Not many people associate rock group Green Day with Broadway musicals, but audience members of “American Idiot” understand the connection.
The Broadway musical, “American Idiot,” was performed at 7:30 last night in Eisenhower Auditorium.
Center for the Performing Arts Director George Trudeau welcomed audience members to the venue, listing off many of the big cities that this national tour would be stopping in, one of the stops including State College, Pennsylvania.
Trudeau also made sure to mention to those in attendance that the production features a graduate from the Penn State musical theatre program, Dan Gleason, Class of 2010.
Loud applause took over the venue upon learning this information.
The set featured a large backdrop covered in televisions that flashed many pop culture references that the Green Day music generation grew up with, including the famous Britney-Madonna kiss, Law & Order, and Ryan Seacrest’s voice heard through the speakers saying, “This is American…”
Before the word “idol” could be heard, the show opened up with a powerful version of the well-known Green Day song, “American Idiot.”
Strobe lights flashed quickly and the live band began to play.
Amanda Hryckowian of Freedom, Pennsylvania, pointed out that she didn’t believe the set and background were intrusive. Between the songs and set changes, she found that everything “flowed really well.”
The musical “American Idiot” told the story of three friends that grow up in Suburbia and choose to leave their town and old lives behind in order to chase down their dreams.
The three friends have completely different story lines, but they manage to come together throughout the show.
Besides the song that shares a name with the title of the musical, other songs that featured in the show (and were once hit singles for Green Day) were “Holiday,” “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” and “Wake Me Up When September Ends.”
One of the more recent songs that was released by the famous rock band and featured in the show was “21 Guns,” and Kevin Bonacci said that he thought it was the most powerful performance of the night.
“The vocals were absolutely incredible,” Bonacci (junior-rehabilitation and human services) said.
Next to Green Day songs, flashing lights, and the multimedia elements thrown into the production, the show also featured actors being lifted to depict flying over the stage, as well as an abundance of glitter and confetti.
Liam Fennecken said that overall, he really enjoyed attending the show.
“It’s a really cool combination of musical theatre and a rock concert,” Fennecken (junior-theatre) said.
American Idiot continues 7:30 p.m. tonight in Eisenhower Auditorium. Tickets can be purchased at all campus ticketing offices, and ticket prices range from $38 to $59
