A palpable energy was in the air as the Mark Taper Forum came roaring back Wednesday night with the explosive premiere of Green Day’s “American Idiot”, a co-production between Center Theatre Group and Deaf West Theatre. After an uncertain year that saw the iconic theatre basically dark, it was thrilling to see this glorious, intimate space be filled with artists again both on stage and in the audience. What an exhilarating achievement by both theatre companies and director Snehal Desai, in his directorial debut as the new artistic director of CTG.
This new reimagining of the 2010 Broadway musical (and 2004 album on which it is based) is, in a word, an EXPERIENCE! As soon as it begins, with a pulsating rock band playing live on stage, actors playing guitars, dancing on a turntable stage, and signing for their lives, you know you are in for a ride. What was unexpected for me was that the deaf actors, that make up roughly half the cast, are the three leads. The last Deaf West production I saw was “Our Town”, so I had no experience of their musicals and I had assumed they would be sort of sharing the roles and signing alongside the singers. Instead we’re introduced to each character and their singing counterpart and as the deaf actor takes center stage, the actor who is singing and sometimes playing guitar, sort of fades into the shadows. It’s extraordinarily effective to the point that eventually it simply feels as if the signing actor is singing. It’s brilliant.
Billed as a “rock opera”, Green Day’s 2004 politically charged, protest-punk album, “American Idiot”, was made into a smash hit Broadway musical in 2010, co-penned by Green Day frontman, Billie Joe Armstrong and Michael Mayer. The plot centers around Johnny, Will, and Tunny, three disaffected young men struggling to get out of suburbia to find some kind of purpose and all encounter adventure and roadblocks on their paths. Will stops short of getting out when his girlfriend gives him unexpected news while Tunney impulsively joins the army and Johnny falls into drug addiction as he juggles love and a quest to write something meaningful.
Desai masterfully directs an enthralling cast led by an impassionate Daniel Durant as Johnny and Milo Manheim as the Voice of Johnny. Durant’s energy bursts off the stage with Manheim beautifully matching him and melding into one extraordinary performance. I loved the way all the characters and their vocal counterparts weaved seamlessly in and out of the action, sometimes even being across the stage from one another. Otis Jones IV is a compelling Will with James Olivas delivering ardent vocals while Landon Gonzales gives a vulnerable and poignant performance as Tunny with Tyler Brady Fritz bringing equally heartfelt vocals.
Mars Storm Rucker is a powerhouse as Johnny’s love interest, Whatsername, shaking the house with her potent rendition of “Letterbomb” and practically stopping the show is the high-octane, punk-rock fabulousness that is Mason Alexander Park as St. Jimmy.
This show is not to be missed, Angelenos, so join CTG in celebrating the return of the Mark Taper Forum with this raucous, muscular, punk-rock antihero scream of self-destruction, political rage, love and redemption.
“American Idiot” has been extended by popular demand through November 16, now on stage at the Mark Taper Forum located at The Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in downtown LA. Tickets available at CenterTheatreGroup.org, Audience Services at (213) 972-4400 or in person at the box offices.
