Review: A Night of Anti-Establishment with Green Day’s American Idiot
Through 7/6 @ The Strand Theatre, Hudson Falls
Photos by Nicole McDonald
“Capital Region community theatre could use a lot more Idiots; the raw energy, anti-establishment ethos and balls to the wall passion that can’t wait to spill all over the stage.”
There’s something about the Capital Region theater scene that feels very punk rock in the manner of a bunch of kids with an abiding passion for a form of expression bypassing all the structures in place and getting their show onstage. Green Day’s American Idiot presented by the young group Broadway Upstate playing at the Strand Theatre is a magnificent case in point.
The 2009 Broadway show is based on the band’s 2004 album of the same name and includes every song and b-side from Green Day’s enormously successful, Grammy winning disc as well as tracks from their follow-up, 21st Century Breakdown. The musical features very little dialogue; the music and lyrics are credited to Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong with the original musical’s director Michael Mayer getting a co-credit on the book with Armstrong.
The number one album was hugely critical of President George W. Bush and what the band perceived were the failures of his administration at the time of the Iraq War and Hurricane Katrina. The musical uses the songs to tell a story of three bored, disaffected suburban kids: Johnny (rock star Tyler Vaughn), Tunny (soulful Raphael Cohen) and Will (fun and appealing Aidan Echeandia) raised on a steady diet of Soda Pop and Ritalin (to steal a line from one of the musical’s best songs, “Jesus of Suburbia”) who leave their small town and head to the big city to meet their fates.
Tunny enlists in the armed forces and Cohen’s sweet voice that sings “Are We the Waiting” receives a brutal answer. Will is called back home and soon has a family with Heather (the terrific Ainsley Martell who shines on “Last Night on Earth”). Johnny falls under the thrall of Whatshername (Kylie Tripp) and St. Jimmy (an explosive Lauren Risley).
The onstage band led by Musical Director Ben Rowley at the piano rocks hard all night long. They play a couple of songs in the pre-show and over 30 songs in the musical and their timing and energy never flag. The sound mix by Travis Bills is impressive. I can’t say that I caught every lyric (I’m not sure that I was meant to) but I understood a huge amount which is saying something with a punk rock opera.
Tyler Vaughn commands the stage with physical abandon—he throws himself into the role and thrashes beautifully. His quiet number, the ever-recognizable “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” is all the more effective because we’ve seen him at full wattage.
Vaughn is a great example for the company and it must have come from director Nicole McDonald and choreographer Rachel Seebode that everyone in the cast has that mosh pit aggression while never becoming unfocused or wild. Kudos to the ensemble: Peyton VanDerheyden, Xander Jenkins, Rebecca Bammert, Christopher Buettner, Hailey Dupuis, Hannah Blakeslee and especially Brock Whaley (unrecognizable in a 10” tall Mohawk) who also did fight choreography.
Capital Region community theatre could use a lot more Idiots; the raw energy, anti-establishment ethos and balls to the wall passion that can’t wait to spill all over the stage. I was heart struck to see Lauren Risley ugly crying at the curtain call. It’s that heart on its sleeve commitment that is taking huge risks to be heard.
Green Day’s American Idiot presented by Broadway Upstate plays through Sunday, 7/6 at The Strand Theatre (210 Main Street, Hudson Falls, 12839). Tickets: www.broadwayupstate.com
