My opinion on musicals is evenly split. On one hand, musicals can be the source of timeless ballads and anthems, tied to a moving narrative that feeds the emotional resonance of the music. On the other hand, however, they sometimes require too great a suspension of disbelief for me not to find the act of repeatedly breaking out into song in everyday life completely cheesy and ridiculous. The premiere of the latest Broadway musical "American Idiot" only fuels my ambivalence further.
The rock musical "American Idiot," derived from the eponymous Green Day album, officially opened on Broadway at the St. James Theater on April 20. The book for the musical was written by Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong and director Michael Mayer, known for his work on the hit rock musical "Spring Awakening," for which he won a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical. The score consists mostly of tracks from Green Day's 2004 album "American Idiot," supplemented by several tracks from the band's other albums.
I admire Broadway's expansion into a diversity of musical genres over the years. Regardless of whether this latest foray into the world of punk is simply an attempt to curtail the extended decline in Broadway ticket sales by pandering to Green Day's massive fan base, Broadway's attempt to appeal to different audience groups and music tastes is commendable.
Yet, the idea of a rock musical is by no means foreign to Broadway. The award-winning "Hair" premiered on Broadway in 1968 and featured music ranging from folk and pop to psychedelic. Just last year, the musical "Rock of Ages" hit Broadway with a repertoire filled by rock icons from the '80s such as Twisted Sister, Styx, Poison, Journey and Asia.
Green Day is also not the first band to create a musical based on songs from its own repertoire. The Who's 1969 album "Tommy," for example, was brought to Broadway 24 years after its initial release.
While I appreciate Broadway's openness and variety, I can't help but doubt the quality of "American Idiot." The music from Broadway musicals belong to a genre all its own, and any time Broadway tries to incorporate a disparate genre, the music seems to undergo a conversion into a campy show-tune version of itself. Thus, new material that is capable of speaking for itself runs the risk of becoming a self-parody when transposed to the theater. I feel this is especially true for genres like punk rock that have a history of independence, defiance and non-conformity.
Since I have not seen "American Idiot," however, I readily admit that I have no right to judge it. I only hope that it can prove my preconceptions wrong.