Pullman.vs.Paxton to Stage Green Day's AMERICAN IDIOT This December

The artistic team behind the newly minted independent theater company, Pullman.vs.Paxton has announced their upcoming ALL AGES production of Green Day's American Idiot at Eclectic Theater (1214 10th Avenue).

For six nights, December 1-10, 2016, PVP is turning the tiny well-known Eclectic Theater space into a legendary punk club. Think CBGBs, Max's II...924 Gilman Street where Green Day got their start. Audience members will be greeted with a well-stocked bar, wristband for re-admittance, and a package of earplugs. This is live musical theater with an authentic rock n' roll band.

Tony and Grammy winning, American Idiot is a high concept, sung-through stage adaptation of Green Day's punk rock album of the same name. This incredible rock opera had its energy filled world premiere at Berkeley Repertory Theater in 2009, and moved to the big lights of Broadway for an April 20, 2010 opening at the St. James Theater.

With pulsing punk music at its center, this provocative piece chronicles the frustration, anger, and dreams of a lost generation of young Americans as they struggle to find meaning in a post 9/11 world. Borne along by an electrifying score, the show follows the journey of three disaffected friends - Johnny (Michael Renney), Tunny (Randall Scott Carpenter), and Will (Devon Allen) seeking an identity outside the safety of suburbia in the face of love, failure, violence, and temptation. Also featured: Anna Urband as Whatsername, Jordan Sloan Frost as Extraordinary Girl, Seattle newcomer Kat Rose Agnew as Heather, Cornish Alum Dustin Schisler as St. Jimmy and rounding out the ensemble - local musicians Lauren Trew (The Fog Horns/The James Apollo Five), Bryce MacEvoy (singer/song writer featured on King 5, best recognized by Seattleites for his performances at the Pike Place Market), and Chloe Rain Roberts (CAMP).

In addition to the pop-up punk club staging, audiences can expect to see a timely take on Michael Mayer and Billie Joe Armstrong's book.

"Our production doesn't shy away from the weighty sociopolitical issues Green Day lead singer, Billie Joe Armstrong touts on the original album. We have an incredible group of young actors and actresses who want to have a voice in their society and want to stand up and fight against unjustified combat, systemic racism, exploitation of women, and marginalization of border cultures. They are a group that refuses to be dehumanized," said the show's director, Georgina Spelvin, "Just like the punks of yesteryear, they aren't taking any bullsh*t in this heated political time. Just to give you a broad example, we are excited to share our vision of Whatsername and Extraordinary Girl not as manic pixie dream girls there to support their male leads, but as serious female rock musicians inspired by the early 90s Riot Grrrl movement clawing their way into a male dominated industry. We're looking at the stark reality of what happens when young men and women return as living causalities of war. We are staring opiate addition in the face and commenting on what it looks like to get out the other side still alive."

On playing the lead role of Johnny, Michael Renney adds: "Being the bastard child of a father who struggled with violent alcoholism and a working mother, I had a problematic worldview that conflicted with the suburban Utopia I ended up in. That sort of dissonance I think resonates with a lot more people than one might think, and ultimately with the character that I'm playing. We both have screwed people over and hurt the people we care most about. We are both human, and getting better is a slow process we are both working at. That's what this production is going to leave people with and what makes it so great. We aren't metaphors; we are people. We aren't static symbols; we are complex and conflicting. We're fcked up, but we're growing. Every one of us."

PVP Productions is a Seattle based Production Company focused on musical theater works. As a whole, the running joke about us is that we only choose the most shocking, loud, lewd, and downright weird rock musicals to produce. And to that end - we will definitely not disappoint. But there is more to it than that. At the core of our group, we are musicians at heart. All of our productions share many of the same appeals of really good rock music - youthful energy, disruptive power, and a feeling of authenticity and true expression. Our artistic selections speak to our vision of what a theater-going experience should be in 2016 -uninhibited and disruptive. Rule breaking. Whether you are in a stage seat or swaying in the back - you choose how you interact with us - rock out with us, learn the tunes, interact with us, allow yourself to be a part of our show and we will be a part of your memories. And it is from there that our ambition is born.

From 2011-2015, along with our former partner and co-founder Jack Chandelier, we worked as the Executive and Artistic Directors of Chandelier Productions. In that time, our shows raised needed funds for many organizations, including Peace for the Streets by Kids from the Streets (2015), Gay City Health Project (2012/2013), and the It Gets Better Project (2011). We have had a lot of success with "one-night only" or short run productions in music venues and non-traditional theater spaces in Seattle including "The Rocky Horror Show" at the Showbox Market and Washington Hall (raising over $8,000 for Gay City) and a sell-out performance of "Hedwig & The Angry Inch" at The Crocodile in 2011 (where in conjunction with Rudy's Barbershop, The Stranger, and Cupcake Royale, we raised more than $10,000 for IGB Project).

IF YOU GO:

Green Day's AMERICAN IDIOT

Performances: December 1, 2, 3 & 8, 9, 10

Venue: Eclectic Theater (1214 10th Avenue, Seattle, 98122)

Tickets: General Admission Seating - $22.00 ADV

Doors @ 7:00pm | Show @ 8:00pm | 105 min runtime (including 15 minute intermission)

Tickets available at americanidiotseattle.bpt.me ($22 ADV - General Admission seating). For additional information and updates, visit www.pullmanvspaxton.org or "LIKE" us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pullmanvspaxton.

Note: Though our show is all ages, parents should be aware that American Idiot contains simulated drug use, profanity, sexual situations, guitar-driven punk music, rage, and love.

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