Cabaret’s Fall Mainstage lands with a rebellious splash as American Idiot takes the stage. Directed by Felicity Winter, American Idiot is a rock-musical based off of rock band Green Day’s album, American Idiot. The musical covers themes of love, war, rebellion, and addiction. Set in the early 2000’s, the musical follows young anti-hero Johnny, also known as the “Jesus of Suburbia,” and his two friends, Will and Tunny, as they try to escape from suburban life into the city. Once in the city, Johnny develops a relationship with the alluring Whatsername, and a bond with St. Jimmy, a drug dealer who serves as the manifestation of Johnny’s instinctual desires for his drug addiction. Tunny enlists in the Army and as he gets wounded on the sidelines, falls in love with The Extraordinary Girl, his rehab nurse. Will ultimately stays behind in the suburbs after his girlfriend, Heather, reveals that she is pregnant, causing him to go through an alcohol and drug-infused depression.
The show’s score was composed by Green Day, with its lyricism crafted by Billie Joe Armstrong, the lead singer of the band. The show included all of the songs from the American Idiot album with some songs from Green Day’s 21st Century Breakdown album, as well as “When It’s Time,” a song only released as a single in the UK.
The Broadway production won two Tony awards for Best Scenic Design for a Musical and Best Lighting Design of a Musical. It also received a nomination for Best Musical. Additionally, the Broadway cast recording won a Grammy for Best Musical Show Album.
The Cabaret production starred Jack Cosentino as Johnny, Derek Schoch as Will, and Keiran Varian as Tunny, with other standout performances such as Kitana Sultan as Whatsername, Megan Burns as Heather, Dejana Luma as Extraordinary Girl, and Daphne Sardis as St. Jimmy. They were backed up with a talented ensemble of Eva Zheng, Luna Ding, Amy Smith, Mary Klein, Jack DiPompeo, and Stanley Skaleck.
For three days, audiences were brought into a black box bursting with rebellious spray paint and DIY newspaper collages. They were then treated to 90 minutes of eyeliner, swearing, and so, so much punk rock. Cast members sat with the audience and screamed in their faces. It was a theater-going experience that audience members will never forget.
But there was an important heart to the production as well. Felicity Winter explains in her director's note that American Idiot was a very formative show for her, and that inspiration and passion for the power of the music and the themes of the story come through in each number. Felicity’s ability to foster an amazing production atmosphere was evident, as everyone in the cast, from the ensemble to the leads, were clearly having a blast from the opener to the end.
“I had a wonderful experience during the production because we were surrounded by the best people and had a very supportive environment during the rehearsal process,” Jack Cosentino, who performed in the role of Johnny, expressed.
However, there were also many challenges during the production. For instance, Felicity was very conscious of the problematic aspects of the show. As she also indicated in her director's note, the writing of the female characters in the show leaves much to be desired, and they are outshined at every turn by male characters with more complexity and agency. But, as all great directors do, Felicity put her spin on this, and, through blocking, choreo, and directorial choices, worked to empower the female characters. In addition, the show is also full of difficult and uncomfortable material which was as tough for the actors to perform a it was for the audience to watch.
As Jack Costentino explains, “Performing this material was a lot and quite intense. From the knife scene where Johnny threatens Whatsername to shooting up heroin on stage it really takes a lot out of the performer. Not to mention learning guitar in a month and a half for the show also added to intensity.”
Yet, despite these challenges the show came together into a beautiful and striking piece of theatrical art that weekend.
“It was an amazing production to be apart of and all of that hard work truly paid off.” Jack said.
And so, even when the graffiti is painted over and the black-box is filled with countless other amazing productions, the rage and fun of Cabaret Theatre’s 2023 American Idiot will live on in the memories of the performers, production staff, and audiences for many years to come.
