Newton Faulkner and Amelia Lily Star in West End Return of AMERICAN IDIOT Tonight

Following on from its critically acclaimed 2015 London run and 2016 UK Tour, Green Day's explosive Tony Award ® winning musical, American Idiot will be returning to it's London home at the Arts Theatre, for a strictly limited run from 8 July - 25 September 2016, with press night tonight 13 July.

Double platinum selling artist Newton Faulkner (Johnny), who joins the cast from 7 May, and X Factor finalist Amelia Lily (Whatsername) will be continuing in their roles, alongside fellow cast members, Cellen Chugg Jones (Theo), Jemma Geanaus (Alysha), Alexis Gerred (Tunny), Llandyll Gove (Gerard), Karina Hind (Libby), Emma Housley (Heather), Lawrence Libor (Swing), Lucas Rush (St Jimmy) Steve Rushton (Will) and Alice Stokoe (Extraordinary Girl).

Winner of two Tony Awards® and the 2010 Grammy Award winner for Best Musical Show Album, American Idiot is the story of three boyhood friends, each searching for meaning in a post 9/11 world. The show features the music of Green Day with the lyrics of its lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong and book by Billie Joe Armstrong and Michael Mayer. The production is directed and choreographed by Racky Plews, with musical supervision by Richard Morris, sound by Chris Whybrow, design by Sara Perks and lighting by Tim Deiling.

Its hit songs include "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," "21 Guns," "Wake Me Up When September Ends," "Holiday" and the blockbuster title track "American Idiot" from Green Day's 2004 Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum album. Also included are several songs from Green Day's 2009 release "21st Century Breakdown," and an unreleased love song, "When It's Time."

American Idiot is currently touring the UK, visiting the following venues: Palace Theatre, Manchester (5-9 April), New Theatre, Cardiff (19-23 April), Kings Theatre, Portsmouth (26-30 April), New Theatre, Oxford (3-7 May), New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham (10-14 May), Exeter Northcott Theatre (18-22 May), Sunderland Empire (24-28 May), King's Theatre, Glasgow (31 May - 4 June), Spa Theatre, Bridlington (7-11 June), Theatre Royal, Nottingham (14-18 June), Empire Theatre, Liverpool (21-25 June) and the Grand Opera House, Belfast (28 June - 2 July).

American Idiot The Musical is presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International (Europe) Limited.

Newton Faulkner (Johnny)

Newton picked up his first guitar aged 13 and began playing along to the Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, CSNY and Bert Jansch records in his parents' collection at home in suburban Redhill, Surrey. An unlikely period at the Italia Conti stage school in London was followed by a stint at the Academy Of Contemporary Music in Guildford, where he studied under the late Irish finger-style guitarist Eric Roche. It was in there that he developed a playing style that enables him to produce a bewildering array of percussive effects on his instrument. After playing the part of bassist Mike Dirnt in a short-lived Green Day tribute band - one show involved the Dookie album in its entirety - he graduated to gigging on his own.

His first album, Hand Built By Robots, topped the charts in 2007, deposing Amy Winehouse, with over a million in sales and spending a year in the Top 40. The follow-up, Rebuilt By Humans, was a tribute to the surgeons who saved his career after his right wrist was shattered in a freak mishap in the French Alps. His third album, the upbeat Write In On Your Skin, gave him a second chart-topper in 2012, while 2013's Studio Zoo was made over five weeks in his East London home studio, with every move streamed online and open to comment on social media.

Newton's audacious new album, Human Love, is a colorful statement of intent. His fifth studio collection, and his first for new label BMG, it is an alluring maelstrom of rhythm and harmony. Moving on from what he dubs 'an interesting, if weird, experiment', he completed Human Love with a renewed sense of purpose, which he will be touring again as the fulcrum of a three-piece band featuring drummer Toby Couling and his brother Toby, before making in theatrical debut in the UK Tour of Green Day's American Idiot the musical, from May 2016.

Amelia Lily (Whatsername) is a singer who finished third on the eighth series of The X Factor in 2011, mentored by Kelly Rowland. Her debut single, "You Bring Me Joy", was released in 2012 and reached number two on the UK Singles Chart, while her follow-up singles "Shut Up (and Give Me Whatever You Got)" and "Party Over" (both 2013) reached the top 20 and the top 40 respectively. Amelia made her West End debut, earlier this year, in American Idiot the musical at the Arts Theatre and previously starred as the Narrator in the UK tour of Joseph And His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Racky Plews (Director/Choreographer) was the resident director at Trafalgar Studios on Rodgers and Hammerstein's State Fair and also the choreographer in residence at The Gatehouse where credits include: Guys and Dolls (Best Production nomination - thirteen Off West End nominations); The Drowsy Chaperone (Best Off West End Production nomination What's On Stage); Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story; A Slice of Saturday Night; The Hot Mikado and Into The Woods. Her choreography credits include: the UK Premiere of the musical comedy Cougar (The Belgrade, Coventry); Jekyll and Hyde (UK Tour); the Asian Premiere of Seussical (and director- The Lyric Theatre, Hong Kong, Singapore and Middle East); Guys and Dolls (director- Tring Park); Josephine Baker (The Beckett Theatre, New York); Liza Liza Liza by Richard Harris (Bill Kenwright Tour); Respect La Diva (Garrick Theatre); Momentous Musicals (New Wimbledon Theatre, ATG); Aladdin (Hastings, Qdos); Blockbuster (assistant/resident director, UK Tour); Shitfaced Sondheim (UK Premiere); A Dolls House (UK Tour); Seussical (The Arts Theatre); Wagner's The Ring Cycle (and co-director- The Scoop Amphitheatre, South Bank); West End Bares 2013 and 2014 (Jerry Mitchell/Darren Carnall); An Evening with Marvin Hamlisch (St. James Theatre, main space); The Jewish Legacy (UK Tour); Oedipus & Antigone (The Scoop Amphitheatre, South Bank); A Tale of Two Cities (Charing Cross Theatre); Lost Boy (Liverpool Playhouse); Billy Elliot's West End Eurovision Entry 2013 and 2014 (Dominion Theatre); Denise Pearson - The Jackson's World Tour (UK Arena Tour/Birmingham Pride/G.A.Y. London); Forever Plaid (UK & International Tour); Sophie Tucker's One Night Stand (UK Tour); the European Premiere of Bare - The Rock Musical (Best Choreography nomination Broadway World); Bernarda Alba; and Once Upon A Mattress (Best Choreography nomination Off West End Awards, The Union Theatre); A Christmas Carol (Kings Head Theatre); Assassins (The Landor); La Traviata and The Marriage of Figaro (and director- Hampstead Garden Opera); Freshers (Edinburgh Festival - Best Musical Whats On Stage Award); Dangerous Daughters (Perfect Pitch); The Wild Party (Mountview); How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying (CPA); The 48hour Musicals - The Boy Friend (Her Majesty's Theatre); Crazy For You; and Me & My Girl (London Palladium).

Billie Joe Armstrong, is frontman of the rock band Green Day. Green Day's albums include 1039/Smooth Out Slappy Hours; Kerplunk; 1994's Dookie, which sold 15 million copies and garnered their first Grammy, Insomniac; Nimrod; Warning; 2004's landmark American Idiot, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard chart, spawned five hit singles, and earned seven Grammy nominations (winning two, including Best Rock Album); 21st Century Breakdown (Grammy Award, Best Rock Album); and 2012's consecutively released ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré! (as well as the behind the scenes DVD,¡Cuatro!). Last year, Armstrong and Norah Jones released Foreverly, a tribute to the Everly Brothers' 1958 Songs Our Daddy Taught Us. The Tony and Grammy winning musical American Idiot, featuring lyrics by Armstrong, music by Green Day, and a book written by Armstrong and director Michael Mayer, opened on Broadway in 2010. Throughout its run, he made cameo appearances in the role of St. Jimmy. The recent documentary, Broadway Idiot, chronicles his road to the Great White Way. Armstrong also composed the music for These Paper Bullets staged last year at the Yale Repertory Theatre. His other film and TV credits include This is 40, Nurse Jackie, and the upcoming feature film, Like Sunday, Like Rain. greenday.com

Green Day

Vocalist/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, Bassist Mike Dirnt, and Drummer Tré Cool - were kids from working-class backgrounds who came of age in the underground punk scene in Berkeley. Even though they had released two records prior (1039 / Smoothed Out Slappy Hours and Kerplunk), they announced their arrival with 1994's Dookie, a dynamic blast of exuberant punk-pop that sold 15 million copies and earned the band its first Grammy® Award for Best Alternative Music Performance. Over the years, Green Day continued to top the charts with their subsequent studio albums Insomniac, Nimrod and Warning, while entertaining millions of fans with their frenetic live shows. But it was their landmark 2004 album American Idiot that launched Green Day into the stratosphere. American Idiot debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard chart, spawned five hit singles, earned seven Grammy® nominations (winning two, including Best Rock Album), and raised the bar for modern rock and roll. In 2009, Green Day released 21st Century Breakdown, which won the 2010 Grammy® Award for Best Rock Album. It spawned two hit singles: the gold "Know Your Enemy," which was the first song ever to top Billboard's Rock, Alternative, and Mainstream Rock charts simultaneously, and the double-platinum "21 Guns," which earned them three 2009 MTV Video Music Awards including Best Rock Video. Green Day also took home an American Music Award for Favourite Alternative Rock Music Artist. Later that year, Green Day collaborated with Tony Award winning director of Spring Awakening, Michael Mayer, for the stage musical of American Idiot. The play bowed at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in September 2009 and set attendance records during its limited engagement. The play went on to Broadway and ran for a year at the St. James Theatre and won two Tony Awards Green Day's highly anticipated album trilogy kicked off with the release of Green Day ¡Uno!, (September 25, 2012) followed by Green Day ¡Dos! (November 13th), and Green Day ¡Tré! (December 11th). The band recently completed the Soundwave Festival in Australia. For more info visit www.greenday.com.

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