I have to confess, I am not familiar with the music of American pop-punk band Green Day, so I feel a little “out of my depth” as I arrive for a musical that is based around their very successful 2004 concept album, but the politically charged themes and thundering musical score of American Idiot is definitely one of the better examples of the genre.
Green Day have always been famous for their energetic live shows, and this translates perfectly to the stage in a production that is full throttle from start to finish, with musical numbers coming one after the other in quick succession, scenes changing in the blink of an eye and seriously quick costume changes, all performed by an incredibly talented cast who seem to have a never-ending supply of energy.
As the album was written as the story of three disillusioned and disaffected boyhood friends, with nothing better to do that trash the local corner shop, there is little need for too much additional narrative, but it’s the characters of Johnny, Whatsername and St Jimmy who are the ones to provide the bulk of what little there is in the way of an extended storyline.
Seeking a purpose in life, three young men each choose their own way to escape the suffocating suburbs for the bright lights of the city and each teenager forges their own path. Joshua Dowen‘s raspy voiced, muscular Tunny is seduced by images of military power and national patriotism fed through a TV screen suspended from the ceiling, and he soon enlists in the army. Good guy Will, sensitively portrayed by Samuel Pope, is left at home to deal with his impending fatherhood, and the unwashed Johnny, an over confident individual driven mainly by his heroin addiction, is the character who moves the narrative along.
As Johnny, Tom Milner gives a first class performance, mostly delivered in little more than his boxer shorts, and it is quite uncomfortable to see his character wooed by St Jimmy, Johnny’s outrageous alter ego (played by X-Factor finalist Luke Friend), who appears like the devil on Johnny’s shoulder, leading him down the path to ruin – but on the other side there is Johnny’s love interest Whatsername, played by musical theatre newcomer and X Factor star Sam Lavery who tries so hard to prevent Johnny’s self destruction.
As my knowledge of Green Day and their music is so limited, in the interval I take to opportunity to speak to some of the hundreds of teenage Green Day fans who are filling the theatre and I am told that, the powerful vocals throughout the show adhere well to Green Day’s angst-ridden songs, and the production maintains the physical, aggressive core of the album’s original vision.
The superb choreography adds another dimension to the performance and, although Luke Friend says that he’s “not much of a dancer”, the full company routines are tight, energetic and seriously punchy but, during 21 Guns and Wake Me Up When September Ends, the stage empties to give a palpable feeling of poignancy to those numbers, as the characters vocalise their longing for better days ahead.
While the album’s themes of alienation and frustration in a post 9/11 world play out, the audience is fed two hours of orchestrated chaos, as the show crashes through the barriers of the traditional musical set-up. Through all of this, however, there are still opportunities for both wit and warmth, and this homage to lasting friendship in the most difficult of circumstances is likely to win over even the most traditional theatregoer.
**** Four Stars