Green Day Takes ‘American Idiot’ to the Stage

Green Day will soon be joining the ranks of big-ticket acts to make the jump from CD to stage, when their new musical American Idiot debuts this fall at the Berkeley Repertory Theater in California. Adapted from their Grammy-winning album of the same title, American Idiot is slated to open the theater’s 2009-2010 season, running from September 4th to October 11th. According to Green Day’s website, “the musical is a collaboration between Green Day — the Bay Area rock trio consisting of Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool — and Michael Mayer, the Tony Award-winning director of Spring Awakening.

When their American Idiot album released in 2004, the boys of Green Day enjoyed critical acclaim to the likes of being compared with their rock idols, The Who (whose rock-opera Tommy became a Broadway hit when it opened in 1993). Though a Broadway run for Idiot has yet to be announced, Mayer believes that the show will go on to play elsewhere, beyond its scheduled dates at the Berkeley Rep. Says Armstrong of the upcoming performance: “It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but that’s what I love about it. When people see it, it’s going to be my wildest dream.”