The lineup is set for the upcoming 21st anniversary celebration of the Green Day album American Idiot and the subsequent Broadway musical of the same name.
Produced by Max Bartos, Matt DeAngelis, and director/producer Laura Pietropinto, concert performances are scheduled for September 21 at 7 PM and 9:30 PM at 54 Below.
The evening will feature American Idiot Broadway and tour alum, including Van Hughes, Gerard
Canonico, Nicci Claspell, DeAngelis, Francesca Granell, Carson
Higgins, Brian Charles Johnson, Brandon Kalm, and Johnny Newcomb, as
well as singer/songwriter Bartos (Sing Street), Dillon Klena (Jagged Little Pill national tour), and Trent Saunders (Dead Outlaw). Also taking part will be Tony nominee Derek Klena (Wicked, Moulin Rouge!), J. Antonio Rodriguez (Hadestown), Teddy Grey (The British Invasion), Chelsea Turbin (American Idiot), Taylor Iman Jones (Six), and Omar Lopez-Cepero (American Idiot).
“This is more than a concert,” Bartos says in a statement. “It’s a celebration of rebellion, heartbreak, and finding your voice in a world on fire.”
Adds Pietropinto, “When Billie Joe Armstrong, Michael Mayer, Tom Kitt, Steven Hoggett, and the original Broadway cast collaborated to bring this rock opera to the stage, they created a movement for young people, Green Day fans, and theatregoers. Through this concert, we are privileged to be able to connect many of the original artists involved with American Idiot to a whole new generation at a time where the music, lyrics, and spirit of the album resonate as loudly now as they did then.”
DeAngelis concludes, “This show changed my life, and it’s an honor to be among these incredible artists and amazing production team celebrating a genre-defining rock opera that resonates now more than ever. Producing is always more fun when you believe in the material (and also when it melts faces this hard).”
The concerts will also have music supervision by Julie McBride and music direction by Emmy winner Sean Pallatroni.
Based on Green Day's groundbreaking 2004 rock opera album, American Idiot, the 90-minute Broadway show about three suburban pals who take divergent paths in post-9/11 America, was a collaboration of Green Day and Tony-winning director Michael Mayer (who co-wrote the book), Tony-winning orchestrator Tom Kitt, and Olivier-winning choreographer Steven Hoggett.
American Idiot
began previews March 24, 2010, and opened on Broadway April 20, 2010, following its world-premiere,
twice-extended limited engagement at Berkeley Repertory Theatre's Roda
Theatre in California. Its final Broadway performance was April 24,
2011. The original Broadway cast included Tony winner John Gallagher Jr., Michael Esper, and Stark Sands.
The musical, nominated for a 2010 Best Musical Tony Award, won
two Tonys for its scenic and lighting design. The show also won the 2011
Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album plus a Drama Desk Award and
an Outer Critics Circle Award.
Tickets for the upcoming anniversary concerts are available at 54Below.org.
