AMERICAN IDIOT at MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

American Idiot is a sung-through rock musical based on the concept album of the same name by rock band Green Day. After a run at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2009, the show moved to the St. James Theatre on Broadway where it ran from 2010 to 2011. The musical won two Tony Awards: Best Scenic Design of a Musical for Christine Jones and Best Lighting Design of a Musical for Kevin Adams. It also received a nomination for Best Musical. In 2011, its Broadway cast recording won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.

Bold, brash, and fun, American Idiot takes Green Day’s chart-topping 2005 punk rock album and brings it vibrantly to life. American Idiot follows a young anti-hero, Johnny, the self-proclaimed “Jesus of Suburbia”, and his two buddies, Will and Tunny, as they attempt to break out of their mind-numbing, aimless suburban existence. After escaping to the city, Johnny finds himself embroiled in a passionate affair with a stunning and unpredictable young woman, and an even more passionate affair with hard drugs.Tunny finds a sense of purpose by enlisting in the Army, but is wounded in the line of duty, both physically and emotionally. Meanwhile, Will, who decided to remain in the suburbs with his newly pregnant girlfriend, becomes moored to his couch, hopeless and stuck. Each of the men struggles to find the balance between rage and love -- a conflict that defines their generation.

Authors

• Billie Joe Armstrong
• Michael Mayer

Tony Awards and Nominations for AMERICAN IDIOT