Nobody likes you. Everyone left you. They’re all out without you having fun.

The Set
The walls of the stage was plastered with newspapers and magazines. There were TV screens placed into cutouts in the backdrop and metal stairs running down the back right of the stage like a fire escape. The band was scattered about the stage and there was a violinist high up on the stairs and a cellist on the bottom. The conductor also played the piano. It reminded me a lot of the stage for Rent.

The Soundtrack
If you’ve listened to Green Day’s American Idiot, you’ve got the soundtrack.

The Show
If you don’t like being spoiled, this is where you stop reading. The show followed three boys, Johnny, Will and Tunny, from the suburbs. They plan on escaping their town and making their name in the world.
Will’s dream comes crashing down before he even leaves as he learns that his girlfriend is pregnant. Johnny and Tunny leave him and set out on their own. Will stays in the small town and turns to drugs and alcohol. He doesn’t pay attention to Heather and a few months after the baby was born she packed her back and walked out. She ended up with a man who turned out to be the man Will always wanted to be (my interpretation). Will ended up alone on his sofa.
Tunny seems depressed away from home and later enlists into the army as a way to make something out of his life. He fights in the war; he meets a girl; he loses a leg in the fighting. In the end he comes back home with the Extraordinary Girl on his arm.
Johnny stays in the big city and lives a life of drug, sex and rock and roll influenced by his alter-ego (well I think so at least)  St. Jimmy. He falls in love with a girl, but with St. Jimmy in his life the relationship suffers due to his drug addiction. Whatsername leaves him. He’s left with a choice to clean up his life or to keep going down the road he’s going. His decision leads him to an office job, while St. Jimmy commits suicide. He later sells his guitar and heads back home, frustrated that his life has not turned out the way he wanted it to be.

This show should be rated PG13. This is not a show that you want to take children or young teens to, even if they love Green Day. There was an energy flowing through the actors on stage that made you want to get up there and sing and dance with them. I left the show feeling empowered; ready to face the world.
The band was amazing! The drummer was amazing!  The finale was amazing! All I have to say in regards to the finale is that they must go through a lot of picks per show!

I would recommend this show for all fans of Green Day’s American Idiot CD, the people who liked the way Rent was done on Broadway as well as anyone who loves a good show. There’s just one thing to be aware of, the show runs 90 minutes long and there is no intermission, so head to the bathroom before you take your seat!