BWW Interviews: AMERICAN IDIOT's Scott J. Campbell

American Idiot was a surprise smash hit on Broadway in 2010 and this week launches its 1^st National Tour in Toronto.  Arguably one of the most anticipated shows of Toronto’s 2011 season, the current tour cast features four Canadians, including Jake Epstein as Will and Scott. J Campbell as Tunny.

American Idiot first premiered at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in September 2009 and played through November of that year before opening on Broadway in April 2010.  Hailed by the New York Times as “the most adventurous musical to brave Broadway in the past decade” and The Toronto Star as “the first great musical of the 21^st century”, the show was nominated for Best Musical at the 2010 Tony Awards and took home two awards that year. 

Based on the award-winning Green Day album of the same name, American Idiot takes the songs and characters from that album and brings them to life on stage.  Applauded for its creative use of lighting, costumes and set design, the show promises to be a feast for the eyes and the ears.

Toronto is thrilled to have the opportunity to launch the American Idiot tour, and BWW will be on hand to cover the entire event and bring readers exclusive coverage of all the opening night excitement.  We are also going to be speaking to the Canadian cast members about what their journey has been like, and about the unique opportunity they have getting to kick off the tour on home-turf.  Today we are speaking with Scott J Campbell, who has spent the last few years on Broadway and is enjoying a homecoming to Toronto with American Idiot:

Congratulations on American Idiot! What has the experience been like for you so far?

Amazing. Stepping out of the chorus there’s a lot more to do and it’s one of those shows where you get a ton of artistic freedom to go out and create something that hasn’t been done before, and explore how far you can with it.  It’s a fantastically talented cast and a very cohesive process with the creative team which is always great.

Had you seen the show on Broadway or did you come to this process with fresh eyes?

I hadn’t seen the show on Broadway so I’m coming in with fresh eyes.  I wasn’t really aware of what had been done before other than some promotional clips.

You have a few Broadway veterans (and original American Idiot cast members) on the tour.  Did they take on a leadership role when it came to rehearsing?

Definitely Van (Hughes) has had some gems in terms of what worked on Broadway and what was important staging wise in the past.  A lot of the veterans have been able to impart some great advice regarding the technical elements.  But overall we are starting from scratch, even with the vets because a lot of them weren’t with the show at the very beginning.  That way we are all learning it together.

Have you had a chance to get any feedback from any of the members of Green Day yet?

Oh Billie Joe told me that I was amazing! *laughs* I actually haven’t met them yet but I’m really looking forward to it.  I wanted to see a show they were doing in Jersey and couldn’t make it so we are very excited for them to hopefully come up and see the show.  Hopefully they will have some time to hang out with the cast and give some feedback.  

Is that nerve-wracking as an actor to know they will be watching and critiquing what you guys are doing?

Not really actually.  It’s best not to psych yourself up about those types of things.  It’s best to be honest with yourself and what you’re doing and just stay present.

Were you a Green Day fan when you were younger?

Absolutely! I had purchased a few Green Day albums before the show was even conceptualized.  Some of my first albums were Dookie and Nimrod.

How do you go about approaching the music when it’s something you’ve grown up hearing?

You just give it your all and try and make it your own – and then you wait for notes from your creative team. Tom Kitt especially has a great idea of what he wants things to sound like, and if he takes issue with anything he’s very open and communicative and respectful about what he would like tweaked.  Also a lot of it is taken care of during the audition process because the creative team already knows what they are getting so to speak.

You had a few previews in Utica before coming to Toronto, what was the audience reaction like for you guys?

It was wonderful! Just the energy that comes from a live audience as opposed to when you’re in rehearsals is great.  To have some of our die-hard fans come up and be in the front row and have people cheering when the curtain rises was fantastic.  People really responded well to what we are doing as a cast and we are very grateful to the houses that we’ve had so far.

Back when you were graduating from Sheridan College, did you ever dream that you might end up here? Is this where you saw your journey taking you?

I went into the musical theatre performance program with the hopes of making it as a professional in this art form and I’ve been fortunate to realize those hopes since I left school. I did a cruise line and then went to NYC and got my first gig on Broadway, got my feet wet in TV and now this is my first chance to work on a leading role which is just amazing.  I’m pretty much where I would like to be at this point in my life.

Plus now you get to come home and perform in Toronto where you haven’t performed in quite a few years.  What’s the most exciting part of that for you?

Probably all the airfare and money that my family is saving not having to come down to NYC to see me! *laughs* I have a very large family so it’s great that they won’t have to travel to see what I do for a living.  And it’s a homecoming in so many ways, I’ve never really performed in Toronto on this level so it will be a departure from anything I’ve done in Canada to date and I can’t wait.

That will be interesting because you can give your take on what Toronto audiences are like compared to Broadway audiences.  We often here that we are more reserved…

Well if there is a show that is worth coming out of your shell for it’s definitely American Idiot.  It’s not a show where you will want to hold back.  Also I don’t think there’s been anything like this on a Toronto stage for awhile, this very “in your face” rock type musical.  So the pressure’s on!

It’s a crazy show, it’s a technical behemoth.  And for me I’ve had some career firsts in this show.  It’s my first time flying and my first time playing guitar. I had actually never played a guitar when I auditioned for this show.  They gave me a Gibson to rehearse with for a good couple of months and gave me some lessons, so this show will be the end result of all that work.

I understand the cast is performing in Nathan Phillips Square on New Year’s Eve; do you have many details on what you will be doing?

I know it’ll be a medley of songs from the show so I think it’ll be pretty awesome.  There should be three numbers that we are going to medley together and they are great songs from the show that everyone loves.

Finally, for those people who are unfamiliar with Green Day or American Idiot what would be the one thing you would say to encourage them to come out and see the show?

It will defy your expectations of what a musical and live performance show brings to the audience.  It’s spectacular.

When and Where?

Dancap presents Green Day’s American Idiot

December 28^th-January 15^th 2012

The Toronto Centre for the Arts

Tickets can be purchased in person at the box office, by phone at (416) 644-3665 or online at www.dancaptickets.com

For more information on American Idiot, please visit the official website at www.americanidiotthemusical.com

For more information on AMERICAN IDIOT, visit www.americanidiotthemusical.com.

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