I was listening to “YMCA” while packing up to leave this apartment, and now I have a whole new understanding of the song. It’s like I was hearing it for the first time. And the Village People were singing it just for me. Thank you Village People.

American Idiot: The Musical

I've written before about my obsession with Green Day's American Idiot, my dream of one day getting to perform in an adaptation of it, and my heartbreak of missing out on the show when it premiered in Berkeley. I had just moved to Los Angeles, I was poor as dirt, and by the time I scrounged enough money together to go see the show, it was sold out. After dreaming of what a dramatic performance of American Idiot would be like for four years, I'd have to wait another two and half before the show would have gone to Broadway, rocked the city, toured around the country, and finally make it's way back to Southern California where I might have a second chance to see it.

But it finally did! Trouble is, this time I'm poor as $#*+ and have even less of a chance to afford tickets. Well, my good friend Sami surprised me with tickets as an early birthday present, and next thing I know I was finally going to see the show. I had a crazy past couple of days, today being no exception, but when I had 20 minutes to get ready, I dressed up in what I always had imagine was the fashion of the Jesus of Suburbia (just like a good fan usually does on opening night) and we headed off.

It was like a rock concert to me. We got our tickets at will call, walked in, checked out the merch booth, and then found our way to the pit of the arena. Or in this case, the orchestra seating. I was a few rows back from the front, but dead center, just like I did when I saw Green Day do their American Idiot tour. Except this time I was the only one dressed for the occasion and younger than 50. I was thumbing through the program, checking out the song list for the show, delighted at seeing all the 'Idiot' B-sides and tracks from 21st Century Breakdown which will make this version. Sami asked which were which, and upon explaining the conversation went into the story of the original American Idiot album. Then a guy sitting a few seats away moved in closer and asked me to tell him all about it. I was honored to be sharing the story and concepts and alternate theories of the rock opera with people, then conversing on how different the stage show would be with new songs and characters. Just as I was wrapping up my theories, the lights dimmed. And after all my countless hours listening, discussing, theorizing, and imagining.. my mind was about to be blown all over again.

The lights dimmed and the curtain remained still. Among the waning murmurs of the audience was a growing rabble of early 21st century media. Real audio snippets of television, music, commercials, politics, war declarations, and all the soundbites that drove our country mad a decade ago. The curtain rose, and there was the source of that rabble. Towering walls of television monitors stealing attention from the people on the stage, who all with their backs to the people watching them, and with remotes fixed firmly in their hands. They, like us, were entranced by the imagery that was all too familiar and suffocating. Then someone shouted. "Don't wanna be an American idiot!" Boom. Everything was shook up and we snapped out of our trances. For the next hour and forty minutes, our attention never left the cast of young Americans rocking the stage.
The stage is set just like that of a small town repertory theatre company putting on a grassroots performance of something that was clearly dreamed up by a fan who didn't have much more than passion and good cast to work with. The set looked as if it's nothing more than the walls and doors already built into the building. The band is standing on stage with the cast. The cast is strewn about a limited set made almost entirely of scaffolding and some boxes. I think I even saw a broken tv set turned away from the audience, as if they fished it out of the dumpster cuz that's all they had. I don't know if this was because the show started this way when they debuted at the Berkeley Repertory Theater and they wanted to stay close to their roots, or because scenic designer Christine Jones is freaking brilliant. It's probably both. Either way I have all the respect in the world for the technical team on this show. The artistic direction of the show utilized minimalistic set pieces, gobo lighting, projections, video screens, and having most every ensemble actor on stage at all times; all the black box theater staples. That's how this show felt. It had that raw aesthetic of a black box performance put on by a group of starving artists, with all the passion that comes with that kind of show. But it also had the powerhouse talent and finely tuned production value of a Tony award-winning Broadway show. Somehow the cast and crew of American Idiot found a way to walk the line between organic passion project and mainstream musical, and do it a million and one £÷¢&ing times.

Amidst shouting out that anthem against mainstream media, the cast took the stage like frustrated rock stars finally letting out their angst. Which is perfectly appropriate. The ensemble players pause between whichever lines and verses they are cued to belt to bend over and stomp the ground the way which I have done all too often whenever I've got something in me that I can only get out through a good song. Throughout the show I took notice of choreography that seemed to come right out of my bag of moves done when rocking out at concerts and in my bedroom. And of course, a big part of these kudos goes to the choreographer who was bold enough to use mosh pit moves on a musical theatre stage. But it's the cast who really put themselves into these songs, letting it well up and inside them and then allowing it to burst out of them when the time was right. And when done in unison, it's an impressive spectacle of both emotion from the characters and drive from the actors. And as a rocker who had to endure hearing theatre kids pretending to have that rock n' roll attitude when Rocky Horror was being put on in my college's conservatory theater, I really appreciated seeing actors who had genuinely found that fire within them and knew how to let go of music theatre merit enough to rock.
Personally, I especially appreciated the actors who were clear homages to Green Day's band members. Larkin Bogan (@LBogster) made me giddy at seeing and hearing "Billie Joe" on stage. But in total truth, each individual actor had moments that captivated me and each one gave an outstanding performance. The main protagonist of the American Idiot album, the Jesus of Suburbia, who goes out into the city only to make the wrong choices, lose everything, and come home defeated, was shared by three tragic heroes. Each character took a unique path, all of which could be described as the fall of the American dream; Will doing the 'couch tour', Tunny doing the USO tour, and Johnny wandering aimlessly around the big city. Actors Jake Epstein (@Jake_Epstein), J. Scott Campbell (@ScottJCampbell7), and Van Hughes respectively each gave leading performances, starting from the same place as very similar roles, arcing through their different stories until they were almost unrecognizable by the end, and finally standing strongly as three very separate, real characters. Of course, they were supported by the driving forces behind their transformations, the love interests. Actresses Lesie McDonel (@lesliemcdonel), Nicci Claspell (@nclaspell), and Gabrielle McClinton (@gabbymcclinton) played opposites the JoS trio, as well as a few ensemble roles in certain numbers. Regardless of whether their character had names or not, their presence was strongly felt when they took command of the stage. Especially when joined by their fellow actresses for "Letterbomb" when they demanded attention and never let go of it. It was intimidating how hard they rocked that number. And I also have to give praise to the bombastic, almost surreal performances of Jarran Muse (@Jarranmuse) as the undeniably perfect Favorite Son, and Joshua Kobak as uncontrollably fantastic St. Jimmy. Muse had the honor of the token fun song of a good musical theatre show, and reveled in it so much we had fun watching him, making his sudden turn to seriousness all the more impacting. Kobak was an entirely different type of fun to watch, with his sparkling face and devilish smile all over the video screens or capturing even the dimmest of light, either way allowing us to appreciate his mischievous and devious performance. True to his role, he and his epically wailing voice were irresistible. And as I mentioned, the entire ensemble was solid. Even when someone would step out to take the lead in the song or begin a piece of choreography, it took focus. The performances were sharp and strong. Each face and voice became familiar, and each one was great.

Now, as I said earlier, a good part of the stage presence is credited to choreographer Steven Hoggett. Not only did he infuse alternative rock and punk into dance, but he managed to tell complex stories in a matter of seconds without sacrificing one ounce of the emotional impact that comes from them. At the same time, he took brief moments and savored the drama from them via extended movement. As a rock opera, most of the what is told was through poetic lyrics which are representative of ideas and feelings, and also open to interpretation. So the plot was given to us through gesture in clever and engaging choreography. But just the same, a lot of the choreography was representative of what the characters were feeling, with the staging giving the clues. I suppose this is the beauty of the show; the collaborative nature in presentation and potency. At one point in the show, I was taking notice of the projected lighting on the walls, which had set a tone which I found intriguing. Then a change in costuming, which I understood the point of, though I still hadn't put two and two together. Soon, the movement of the actors had completed the scene. And once I felt its full impact, tears came to my eyes.
The stories told in this show carried such weight, and many specific moments gave us the full force of that weight. Characters reaching out for one another, the sounds of bombs exploding, punches in the music, quells in the music, everything from the entire cast rushing the stage to one sole performer softly singing out to the spotlight all by his lonesome. I found myself reacting with fear and sorrow just as much as I did with excitement and joy. There is a great deal in this musical that resonates in me. Each song means something to me, as I'm sure it does most, and there are more lines than I can count which hold some specific significance to my own personal experience. I have my ideas about the show and the characters, yet this show surpassed almost every one of them. I never imagined the scale this show would have, or how moments that meant something to me would be presented in such a universal and powerful way. I always imagined American Idiot as a story of a kid who wanted something more, and his internal struggles brought on and reflected by his surroundings, the decisions he makes, and the consequences of them. After watching American Idiot: The Musical, and witnessing director Michael Mayer's vision of the same album I was obsessed with, I'm shown three separate stories, about all of us affected by the recent past, the struggles brought on by life, whether a consequence of our actions or not. This version of Idiot is not just about one's own rage and love, it's about how it affects us. How our peers, our home, our country, and our own lives affect us. The good and the bad. The destined and the chanced. The comedic and the tragic.

In the seven and a half years I've been a fan of American Idiot, I've found the B-sides, the omitted tracks, the mashups, and of course, the follow-up, 21st Century Breakdown. American Idiot: The Musical is the culmination of this whole catalog, being something that is greater than the sum of it's parts. Just as it's a show with major themes, brilliant direction, talented players, and a kickass soundtrack that still exceeds it's hype. Still, with all these great qualities and fine source material, what I love most about this show was just how much it rocked. Throughout the show I would look over at the band on stage, and they looked like were having just a much fun playing this show as I'm sure they did playing the first one. The actors must have a serious case of 'rock neck' from the headbanging they do. And I'm sure it's in the choreography, but they still do it to the fullest. They performed this show full force, singing, jumping, pounding, dancing, everything. They just rocked. The music was loud, the performances were dynamic, and the show is amazing because of it. The music was more a part of this show than your standard musical; on more than one occasion an actor played an important instrument for a song. There was even a moment where an actor delivered a line, and it got a laugh cuz the drummer of the band had the reaction. It was a real ensemble show in that regard, where everyone supported each other, and every contributed to how hard it blew the doors off. This show was so good, and the performances were so engaging, that I couldn't help but find myself singing along. If I wasn't doing that, it was because my jaw had probably dropped, or I was in awe of the stage, or because I was tense in anticipation of the drama playing out on stage. Still, it took every ounce of my being to remind myself that grabbing the seat in front of me and rocking out is not acceptable theater behavior. I had to tell myself that while I am enjoying it as much as I am, it's not a rock concert no matter how much it feels like one.

But in true concert going fashion, I made sure to get up to the stage to grab a flyer (closest thing to the set list) and a guitar pick from the show. Tonight was awesome and I wanted souvenirs!

One of my besties got me a folder with a unicorn you could spin on a wheel of unicorn hobbies. You spin the unicorn and it's horn answers the necessary question, What Would a Unicorn Do?

I couldn't decide whether to keep applying for jobs like I had done all morning, or to take a break and do something else. I spun the unicorn and it told me "Chase a Rainbow". Clearly it meant I should continue to pursue the pot of gold that are often associated with rainbows and made into a metaphor of wealth. But I thought before I follow the unicorns advice, I'll get a drink. I grabbed a cup, pulled out some ice cubes, and cracked open a soda. The soda immediately foamed up and spat through the barely ajar cap like a clown's seltzer-water all over my shirt and pants. And no where else.
I sat down and resumed applying for jobs in my soda-drenched clothes.
You do what the unicorn tells you to do and nothing else.

I'm registered with The Capitol.

After being told by a few friends how much I would love reading The Hunger Games, and finally having the time to read it (I'm currently powering through three novel-series), I asked friends for a copy. I got a lot of responses as everyone is currently on this bandwagon, and finally one friend through a copy down in front of me. I went home, and started reading.
Here's the thing, I am a terrible reader. When I was in middle school I was at a gifted school that forced me to read books four years ahead of my grade for the sole purpose of remembering trivial points to pass a quiz on the book to prove I had read it. I didn't read Jurassic Park (the only entertaining one on the list) to appreciate its message, I read it to remember that the T-Rex did this one thing at some point. So this reading program totally backfired and killed my enthusiasm for reading. Ten years later I started reading Harry Potter, and my interest in reading picked up greatly, and A Song of Fire and Ice has been keeping me invested. But it still took me far too long to read Order of the Phoenix. I sat down with The Hunger Games, and I could not stop reading. I had to know what was gonna happen next. The way it's written, I freaking love it. Suzanne Collins has this way of teasing and dropping hints of what is to come, and it kept me so invested in the story that I could not set it down without being frustrated at myself. I forced myself to stop reading after Part I for the sake of sleep. But when I woke up in the morning I rolled over, picked up the book, and was right back at it. I made myself breakfast and went about my day with the book in my hand the whole time. I had to look away a few time obviously, but I wouldn't allow myself to put it down. I stopped after Part III to stretch my legs, and that was it, I went right back to it and neglected my responsibilities for the day to see how it all ended. I finished that book in one sitting. That is a huge freaking deal to me.
So now I'm forcing myself to not read the next two, purely because, as I said, I'm reading two other novel-series and I need to get them done. My motivation for finishing the next two books is the enjoyment I will get from these two awesome series. But my motivation to get them read quickly will be to get back to the games and see what happens when Katniss comes home. I mean, Collins ended it on a cliffhanger! Who does that?! I gotta know what happens next! (Don't you dare spoil it for me.)
Anyway, point is I'm a fan.