best Rock Album".)

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 show features scenic design by Tony-nominee Christine Jones (Spring Awakening), costume design by Baryshnikov fellow Andrea Lauer (The Butcher of Baraboo), lighting design by two time Tony-winner Kevin Adams (Hair), Sound design by Obie Award-winner Brian Ronan (Cabaret), as well as video design by Darrel Maloney. The Music Director is Carmel Dean.

AMERICAN IDIOT will be produced on Broadway in association with Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

Click here for more information:
www.AmericanIdiotOnBroadway.com

John Gallagher, Jr. (Johnny). Broadway credits include David Lindsay Abaire's Pulitzer Prize winning play Rabbit Hole and Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater's rock musical adaptation of Frank Wedekind's Spring Awakening directed by Michael Mayer. His performance in the latter earned him a 2007 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and a Drama Desk nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. John's Off-Broadway credits include Current Events and Kimberly Akimbo at Manhattan Theatre Club, Conor McPherson's Port Authority, Beau Willimon's Farragut North and Spring Awakening at the Atlantic Theater Company. John has appeared on television in all three "Law and Order"s and "The West Wing." Film credits include Pieces of April, The Good Student, Woody Allen's Whatever Works, Kenneth Lonergan's much anticipated Margaret and this summer's comic book adaptation Jonah Hex. John is also a singer/songwriter and performs regularly in New York City.

Stark Sands (Tunny) was last seen on Broadway as '2nd Lieutenant Raleigh' in the 2007 Tony Award winning revival of Journey's End for which he received a Tony nomination for "Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play." Additionally, Sands received a Theatre World Award in recognition of his outstanding New York City stage debut performance. Most recently, Sands starred as ‘Clyde' in the 2009 musical adaptation of Bonnie & Clyde at the La Jolla Playhouse and earned critical acclaim for his performance in The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park production of Twelfth Night. In 2008 he was awarded the Actors' Equity Foundation's St. Clair Bayfield Award for his performance as ‘Ferdinand' in the Classic Stage Company production of The Tempest. Sands first earned recognition for his recurring role on the critically acclaimed HBO series "Six Feet Under" and most recently, he was seen as 'Lt. Nathaniel Fick' in the critically acclaimed, Emmy-nominated HBO mini-series, "Generation Kill". Sands made his feature film debut in the independent comedy Die, Mommie, Die, which premiered to rave reviews at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. Additional film roles include director Clint Eastwood's critically-acclaimed Flags of Our Fathers, Marcos Siega's Pretty Persuasion with Evan Rachel Wood, the romantic comedies Shall We Dance (opposite Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez) and Chasing Liberty (opposite MAndy Moore), the psychological thriller 11:14 with Hilary Swank, the family-oriented action adventure Catch That Kid and the indie film, My Sassy Girl, opposite Elisha Cuthbert and Jesse Bradford.

Michael Esper (Will) Michael made his Broadway debut opposite Frank Langella in Roundabout Theatre Company's A Man for All Seasons. His other New York credits include The Agony and The Agony (Vineyard Theatre), As You Like It (The Public Theater), Big Bill (Lincoln Center Theater), Crazy Mary and Manic Flight Reaction (Playwrights Horizons), The Four of Us (Manhattan Theatre Club) and subUrbia (Second Stage Theatre). Michael's regional credits include Tony Kushner's The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key To the Scriptures at the Guthrie Theatre, Long Day's Journey Into Night with the Druid Theatre Company and the Dublin Theatre Festival and Edward Albee's Me, Myself and I at McCarter Theatre Center. On film and television, Michael's credits include All Good Things, A Beautiful Mind, Bittersweet Place, Bunker Hill, Law & Order, Loggerheads and Watching TV with the Red Chinese. He won the Clarence Derwent Award from Actors' Equity and received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor for Long Day's Journey Into Night from the Irish Times. Michael trained at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and is an associate artist of The Civilians.

Rebecca Naomi Jones (Whatsername) Broadway: Passing Strange. Off Broadway: Wig Out! (Vineyard Theatre), This Beautiful City (Vineyard Theatre), Passing Strange (Public Theater), How Love is Spelt (Playwrights Horizons-SPF). Tours: Caroline, or Change (OBC Tour), Little Shop of Horrors (1st Nat'l Tour), Rent (US Nat'l and 10th Anniversary Tours). Regional: American Idiot (Berkeley Rep), Passing Strange (Berkeley Rep), Funked Up Fairy Tales (Sundance), Wig Out! (Sundance). TV: "Fringe," "The Electric Company," "All My Children." Films: Passing Strange, Miracle at St. Anna (both directed by Spike Lee). The Baster. B.F.A. in Drama, North Carolina School of the Arts.

Christina Sajous (The Extraordinary Girl) As a native New Yorker, her credits include King Lear with André De Shields at the Classical Theatre of Harlem and Wild Party at The Culture Project. Regionally, she has appeared in Aida at Artpark, the national/Japan tour of Rent and The Who's Tommy at Arkansas Repertory Theatre. Christina's television credits include ABC's One Life to Live. She has also performed as a featured artist in concert with Patti La-Belle, Chrisette Michele and Musiq Soulchild. Christina trained at the InterNational Theatre Workshop in Amsterdam and has a BFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

Mary Faber (Heather). Broadway: Avenue Q (Kate Monster/Lucy). Other: American Idiot (Berkeley Repertory), The Corn is Green (Huntington Theatre Co. - Nicholas Martin/dir.), Saved (Gary Griffin/dir.) and Floyd and Clea Under the Western Sky (Playwrights Horizons), Princesses (Fifth Avenue/Goodspeed Opera), Christmas Carol (Virginia Stage Company) and The Tutor (York Theater). Television: "All My Children," "Ghost Stories." Improvisation and sketch comedy: Upright Citizens Brigade, Ars Nova, The Second City. BA: Brandeis University.

Tony Vincent (St. Jimmy) Singer/songwriter Tony Vincent moved to New York City in 1998, his sights set on landing a rock-focused record deal. Instead he booked a role in the hit Broadway musical RENT which sent him on a string of rock-opera theatrical leads ("Judas"-Jesus Christ Superstar- Broadway, "Galileo Figaro"-We Will Rock You- London's West End, Las Vegas). Tony has fronted the rock band Queen on a handful of occasions including Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee & Party In The Park. In 2002 Mr. Vincent was chosen to be one of the first artists to bring the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber to Asia in ALW's Masterpiece. Mr. Vincent has released three solo albums; Tony Vincent, One Deed (EMI), and A Better Way (Adobe Flats). For more information log onto: www.tonyvincent.com.

Declan Bennett (Ensemble) Declan joins the cast of American Idiot direct from London. He is an independent singer-songwriter with a dedicated following on the London and New York City music scene. Declan released his second solo album, An Innocent Evening of Drinking, in spring 2008, and opened for Boy George on his 31-date UK tour last fall. He is currently working on his third solo project and a film adaptation of his last record. Declan made his Broadway debut in 2007 as Roger in Rent. His other US theatre credits include the 2006-07 national tour of Rent as Roger. In the UK, Declan appeared in Taboo in the West End and on tour, The Kissing Dance at the Edinburgh Festival and Willy Russell's Our Day Out as Reilly. Check out declanbennett.co.uk.

Andrew Call (Ensemble) Andrew appeared on Broadway in Cry-Baby, Glory Days and High Fidelity. His off-Broadway credits include Altar Boyz, and regionally he appeared as Marius in Les Misérables, for which he received a Helen Hayes Award nomination.

Gerard Canonico (Ensemble) At eight years old he started his career on Broadway as Gavroche in Les Miserables. He most recently appeared as Moritz in the Tony Award-winning Broadway production of Spring Awakening. His other credits include A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden in 2000 with Frank Langella and in 2001 with Tim Curry. Gerard's Off-Broadway shows were The Prince and the Pauper where he starred as Tom Canty (The Pauper), and Children's Letters To God in the role of Brett. He toured with Chita Rivera in Casper the Musical and performed at Paper Mill Playhouse in The King and I as Louis. Gerard's music can be heard on myspace.com/takingchancesnj.

Miguel Cervantes (Ensemble) has been a part American Idiot for a little over a year including the run at Berkeley Rep this past fall. Some of his favorite roles have been Miguel Hernandez in Happiness (Lincoln Center), Chip Toletino in 25th Annual Spelling Bee (Broadway/1st National Tour), Batboy in Batboy the Musical (Speakeasy Stage Boston). Also any "All My Children" fans might have seen him holding Susan Lucci hostage as Armando, the thug boyfriend.

Joshua Henry (Ensemble) is a member of Jaradoa Theater Company and Actors' Equity Association. He was most recently seen in the New York City Center 2009 Encores production of The Wiz. Broadway credits include In the Heights, and his off-Broadway credits include Serenade and In the Heights (Drama Desk Award). Regional theater: Being Alive at Westport Country Playhouse, Godspell at Papermill Playhouse, and American Idiot at Berkeley Repertory Theater. Joshua's film and TV credits include Sex and the City and Kings. He is excited to be returning to Broadway in this groundbreaking new musical and is thankful for the support of his friends and family, William Morris, and Station 3.

Van Hughes (Ensemble) Broadway: 9 to 5, Hairspray. Off-Broadway: Saved (Playwrights Horizons). TV: "Law & Order: SVU & CI", "As The World Turns," "Six Degrees." Film: Sex and the City 1 & 2, Rachel Getting Married, Tenure, Inside Man. Van's voice can be heard on many Nick Jr. TV promos and numerous radio commercials nationwide. He also writes and records original music.

Brian CharLes Johnson (Ensemble) Brian began his career at New York's renowned Atlantic Theater Company. He began training at the Atlantic's acting school and was soon cast in the off-Broadway production of Spring Awakening directed by Michael Mayer. Spring Awakening quickly graduated to the Broadway stage, and so did Brian. The Broadway production garnered eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Brian has participated in a number of workshops in New York City, including Manhattan Theatre Club's Dreams of Violence, Roundabout Theatre Company's Six Degrees of Separation and Shrek the Musical. He also was involved in world premiere production of American Idiot at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

Joshua Kobak (Swing) most recently toured with the Broadway tour of RENT. Broadway credits include RENT (Roger, Mark, Gordon, Steve, Swing), Tarzan Original cast (Tarzan, Clayton, Swing) and Off broadway Fuerza Bruta (original cast).. Joshua has toured and gigged solo and with his band across the US and Canada and appeared in Tokyo, Sun City - SA and Amsterdam - Holland. He has written, directed and performed in The NYC Fringe with Subway Train and The Colors Of Love. He has 2 albums SWIM - Above and Beneath and KOBAK - Sound and Light both available through his website www.joshuakobak.com

Lorin Latarro (Associate Choreographer/ Swing) recently choreographed Fanny for Encore's Series at City Center (dir. Marc Bruni), Cy Coleman's The Best Is Yet To Come at The Rubicon (two Ovation nominations, dir. David Zippel), Hansel and Gretel (PBS's Live From Lincoln Center), Lysistrata (Avery Fischer Hall), Broadway By The Year (Townhall), Jerusalem Syndrome (NYMF), How To Succeed ... (White Plains Performing Arts Center), Love of Three Oranges and The Magic Flute (Juilliard Opera Company), Kickin' It (Ailey Theatre), Erotic Broadway (The Triad), works for Momix ,Williamstown Theater Festival , and NBC's "Grease, You're The One That I Want"(Associate Choreographer). Lorin co-wrote The Cosmopolitan (NAMT selection). As a performer, Lorin has been in 12 Broadway shows including performances as Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, Sheila in A Chorus Line, Brenda in Movin' Out, Bianca in Kiss Me Kate, Spamalot, Curtains, Apple Tree, Man of La Mancha, Wonderful Town, Fosse, and Swing!. Lorin was a recent recipient of Dancebreak and holds a BFA from The Juilliard School.

Omar Lopez-Cepero (Swing), an Atlanta native whose family originates from the island of Puerto Rico, is a proud graduate of the University of Miami School of Music and will make his Broadway debut with American Idiot after being a part of the World Premiere cast at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Other recent credits include Che in the North American tour of Evita; Regionally he has been seen as Marius in Les Miserables (Fulton Theatre), Larry in The Unsinkable Molly Brown (Denver Center New Play Summit), and as Zeke in High School Musical 2 (North Shore Music Theatre).

Leslie McDonel (Ensemble) Broadway: Hairspray (LouAnn, u/s Amber, FAF); 1st National tours: Legally Blonde (Kate/Chutney, u/s Vivenne, Serena, Enid), Hairspray (LouAnn); Regional: Grease (Marty), Two Gentlemen of Verona: the musical (Julia), Chicago (Velma), Great Gilly Hopkins (Gilly, Leon Rabin Nom. Best Actress).

Chase Peacock (Ensemble) Theatre credits: Disney's High School Musical (First National Tour and Paper Mill Playhouse), and High School Musical 2 (North Carolina Theatre). Chase also wrote the music to You're in High School Charlie Brown, a musical that opened in Newnan G.A. in 2006. www.myspace.com/chasepeacock

Theo Stockman (Ensemble) is elated to rejoin the American Idiot cast after the sold-out run at Berkeley Rep. He just finished his run with the smash Broadway revival of Hair, after the Off-Broadway Shakespeare in the Park run with The Public Theatre. Hair also marked his Broadway debut. Theo played Dionysos in The Bacchae both in New York and Poland, for which he received the "Best Leading Actor" award at the InterNational Theatre Festival in Warsaw, 2007. Theo has also performed in NYC at LaMama, P.S. 122, and Joe's Pub in The Last Goodbye, a new fusion of Jeff Buckley's music with Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Regional: 3 Pinter Shorts (Williamstown Theatre Festival). TV: "Cupid," "30 Rock." Training: The InterNational Theatre Workshop in Amsterdam, the British American Drama Academy, and a B.F.A. in Drama from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

Ben Thompson (Ensemble) was a member of the Original World Premier Cast of American Idiot. This marks Ben's Broadway Debut! National tours: Deaf West's Big River, Disney's High School Musical(1st National), and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Regional Theaters include: Berkeley Rep, Atlanta Theater of the Stars, Ford's Theater, Casa Manana, Oklahoma Lyric Theater and more. BFA in Theater from Texas Christian University.

Alysha Umphress (Ensemble) participated in the Berkeley Rep production and the NYC Workshop of American Idiot. Off Broadway; Make Me a Song, The Music of William Finn. New York; Funked Up Fairy Tales (MTC). Bare; A Pop Opera (New World Stages) Student Songs (LCT). Goodtime Charley (The York). Regional: Barrington Stage, Goodspeed Opera. Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for FAB! (American premiere) Alcazar Theatre San Francisco. Alysha has opened for Diana Krall at the Fujitzu Jazz Festival and is a three time MAC award nominee for Best Female Jazz Vocalist. Alysha just released her first live jazz album available at www.AlyshaUmphress.com

Aspen Vincent (Swing) As a child she became a veteran of the recording studio, singing jingles for companies like Petco, Disneyland, American Airlines, and Burger King, and recording background vocals for Ringling Bro's Circus and Disney on Ice productions. At 18, Aspen was chosen by Andrew Lloyd Webber to perform at his annual Sydmonton Festival held at his estate outside of London. Soon after, she created and voiced the role of gossip queen Dodie Bishop on Nickelodeon's hit animated program As Told by Ginger, helping the show earn Emmy nominations for Best 1/2 Hour Animated Program three years in a row. In 2004 Aspen was cast as the female lead, Scaramouche, in Queen's hit stage musical We Will Rock You at the Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. She spent 2006 and 2007 traveling the globe as the lead female vocalist and duet partner of the legendary Meat Loaf on his world tour celebrating the release of Bat Out Of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose. In 2008 and 2009 Aspen was featured as the lead female vocalist in the 1st National Tour of Dirty Dancing: Live on Stage, and understudied the role of Baby Houseman.

Libby Winters (Ensemble) Regional: Ensemble, u/s Heather and Extraordinary Girl in American Idiot, Berkeley Rep.; Sophie in Mamma Mia Las Vegas; New York: Neely in R-E-S-P-E-C-T at New York Stage and Film; Eva in White Noise as part of the NYMF; Percy in The Spitfire Grill (Gallery Players); Television: Phoebe McManus in "Champs" (ABC sitcom, DreamWorks Productions). Libby also sings and plays guitar with the band The Fabulous Entourage (www.fabulousentourage.com) which has played The Bowery Ballroom, Mercury Lounge, Joe's Pub, Ars Nova, The Knitting Factory, and The Viper Room (LA). She graduated from Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA with a BA in English.