Wilbury's ‘American Idiot' is a triumphant, headbanging, full-frontal assault

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2 days ago

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And so, too, does the
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'American Idiot' has made its way onto the
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Written by Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong and Broadway/Metropolitan Opera veteran Michael Mayer, the musical enriches the album's thin and scattered narrative with intriguing theatricality. And with the aid of Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Tom Kitt, who wrote the score for the modern opera 'Next to Normal,' the album's angst-ridden guitar riffs, omnipresent and inventive bass lines, and angry, rapid-fire drumming are complemented with more traditional pit instrument orchestrations.
All this makes 'American Idiot' something unique: a musical that bears a resemblance to the traditional theatrical artform, but which comes draped in defiance, sarcasm, and youth-fueled exuberance. In this Wilbury production, under director Josh Short and musical director Milly Massey, there is enough youth-fueled exuberance to light up all of Rhode Island.
It is accompanied by a team of terrific local musicians that include Chloe Cordeiro on drums, Ernie Lau on violin, James Lucey on bass, Nick Mendillo on guitar, and Christine Perkins on cello. They are particularly good when leaning into ballads like 'Wake Me Up When September Ends,' but someone needs to turn up the volume so that their spot-on rendition of the no-frills anthem 'St. Jimmy' and the hard rocking 'Give Me Novacaine' causes a greater ripple of vibration in our ribcage. After all, this
is
a punk rock opera.
Short and his designers – Scott Osborne (scenic), Alexander P. Sprague (lighting), and Andy Russ (sound and video) – make sure that this production does not resemble the traditional theatrical artform too closely. There's more performance space than seating – which includes ramps, scaffolding, a trap door, a band stand and a band pit. Everything is littered with urban decay and surrounded by large video screens that display images that establish a sense of time, place and mindset. Actors rock punk fashion is courtesy of designer Dustin Thomas.
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Much of the aforementioned defiance and sarcasm is communicated through Ali Kenner Brodsky's choreography as performed by an ensemble of frustrated, passionate, and aimless youth, played by the talented Perry Barkett, Jenna Benzinger, Alexander Boyle, Sofia DaSilva, Michael Eckenreiter, Grace Graham, Annabelle Iredale, Elisabet Ober, Paige O'Connor, Henry Stanton, and Justin Alice Voena. The dance emerges as edgy, explosive movement that would seem organic and guttural if not for the occasional moments when it appears a tad premeditated.
Eckenreiter, as Johnny, has the prerequisite hair, physicality, acting chops, and guitar virtuosity to play an endearing antihero. Just not the extraordinary voice needed to sell his solos or stand out in shared songs like 'Jesus of Suburbia' and 'Tales of Another Broken Home.' Fortunately, extraordinary voices – as well as incredible intensity and remarkable stage presence – can be found in Benzinger as Johnny's short-term girl, Whatsername; O'Connor as the walking pharmacy, St. Jimmy; Boyle and Stanton as Johnny's best friends, Tunny and Will; and Iredale as Heather, Will's pregnant girlfriend.
Green Day was inducted into the
AMERICAN IDIOT
Book by Billie Joe Armstrong and Michael Mayer. Music by Green Day with Lyrics by Billie Joe Armstrong. Directed by
Josh Short.
At Wilbury Theatre Group, WaterFire Arts Center, 475 Valley St., Providence. Through June 22. Tickets are $5-$35. 401-400-7100,
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Bob Abelman is an award-winning theater critic who formerly wrote for the Austin Chronicle. Connect with him