Review: American Idiot

Tonite, I saw American Idiot performed by The Berkeley Repertory Theatre.
American Idiot is the musical based on the Green Day album of the same name and directed by Michael Mayer.

Let me first note that I love musical films but I had never seen a live musical performance.

The biggest hurdle I had to enjoying the show (and I enjoyed it very much) was just that it was based on songs I was familiar with and which I had constructed my own sort of narrative with. Once I let go of that, I really enjoyed the tales on stage. I also had to get past the first scene where the cast is costumed in what look like bad 90's Lollapalooza costumes. The only other part that didn't sit well with me was the medical bed dream sequence (too american? too cliche).

Without giving anything away, the story is about the struggles of 3 smalltown guys and the paths they choose.
The cast was great. By far, the highlight is Tony Vincent who plays St. Jimmy. Wow. (I read in the program that he sang with Queen on occasion! Odd.) I can't compare the stage setup to anything due to my limited knowledge but it was pretty cool. I liked the TV screens. I plan to see it again and I recommend it to you.

It was cool that both the director, Mayer, and co-writer, Billy Joe Armstrong, were amongst the crowd.