Previews: AMERICAN IDIOT at American Stage

On stage at American Stage through October 2 is the punk-rock opera American Idiot featuring songs from the Green Day album of the same name and from "21st Breakdown."

This frenetic-paced, intense, gritty show follows three disgruntled young men, Johnny, Tunny, and Will, stuck in suburbia, examining the vastly different paths they take and the people they cling to and abandon to find meaning in a post 9/11 world.

Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day's lead singer and guitarist, wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the book with Michael Mayer, winning two Tony Awards in 2010 and a Grammy for Best Musical Show album in 2011.

American Idiot's main storyline follows the lives of three men. Nathan David Smith is Will, Zummy Mohammed is Tunny, and Johnny Shea is Johnny. John Alejandro Jeffords plays St. Jimmy, a drug-dealing, tormented addict. Mia Massaro plays Heather, Will's girlfriend.

Nathan has been a huge fan of Green Day and is excited to dig his heels into the role.

"Will is a dreamer stuck between adolescence and adulthood. At the top of the show, Will is trying to escape his hometown with his best friends. Right, as he's about to leave, his girlfriend, Heather, tells him that she's pregnant. Will stays with Heather but gets overcome with crippling depression and anxiety at the thought of providing for a family. He copes with all of this through substance abuse.

I grew up in a small town in Iowa. I remember feeling stuck and that there was more to life than just the farmlands around me. I've also had problems with substance abuse and depression. I think that there's a version of my past self that easily could've ended up like Will, but I had the support to grow and face the realities of life without substances. I think that my past experiences and relationships I've had really help fuel my characterization of Will."

With everything happening to women's bodily autonomy, Mia's character's situation is even more relevant today than when the musical debuted.

Mia explained, "The first time the audience sees Heather, she is finding out she's pregnant. We get to experience her whole journey of deciding to keep the child, tell her partner, and navigate one of the toughest decisions of her life. There's something so relatable about finding out the news that will change your life and coming to terms with what you choose to do with that information. Playing with that and getting to experience her leaving a situation with Will that is not serving her is a dream to do."

The storyline of American Idiot features many themes, including love, sex, drug abuse, sexuality, suicide, violence, and political outrage.

Nathan said, "I think that the show is for anyone. Ninety-nine percent of people that come to this show will know at least one song in this musical, and everyone can relate to themes of first loves, rock bottoms, and growing up. My caveat to this would be that I would probably put a like 13/16+ rating on it, just because there are mature themes to the show. As people are driving home from our production, I would love for them to pop on the original American Idiot album. It really is an amazing album all around. If you're on the fence about coming, you should absolutely come! American Idiot does not get done that much around the country (which, in my opinion, is a huge mistake), so this truly might be one of the only chances you get to see this production."

Added Mia, "American Idiot shows the real-life struggles and hardships of young people finding themselves and their identity. It's not always a clear path, and some decisions do not always work out the way they expect them to. I want the audience to be energized and ready to party after the show. But I also want them to be talking about the relationships that these characters have. They care about their friendships and relationships, which makes them make the decisions that they do. The play focuses on the three men, Johnny, Will, and Tunny, but the women that each of them comes across teach them something about themselves. They each change by the end of the show because of these women. What most people don't know is that the women in this show hold so much power."

American Idiot runs through October 2. Learn more and buy tickets at https://www.americanstage.org/shows/green-days-american-idiot.

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