Green Day: The Musical?

Pic courtesy of Parlour.
You guys remember 2004? Back when Green Day got all into politics, eyeliner, and bloated concept albums? Well, so does Tony-award winning director Michael Mayer, and he remembers it so fondly that he’s turning American Idiot into a musical running this fall at the Berkeley Repertory Theater in California. Sayeth the Times:

For now the creative team is tight lipped about how, exactly, it will translate the libretto of ‚”American Idiot” into a narrative. As Mr. Armstrong admitted, ‚”It’s not the most linear story in the world.”
But Mr. Mayer said, ‚”If you read it a certain way, you can pull out a multiplicity of voices.” He hinted that a triumvirate of characters referred to elliptically in the album’s lyrics, with names like Jesus of Suburbia, St. Jimmy and Whatshername, would likely emerge as the central characters. All told, he said, the ensemble would include 19 performers playing characters in their early 20s, though no casting has been announced.

Sounds like it has the potential to devolve into a disgusting mess of pretension. Mayer is optimistic, though, and has dreams of a run “in a beautiful, big Broadway theater.” I think that the success of this thing really depends on the casting. My recommendation after the jump.

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