Review: Green Day’s American Idiot
By Paul Torres
ArtsWest production of Green Day’s American Idiot is a high volume and high-energy punk rock opera that breaks rules as well as entertains. They offer two ways to watch this performance: observational or immersive. The observational is the traditional way we view a musical as an audience by sitting and watching it happen before us. The immersive is being a part of a group and letting cast members guide you around the ArtsWest venue to experience what is going on in the lives of the main characters. What could be utter confusion and chaos is exhilarating and exciting, and it works. American Idiot is a powerhouse production.
Eric Ankrim (Grease at 5th Avenue Theatre) directs this production originally
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The casting of the lead characters is excellent. Johnny, played by Frederick Hagreen (Jasper in Deadland), drives the story. In his ArtsWest debut, Hagreen gives a commanding performance in a cast that is full of beautiful young people. As the hapless Will, Michael Coale Grey (First Date), superbly projects the dismay of a life gone awry. As his girlfriend, Heather, Chelsea LeValley (Angry Housewives) is fabulous. Justin Huertas (Seattle Repertory’s Lizard Boy) masterfully depicts the sweet and tragic-bound Tunny. As Johnny’s love interest, Whatshername (yeah, that is what they call her), Kirsten DeLohr Helland is stunning as a drugged-out seductress that (at least fleetingly) wins his …show more content…
As Extraordinary Girl, Herrod absolutely shines (in a female role) as the nurse who Tunny falls in love with after his military enlistment. His impressive vocals soar and depict Tunny’s pain and hope. Moury, who I enjoyed in ArtsWest’s Angry Housewives, takes punk brat to a new and alluring level. His searing and sexy portrayal of wild drug-dealer St. Jimmy leaves a long-lasting impression.
The rock music is vital in this production. Co-musical directors R.J. Tancioco (Jasper in Deadland) and Chris Ranney (No Way to Treat a Lady) are rock virtuosos. The talented band jams through raucous renditions of Green Day masterpieces: American Idiot, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Wake Me Up When September Ends, Know Your Enemy, and culminates with the acoustic guitar-laden curtain call of Good Riddance (Time of Your Life). All the tunes perfectly depict the story of the youth’s frustrations and
Anna and Ben realize that this short-term solution of starting a band only masks their issues and does not heal them. The conversations the two have on the more dramatic end of the spectrum are performed wonderfully. Trivial events in their lives are brought up, both pressing the narrative and emotional arc of this couple we’ve fallen in love with. The scenes are almost too real, which is one of the best compliments I can give to the actors involved.
American Idiot, arguably Green Day’s most famous album, is one of the best example of and the most well-known musical protest of George W Bush. The album marked a milestone for Green Day, the benchmark where they became a political band. In the earlier albums, Armstrong wrote about anxiety, relationships, panic attacks, etc., looking inwards as a muse. However, in American Idiot, Armstrong does a complete 180, writing about politics and the “alienation and anger he felt during the presidency of George W Bush” (Orange). The album was meant to be provocative, to incite a response out of the public. Armstrong states that by being so political, it felt like we “tapped into the culture a bit” (purple). Before American Idiot, Green Day’s “social
Our entire lives have been shaped by the events happening around us. Along with us many factors in our day to day lives have evolved too, including musical genre. One such genre is rock. Rock is a genre for the youth, by the youth, it has evolved to stay with the times and stand up for what’s right. In this essay I will prove why rock is a good example to show how genre has been defined, maintained, constructed and negotiated through the past 60-70 years since the very first Proto Rock song came out.
The musical Urinetown started off quite differently than the other plays and dances that I have attended this semester. As the lights began to fade, the audience slowly got quiet and the sound of an orchestra amplified the room. When the narrator, known as the “Cop” began telling the story, I was instantly engaged and excited for the musical to start. The main purpose of this musical was to grab the audience’s attention through stepping outside of the fictional reality of the show. Urinetown is based upon your own personal experience of humor, satire, and simply making fun of this specific genre of music. The social fantasy of selfishness, exploitation, environmentalism, and various political topics in our society allows us to laugh at the “headache” of Urinetown.
One performance that could’ve used improvement was that of Hope Cladwell. The actress portraying her didn’t want to play Hope as the “basic, stupid, ingénue” but this different take made her performance fall flat. Hope’s innocence and naivety is central to the plot and is inescapable in the writing. This affected her story with Bobby. While Tyler Fauntleroy’s performance was impeccable, it was hindered
The music addresses and brings attention to our culture and society’s current issues with the purpose of advocating for change. The music intendeds to drive home some type of message as a voice of the times that we are living in. Green Day’s song “Holiday” is a song of the modern protest music. The chorus of the song, “This is the dawning of the rest of our lives / On holiday” embodies the purpose of modern protest music (Green Day). Today, protesters are using music to advocate for change, but the government and society are sitting back and not doing anything as if there are no problems. This is just like what the chorus to “Holiday” means. People should be out protesting and making a difference instead of sitting back as if they are on vacation. If we don’t hold anyone accountable and no one takes responsibility nothing will change. In modern America, protest music is a way to advocate against and for today’s current issues by driving home some type of
Their acting chops were very impressive whether it was comedic, emotional, or just stunning overall. Yet, on the other hand, some minor characters weren’t as well heard as others. I feel as the play could be better if some of the minor characters had projected their voice more, allowing their character to be known. However, although some voices were much stronger than others, all actors were full of talent, capable of dealing with script’s requirements, and did a good job
Whether it is a happy memory or a sad memory Green Day has covered it. In the song “Time of Your Life” the memories are happier and the song is much more detailed. In the song “Wake Me up When September Ends” the memories are much sadder. The modes and moods are the two biggest differences in the two songs. While the biggest similarities are they are both about memories. Both of these songs reflect on memories in a person’s life.
The movie made me think badly about some characters at the beginning of the movie, and then change completely at the end. Johnny was a prime example of how characters can be dynamic in movies.
One actor that I thought was particularly strong was Thomas Toles who played John Dodge. Toles was able to convey great emotion in many different scenes that fit with his character and the way that Dodge was depressed but also still trying to find some kind of meaning in the various tasks that he picked up. Another aspect of Toles’ performance that I really enjoyed was his subtlety. He was able to convey different emotions without making them stand out right at first. For instance, near the beginning of the play when Dodge and Swanson are first getting to know each other, Toles adds in this element to his acting that makes you wonder if he’s interested in her romantically. At first I almost missed the romantic and flirty feelings that were going on between Dodge and Swanson. It wasn’t until they became more obvious, such as the scene at the sink where Swanson has her hand on Dodge’s, that I realized when I looked back I could see that Toles had been showing slight hints that he was indeed interested in her all throughout their scenes
The house lights fade. Full focus is now on the stage. Instrumental music (Alive Again Intro) plays. The sold out crowd at Concert Hall Boerjerij, in the Netherlands, springs to it's feet. Loud Cheers and applause follow. For they know what's next. For in their immediate future, one of the most talented / tightest progressive rock bands in today's current music scene, will entertain and dazzle them for the evening. And that they do. Ladies and Gentleman may I introduce; The Neal Morse Band. In concert, promoting their newest studio creation; The Neal Morse Band - The Grand Experiment (2015).
Panic! At The Disco strays from their original ‘emo’ style to channel older artists in a self-described “mix between Sinatra and Queen” that makes up their smooth-voiced, glam album. Death of a Bachelor, released on January 15, 2016, clearly draws on the artists’ jazz and rock genres leading to a completely new P!ATD experience. With the success of the first two singles, Hallelujah and the title-single Death of a Bachelor, the album’s new influences are clearly a helpful choice. After hearing the swing beat on Crazy=Genius, the change in feel of this album is no longer up for discussion.
Anna Kendrick, who portrays the classic Cinderella, is an actress that is well-known for her stunning performance in the 2012 movie Pitch Perfect, a fun, sassy musical enjoyed by teenagers and adults alike. Her Prince Charming, Chris Pine, is also a popular actor among young adult crowds, both for his impeccable acting and his good looks. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there is the Academy Award winning Meryl Streep, who plays the witch and is known most notably for her performances in dramas, and who appeals to an older crowd. Johnny Depp, beloved for the fun, quirky roles he plays, continues to do so in this film, where he plays the “big, bad wolf” from Little Red Riding Hood. The story centers around a baker, played by James Corden, and his wife, Emily Blunt, both of whom are excellent as
The purpose of this concept map is to examine the developmental processes in Shellie (Shell) the protagonist from Green Days by the River by Michael Anthony. The concept map explores how developmental concepts, philosophies and/or theories are related to Shell. It examines how Shell’s environment contribute to his development and how innate factors affected who he has become. To begin, a concept map is an organized tool for representing knowledge. It includes concepts and the relationships between them indicated by a connecting line from one concept to another. The words on the linking line between the two concepts are referred to as linking words or phrases which specify the relationship between the two concepts.
Performance art can simply be described as the type of art presented to live audience (Irvin, 2016). The performance can either be carefully orchestrated or random; scripted or unscripted; carefully planned sometimes with or without audience participation or otherwise spontaneous. In addition, the performance can either be via the media or live; sometimes the performer is present while other times the performer may be absent. In general, performance art encompasses four basic elements: the body of the performer, time, space, and the performer-audience relationship. Performance art can take place anywhere and in any type of settings and venue for any time duration. For the sake of this assignment, I decided to attend a live art performance,