Sunday, September 26, 2010
Green Day Star Will Join ‘American Idiot’
This should boost ticket sales for the musical “American Idiot” during Broadway’s traditional September doldrums: Billie Joe Armstrong, the frontman and lead guitarist of the rock band Green Day, will step into the role of St. Jimmy in the musical for eight performances from this Tuesday through Sunday evening, the producers have announced.
A rock opera of songs by Green Day, drawn chiefly from its 2004 album titled “American Idiot,” the musical centers on a young wannabe musician named Johnny (John Gallagher Jr.) who is haunted by St. Jimmy (Tony Vincent), a spectral character who enables Johnny’s drug addiction.
Mr. Vincent had been scheduled to be out of the show from Tuesday until Oct. 12 to deal with a family matter, and word had been circulating on Broadway last week that Mr. Armstrong might assume the role. Mr. Vincent’s understudies will cover the part during the second week of his absence, as Mr. Armstrong will be leaving Broadway to join Green Day in Caracas, Venezuela, to begin a South American tour.
Mr. Armstrong, who will be making his Broadway performance debut, has long been involved in supporting and promoting the musical, and he is credited with co-writing the book with the show’s director, Michael Mayer. Among the songs that Mr. Armstrong will perform as St. Jimmy are “Know Your Enemy,” “Homecoming,” “Last Night on Earth,” and “St. Jimmy.”
The musical opened on Broadway in April to generally positive reviews, but it received relatively few Tony Award nominations — three — for the 2009-10 season. The show went on to win two Tonys, for best sets and best lighting for a musical, and lost out on best musical to “Memphis.”
Like many shows, the production has had modest-selling weeks at the box office since late summer, when attendance usually dips on Broadway. For the most recent performance week with available box office data, Sept. 14-19, the musical grossed $487,885 — only about 37 percent of the maximum possible amount that “American Idiot” could have grossed that week. Given Mr. Armstrong’s large fan following, the box office at the show’s St. James Theater seems in for a jolt.
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