Heads Bang, Musicians Rock and Electric Performers Howl in New Line’s ‘American Idiot’

Heads Bang, Musicians Rock and Electric Performers Howl in New Line’s ‘American Idiot’

By Lynn Venhaus

An electric cast brings to life Green Day’s turbo-charged punk rock opera “American Idiot,” accompanied by an exceptional group of eight musicians whose propulsive rhythms invigorate New Line Theatre’s 98th production.

New Line first presented this youthful alienation statement as a regional premiere in 2016, and with a fresh crop of performers, has turned The Marcelle Theatre into a scorching experience that ramps up passion and urgency. Heads will be banged.

Green Day’s 2004 Grammy-winning rock album “American Idiot,” its seventh, is combined with additional songs from their “21st Century Breakdown” album in 2009 and previously unreleased material.

For the stage adaptation, it was formatted as a coming-of-age tale that delved into disillusionment in post-9-11 America. The explosive, in-your-face 2010 Broadway show was nominated for three Tony Awards, including best musical, and won two – for scenic and lighting designs.

Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong collaborated with director Michael Mayer to write the book, which attacked George W. Bush’s presidency, corporate greed, warmongering (“the War on Terror” in Afghanistan and Iraq), hypocrisy in politics, and being submissive, paranoid and apathetic, fueled by mass media.

Clayton Humburg and Bee Mecey as Johnny and St. Jimmy. Photo by Jill Ritter Lindberg

Guided by familiar songs that are rooted in realism, the ensemble is full of energy and attitude, snarling and in pain, confused about their lives’ directions as they struggle to find meaning. They hit the ground running with the title song “American Idiot” and crank it up to 11 from there. You always feel their convictions, no matter how dark it gets.

The ensemble’s momentum is strong in the group numbers, but also in the small vignettes that presents snapshots of lives in transition. Because there is minimal dialogue, the emotions must be conveyed to fill in the blanks about their confusion and malaise.

Temptations beckon ‘in the big city,’ relationships are messy, and the women seemed destined for disillusionment – with strong vocal showings from Lauren Tenenbaum as Whatshername, Adrienne Spann as Extraordinary Girl, and Rachel Parker as Heather.

Directors Chris Moore and Scott Miller have focused on the constant motion aspect of the material, where the band’s raw punk power is maintained, and the performers’ vibrancy comes through, even when playing angsty, restless characters.

Triple threats Clayton Humburg, Rafael DaCosta and DeAnte Bryant are a tight-knit trio of friends — Johnny, Tunny and Will, who are alternately angry and apathetic young men seeking to flee the stifling conformity of suburbia.

Rafael DaCosta, Adrienne Spann as Tunny and Extraordinary Girl. Photo by Jill Ritter Lindberg

Their robust voices harmonize as they verbalize their distress in “City of the Damned” and “I Don’t Care,” and their feelings coalesce in the soulful ballad “Wake Me Up When September Ends” with the company.

They are visibly agitated in several numbers, including “Tales of a Broken Home” trying to make sense of a world that keeps spinning and not in good ways.

Rebel without a cause, Johnny aka “Jesus of Suburbia,” just wants to be anesthetized and escape in most situations, saying yes to drugs and no to hygiene: “Give Me Novacaine” but shows a hopeful side in “Last of the American Girls” and “She’s a Rebel.”

Living in squalor, wallowing in drug hazes, not being nice to his “dream girl” that gets away, and wrestling inner demons, he hooks up with bad idea drug dealer St. Jimmy.

As a hero’s journey lynchpin, Johnny isn’t a sympathetic character, but Humburg’s verve for every role he takes on comes through, so that he demands you pay attention: Will he self-destruct or get it together? And he’s a naturally compelling performer, so you hope Johnny moves beyond cynicism.

Humburg, Lauren Tenenbaum. Photo by Jill Ritter Lindberg.

Tenenbaum becomes a forceful match for Johnny. At first, seductive Whatshername is misguided, then she grows bolder and more resourceful before she’s gone. In one of the show’s best numbers, Tenenbaum is a standout in the company’s “21 Guns.” She then leads the women in a feisty “Letterbomb.”

Trouble always comes by when St. Jimmy is around, and those pesky drugs that Whatshername is a willing participant in taking. She’s in the number with St. Jimmy and Johnny “Last Night on Earth.”

Bee Mecey is full of swagger as St. Jimmy, equal parts cocky and creepy. Mecey leans into the bombastic, snarling delivery of the vocals, and is an unremorseful ‘son of a gun’ in “The Death of St. Jimmy.”

Tunny joins the military, recruited for the Army by Favorite Son (a noteworthy Jordan Ray Duncan, who bears a striking resemblance to actor Paul Dano). DaCosta and Duncan are powerful in “Are We the Waiting,” joined by others, then they discover they are in for a rude awakening.

These scenes of combat and convalescences are the most powerful. After he is severely wounded in the War on Terror, Da Costa’s torment is palpable, and he agonizes about a crazy world — “Before the Lobotomy.” He attempts to adapt with help from the compassionate Spann, whose silky voice soars in “Extraordinary Girl.”

Gabriel Anderson, Kaylin Penninger. Photo by Jill Ritter Lindberg.

Bryant displays his shock at becoming a father when his girlfriend Heather (Parker) becomes pregnant. They clash as they deal with parenthood, and Parker is moving as she wrestles with Will’s lack of interest and the demands of a baby.

Parker’s sturdy vocal work is impressive as she delivers a rollercoaster of emotion. Her “Dearly Beloved” is a cry for help, her exasperation evident, while “Too Much Too Soon” reveals her frustration and desperation, and in a defiant “Rock and Roll Boyfriend,” she clearly has moved on from Will dragging her down.

As the characters grow, the band of brothers reunite for “We’re Coming Home Again,” and Johnny is sincerely regretful in “Whatshername.”

The zealous company includes Gabriel Anderson, Kaylin “Kat” Penninger, Alex Giordano, Amora Marie, Ian McCreary, Nathan Mecey, Hannah Renee and Vanessa Simpson. They do a fine job raging at the machine.

Anderson and Penninger are impressive as graceful and skilled featured dancers, and they were also the dance captains. Choreographer Chelsie Johnston pushed a passionate intensity in the movements, which brought out the group’s fire and never let up.

The finale is effectively staged, having the cast sit or stand scattered on the floor, singing a heartfelt “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).” It is a surprisingly emotional ending after the group has poured out their hearts and souls into this rousing material.

Alex Giordano and Rachel Parker in “Rock and Roll Boyfriend.” Photo by Jill Ritter Lindberg.

Green Day was organized by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong in the Bay Area of California in 1987, and musicians Mike Dirnt (bassist) and Tre Cool (drums) came aboard awhile later. They are best known as a rock band that brought punk out of the underground and into the mainstream, starting with breakout success in 1994.

Thirty years later, they’ve sold 75 million records worldwide, been nominated for 20 Grammy Awards, winning five, and were inducted into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame in 2015, their first year of eligibility.

Bassist John Gerdes’ pulsing power chords are a definite highlight, as are the strings that add so much – violin, viola and cello, along with the robust rock beats of the guitars and drums.

The musicians are a tight group that maintained a driving pace important to the Green Day sound, and carry out the throbbing musical arrangements and orchestrations by Broadway composer Tom Kitt

Gerdes was an outstanding music director, capably getting the best from conducting Chelsea Zak on keyboards (also assistant music director), Adam Rugo and Xander Gerdes on guitars, Jake Luebbert on drums, Steve Frisbee on violin, Mallory Golden on viola, and Marie Brown alternating with Michaela Kuba on cello.

Ensemble in “Holiday.” Photo by Jill Ritter Lindberg.

Ryan Day’s sound design is bold, Ryan Thorp’s lighting design is effective, Lauren Smith Bearden’s costume design captures the club scene and scruffy daily casual. Rob Lippert’s scenic design sets up three distinct areas for the action, with minimal set pieces.

Nathan Mecey put the pieces together as tech director, Mallory Golden mastered the props, and Ashwini Arora was the intimacy coordinator. Gabriel Scott Lawrence is listed as the directing intern.

Every generation has its seminal rock operas – like the Boomers’ “Hair” and “Tommy,” Gen X’s “Rent” and Millennials’ “Spring Awakening.” Millennials identify with Green Day, although there are shades of Gen X’ers too, so its multi-generations.

This cast shows their bond as mostly Gen Z’ers presenting a specific era. It’s hard to think of “American Idiot” as a period piece, for it remains relevant with its blistering screeds and hopeful ballads.

Johnny leads the company in “East 12th Street.” Photo by Jill Ritter Lindberg.

With a complexity that you may not have thought about while hearing the music in radio play or through sound systems, “American Idiot” shakes things awake in a rant against complacency and manipulation – and that can be heard loud and clear at any age.

New Line Theatre presents “American Idiot” from Sept. 12 to Oct. 5 on Thursdays through Saturdays at p.m. at the Marcelle Theatre, 3310 Samuel Shepard Drive, St. Louis. There is no performance Sept. 14. This 90-minute show is presented without intermission and is the 33rd season opener.

Tickets: Metrotix: 314-534-1111 or visit the Fox Theatre box office or the MetroTix website. Discounts: for students, educators and military. For more information, visit www.newlinetheatre.com.

There are 10 free seats for every performance that are open to any college student with a valid student ID. It is valid only at the door.

There is a lighted parking lot across the street from the theatre, and there is lots of free street parking. There is no dress code and there are refreshments available in the lobby, including alcohol.

Company in “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).” Photo by Jill Ritter Lindberg.

Movement All Around in Stray Dog’s Spry ‘Saturday Night Fever’

Movement All Around in Stray Dog’s Spry ‘Saturday Night Fever’

By Lynn Venhaus

Ah, the rose-colored glasses that we view our youth through can differ, depending on what generation, but one thing we have in common: the nostalgia for the music we came of age listening to, whether it was the Boy Bands of the late ‘90s, the MTV New Wave in the ‘80s, the British Invasion of the ‘60s or the short-lived disco-dance craze of the 1970s.

Today’s electronic dance music has roots in those syncopated rhythms that topped the charts some 45 years ago. If you were ever grooving to up-tempo hits at a nightclub, then the stage musical version of the 1977 cultural phenomenon film, “Saturday Night Fever,” is for you.

The jukebox musical, adapted in 1998 for London’s West End, which made it to Broadway the next year, features the legendary hits from the Bee Gees, plus other classic disco tracks – who can forget The Trammps’ “Disco Inferno” — “burn that mother down.” Most of the time the actors sing the chart-toppers.

Providing many funky sounds of the day is live-wire Chris Moore as the Afro-coiffed DJ Monty, rocking gold platform shoes and a shiny silver shirt, with Jade Anaiis Hillery belting out a few tunes like she was Chaka Khan. As Candy, she leads on the aforementioned “Disco Inferno,” plus sings “Night Fever” and “Nights on Broadway.” The pair duet on “More Than a Woman.”

Side note: I heard Yvonne Elliman’s “If I Can’t Have You” at the grocery store the other evening! To emphasize how this music has endured – have you been to a wedding reception recently? The soundtrack spawned four No. 1 singles, won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, still ranks among the best-selling soundtrack albums worldwide, and to date, has sales figures of over 40 million copies.

This Stray Dog Theatre production is marked by a larger-than-usual band to bring the sounds alive, inspired choreography by Michael Hodges, and a star-making performance by Drew Mizell as Tony Manero. The man can strut.

Drew Mizell as Tony Manero. Photo by John Lamb.

While the 19-year-old character is forever stamped as the role that earned John Travolta his first of two Oscar nominations and dancing reputation, Mizell has the moves to pull off such an iconic part. His ease on the dance floor is admirable, and his extensive dance training is evident.

Mizell, whose first show at Stray Dog was an impressive performance as both Cinderella’s Prince and Florinda in “Into the Woods,” also nails the Brooklyn accent and the attitude to make the character likable.

Tony, anxious about life after high school and what his future will look like, is not content just to hang out with his goon-like pals, who seem locked in dead ends. He wants more than working at a paint store. At night, at the Odyssey 2001 discotheque, he is king of the dance floor. But at home, yeesh. His mother and father are yellers, and he can’t ever measure up to his older brother, Frank Jr., a priest.

But Frank Jr. has a crisis of faith and returns home. Another standout is Sean Seifert, a natural at portraying the brother as a good man who doesn’t have all the answers. (He also pulls off a dual role as Gus, one of Tony’s inner circle who creates other issues).

When Tony meets Stephanie Mangano, he is taken by her physicality, refinement and her desire to cross that bridge for a better life in Manhattan. With a shot to win $1,000 at a dance contest, Tony and Stephanie team up, their eyes on the prize — and eventually each other.

With sophisticated airs and ambition, Stephanie is more Uptown Girl than the kind Tony hangs out with, including his needy ex Annette, who has fallen hard for him, but it’s unrequited.

Sara Rae Womack brings out the humor in Stephanie’s images of the glamorous world, name-dropping at her entry level job, and has a solo ballad, “What Kind of Fool,” while Lindsey Grojean conveys the desperation of Annette’s lonely and confused young woman in a powerful “If I Can’t Have You,” delivering the show’s best vocals.

Triple-threat Maggie Nold is sympathetic as Pauline, who is caught up in a familiar teen pregnancy scenario. She demonstrates the realities of her situation well – but as the ensemble is handling multiple roles, it’s a tad odd to see her happily dancing and smiling soon after a funeral scene.

Ella Drake as Doreen and Kayla Dressman as Connie get their moment as dancing queens in their spirited competition number,.while Mizell and Womack hit the sweet spot with their “More Than a Woman” big dance number.

Using heavily exaggerated Brooklyn accents, the Manero family, and Tony’s peers, adhere to the stereotypes of that era, staying in those lanes. Oh, those gender caricatures — ‘hoochie mama’s and swinging playboys – were cringy then and certainly now.

Think of it as a period piece – because the best buddies are not that likable, total losers with their off-putting macho bravado, which is why the flimsy broadly-drawn book remains the show’s weakest element. Because their crude talk and bully swagger are mostly foreign in today’s ‘polite’ society, overall, this cast doesn’t seem entirely comfortable playing these roles. Now, dancing is first-rate, clearly polished and well-rehearsed.

The guys playing the deadbeat friends — Justin Bouckaert as the conflicted and struggling Bobby, Jayson Heil as Double-J and Michael Cox as Joey — are caught between a rock and a hard place because they are so immature and misguided, their idea of what manhood is, while not uncommon then, is far from what it should be. But that’s the point – to show how trouble-prone Tony is separating from the pack.

This version has cleaned up some of the more problematic “R-rated” portions of the script, as in gang-rape, violence, and intense sexuality, which is not necessary for this story. The movie’s darker and grittier aspects have been removed, for the most part, just hinted at or briefly alluded to for conflicts.

What director Justin Been does effectively is capture that malaise of the late ‘70s, when economic issues affected blue-collar laborers, and social unrest simmered in “the summer of Sam” (serial killer Son of Sam terrorized the city). The disaffected youth escaped to the discos. (“Feel the city breakin’ and everybody shakin'” — “Stayin’ Alive”).

As the one-note parents Flo and Frank Manero, pros Kay Love and Matt Anderson display their lung power shouting at their family. Nadja Kapetanovich is sincere in the brief role of Linda, the dutiful daughter put in the middle between her cranky parents and defiant brothers.

Sara Rae Womack, Drew Mizell

The home scenes reflect on the misery of marginalized people while the disco and dance studio are where the energy flows. But the story is really secondary to the song-and-dance appeal of the musical.

Scenic Designer Josh Smith crafted a dance floor with colored lights for the stage, with help of lighting designer Tyler Duenow, which may not be visible to all the audience members. He also expanded the Tower Grove Abbey stage with stairs and a bridge doubling for the DJ booth at the club and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, a suspension bridge that connects Brooklyn to Staten Island.

They’ve made room for a large band, led by music director/conductor Leah Schultz on piano, with Marie Brown, Tai Davis, and Beau Lewis on cello for select performances, Mo Carr on trumpet, Steve Frisbee on violin, John Gerdes and Xander Gerdes on bass for select performances, Lea Gerdes and Mary Wiley on reeds for select performances, Adam Levin on trombone, Adam Rugo on guitar and Joe Winters on percussion.

Among their instrumental numbers are the classic Sounds of Philadelphia “A Fifth of Beethoven,” plus “After the Fall,” and “Salsation.”

The costumes collected by Colleen Michelson are a mixed bag – some duplicated the gaudy polyester trends of the ‘70s, while others are ‘kinda, sorta’ representative of the period. The dance floor attire, for working-class kids on weekends, needs to be faux-chic instead of Sunday church dress best. Some of the outfits were more flattering than others, and dresses had nice swirling effects. And the iconic white suit has its moment in the spotlight – always big sentimental crowd reaction.

Those infectious, danceable beats will get you on your feet every time. After all, as the Bee Gees told us – “You should be dancing” — and of course you came for the good beats that you could dance to, and don’t forget your boogie shoes. There is a Disco Mix curtain call. Dance 10, Story 3.

Stray Dog Theatre presents the musical “Saturday Night Fever” Oct. 5-Oct. 28, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., with additional performances 2 p.m. Sundays, Oct. 15 and 22, at the Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee in Tower Grove East. For more information or tickets, visit: www.straydogtheatre.org. Seating is general admission.

All photos by John Lamb