American Idiot
This is my highly belated reaction/picspam to American Idiot the musical. I went to New York City the day after Christmas, and saw a matinee of this show with my sister.
The main draw for me to see the show was the fact that Stark Sands of Generation Kill fame plays Tunny. In a nutshell, American Idiot is about three friends: Johnny, Will, and Tunny, and their various struggles as they try to find meaning in their lives. While some people might want to dismiss this as another "jukebox musical," it's so much more than that. The cast adds deeper levels to all of the songs, and I actually like their versions more than the originals. If you want the cast album (and why wouldn't you?) the zip file is HERE.
This video is a wonderful primer for the show as a whole, if you want to watch it:
Link if the embed doesn't work.
First, have a picture from the broadway website:
On to the story. So, my family took the bus to NYC. It started snowing about an hour before we arrived (this was the day of the huge snowstorm that hit the East Coast). We arrived with plenty of time before the matinee, and after we had been settled in the hotel, my sister and I made our way to the theater. There were blizzard conditions on the streets. It was pretty treacherous. I would have taken pictures, but that would have required me getting my phone out AND removing my gloves (it's a touchscreen), and that wasn't happening.
We were seated in the Mezzanine, so we had a full view of the stage. All the images that follow are from my illustrated program, so apologies for the quality. I won't be summarizing the whole story, if you want a synopsis, you can find it here
Just before the singing starts, there's a short dialogue between Johnny, Will, and Tunny. Johnny is talking about his issues at home, particularly with his stepfather, Brad. This resulted in an unintentionally hilarious moment, as Tunny says (about Brad), "What a motherfucker...literally."
Stark during "American Idiot." His character, Tunny, is the angriest one of the three. He's got a lot of frustration with no real outlet, at the beginning of the show.
Here's the video of the cast performing "American Idiot" at the Tony's. Link if the embed doesn't work.
Everyone's reaction upon learning that Will's girlfriend is pregnant.
Johnny and Tunny go to the city...
During "Holiday"
Video of the cast performing "Holiday" for the Letterman Show, for reference. Link if the embed doesn't work.
During "Favorite Son"
"Are We the Waiting"
The following are from "Give Me Novocaine," when Tunny becomes wounded in action. ;__;
LOOK AT HIS FACE D:
"Before the Lobotomy"
"21 Guns"
"Wake Me Up When September Ends"
"Homecoming"
"Whatsername"
Aaaand some more pictures from my illustrated program:
(His face! :D)
And here are some more pictures from various other websites:
After the bows, the entire cast performed "Good Riddance/Time of your life." Later that day, I got an e-mail from the theater with a download link of the recording for that night's performance. It's in the zip file, and here's the link again for that.
It was a wonderful experience. I had been hoping to get my box set of Generation Kill signed by Stark Sands, but unfortunately the cast didn't come out for signings after that particular performance. Still, it was a great time.
The main draw for me to see the show was the fact that Stark Sands of Generation Kill fame plays Tunny. In a nutshell, American Idiot is about three friends: Johnny, Will, and Tunny, and their various struggles as they try to find meaning in their lives. While some people might want to dismiss this as another "jukebox musical," it's so much more than that. The cast adds deeper levels to all of the songs, and I actually like their versions more than the originals. If you want the cast album (and why wouldn't you?) the zip file is HERE.
This video is a wonderful primer for the show as a whole, if you want to watch it:
Link if the embed doesn't work.
First, have a picture from the broadway website:
On to the story. So, my family took the bus to NYC. It started snowing about an hour before we arrived (this was the day of the huge snowstorm that hit the East Coast). We arrived with plenty of time before the matinee, and after we had been settled in the hotel, my sister and I made our way to the theater. There were blizzard conditions on the streets. It was pretty treacherous. I would have taken pictures, but that would have required me getting my phone out AND removing my gloves (it's a touchscreen), and that wasn't happening.
We were seated in the Mezzanine, so we had a full view of the stage. All the images that follow are from my illustrated program, so apologies for the quality. I won't be summarizing the whole story, if you want a synopsis, you can find it here
Just before the singing starts, there's a short dialogue between Johnny, Will, and Tunny. Johnny is talking about his issues at home, particularly with his stepfather, Brad. This resulted in an unintentionally hilarious moment, as Tunny says (about Brad), "What a motherfucker...literally."
Stark during "American Idiot." His character, Tunny, is the angriest one of the three. He's got a lot of frustration with no real outlet, at the beginning of the show.
Here's the video of the cast performing "American Idiot" at the Tony's. Link if the embed doesn't work.
Everyone's reaction upon learning that Will's girlfriend is pregnant.
Johnny and Tunny go to the city...
During "Holiday"
Video of the cast performing "Holiday" for the Letterman Show, for reference. Link if the embed doesn't work.
During "Favorite Son"
"Are We the Waiting"
The following are from "Give Me Novocaine," when Tunny becomes wounded in action. ;__;
LOOK AT HIS FACE D:
"Before the Lobotomy"
"21 Guns"
"Wake Me Up When September Ends"
"Homecoming"
"Whatsername"
Aaaand some more pictures from my illustrated program:
(His face! :D)
And here are some more pictures from various other websites:
After the bows, the entire cast performed "Good Riddance/Time of your life." Later that day, I got an e-mail from the theater with a download link of the recording for that night's performance. It's in the zip file, and here's the link again for that.
It was a wonderful experience. I had been hoping to get my box set of Generation Kill signed by Stark Sands, but unfortunately the cast didn't come out for signings after that particular performance. Still, it was a great time.