Regional Review: AMERICAN IDIOT at Berkeley Rep

American Idiot might as well be called FMyLife, the musical:

Johnny: Today, my possibly imaginary drug dealer drew a heart on his chest with lipstick, so I did the same thing. Then I got a desk job that I hated. FML.
Will: Today, I found out my girlfriend is pregnant. FML.
Tunny: Today, a girl flew over me and stripped off her abaya. We flew around the room for a while, and when I woke up she was gone -- and I was still in the army hospital. FML.

The plot (such as it is): American Idiot follows the adventures of the three above-mentioned losers who leave their little suburb for the big city. They don't appear to learn much or do anything to gain much sympathy, and then come home again to recant/lie about their losery adventures to the kids back home.

Although I grew up in the Bay Area in the '80s and '90s, the Green Day ship sailed without me, so I came into the show with very little knowledge of the band or the album which supplies most of the show's pounding score. American Idiot is about 92% music and 8% dialogue, so there's little wait time for the next Green Day favorite.

The score is energetic and fun to listen to, even if punk isn't your taste. And the bopping crowd -- which by appearances one might describe as NPR-devoted ex-hippies-- was drinking it up like a bottle of kombucha on a hot Berkeley afternoon.

However, when one isn't there to hear their favorite songs performed live, the lack of a story becomes even more problematic. From the outset there is no reason given to care about any of these kids or their journeys. Johnny (John Gallagher Jr.) is shown as a surly, dirty, defiant kid who just wants to get out of Jingleville. We're never given his mom or stepdad's side of the story, so we have to take his word for it that his home life sucks, and once he gets to the city he does lots of drugs and mistreats his Mimi-like girlfriend.

Tunny (Matt Caplan) angsts for a while, is shown not doing much but sleeping the day away, then is convinced by a late-night TV commercial to join the army. Will (Michael Esper) is given even less to do other than appear to be concerned about his newly pregnant girlfriend Heather, then goes through the afterschool special cycle of lazing on the couch while the ever-expanding Heather cleans around him.

These are all stories that could be compelling if delved into This American Life-style, but instead are presented as character sketches -- or vehicles for Green Day's score -- and not much else. The most compelling character is Tony Vincent's St. Jimmy, cut from the same cloth as Rent's The Man, but with a mohawk and more body art. What makes him compelling, though, is wondering whether he's real or a composite of all the drug dealers Johnny encounters.

Although the program specifies "American Idiot" takes place in the recent past, digs at the Bush administration feel dated. The show opens with audio clips from Fox News, American Idol and various other snippets of mass media, but aren't we mostly done with making fun of George W. Bush? Johnny frequently states that the good guys "don't wear red, white and blue," but the sentiment seems tired, despite Gallagher's intense delivery.

It's almost like the spoken parts of "American Idiot" hit the uncanny valley of political commentary -- most of it feels relevant, but we concentrate on and are made uncomfortable with the parts that don't. Like VH1's "I love the '90s," it's too soon to feel nostalgic.

The set is overwhelming, but its visual noise appropriately matches the auditory experience. Plasma TVs are dotted throughout the wall, itself covered in pasted-up black and white posters and periodical clippings. No light goes unstrobed. Just as there is very little time to rest the ears, there is very little white space with which to rest the eyes. It might be interesting to look at and to listen to, but not enjoyable if one is easily overstimulated.

Staging oddities abound: There's a number with non-committal sign language from some ensemble members seated way upstage, early on, torn-up glossy paper is strewn all over the stage and remains there -- a slip hazard -- for the entire show, and most of the sporadic dancing happens in clumps towards stage left. In many scenes, it's not quite clear who the ensemble is supposed to be -- are they street kids? The three guys' friends?

On the flip side, there are several visually clever moments, like an unnamed celebrity (Joshua Henry) on magazine covers and commercials -- then suddenly popping out of a TV screen and landing on stage in his underwear, Johnny apparently defying OSHA standards by effortlessly hanging on to the top of a staircase that's tipped forward 90 degrees to become a bus, and Heather appearing in a hipster chic "I Hella <3 Oakland" t-shirt, eliciting "I see what you did there"-type laughter from the crowd.

Structurally, American Idiot has a ways to go. The onstage talent is exciting and the fan enthusiasm is vocal -- but time will tell if Green Day's built-in following can sustain it beyond Berkeley Rep.

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American Idiot is playing now through November 1. http://berkeleyrep.org/season/0910/3634.asp

 

 

 

Photo Credit: BWW-Staff

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