American Idiot, Featuring the Music of Green Day, to be Performed Sept. 8-9 at UB

By David Wedekindt

Release Date: August 7, 2012 This content is archived.

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BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Center for the Arts at the University at Buffalo will present American Idiot on Saturday, Sept. 8 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 9, at 7:30 p.m. in the Mainstage Theatre in the Center for the Arts, UB North Campus.

Ticket prices range from $47 to $67 and are available at the Center for the Arts Box Office (Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.), Ticketmaster outlets and ticketmaster.com. Tickets may be charged by phone at 1-800-745-3000. For more information call 716-645-2787 or visit http://www.ubcfa.org.

American Idiot, a 2010 Tony Award-nominated Best Musical and 2010 Grammy Award winner for Best Musical Show Album, features the music of Green Day with the lyrics of its lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong. The book is by Armstrong and Michael Mayer and direction is by Tony Award-winner Mayer ("Spring Awakening").

The acclaimed creative team also includes choreography by Olivier Award-winner Steven Hoggett ("Black Watch"), and music supervision, orchestrations and arrangements by Pulitzer Prize-winner Tom Kitt ("Next to Normal"). The Tony Award-winning scenic design by Christine Jones and the Tony Award-winning lighting design by Kevin Adams will also be featured in the tour.

Nominated for three Tony Awards, American Idiot is the story of three boyhood friends, each searching for meaning in a post 9-11 world. Through incredible spectacle, thrilling performances and with the hope embodied by a new generation, American Idiot has given Broadway audiences the time of their lives night after night since the musical began performances at the St. James Theatre in March 2010.

"Since its inception, audiences have been surprised by the emotional journey the show takes them on, told almost exclusively through Green Day's songs, including many they are already familiar with and love," said Tom Hulce, producer. "This is such a potent time for our country and the search of our characters for what to believe in is gorgeously celebrated through Billie Joe and Green Day's wonderfully lush score," he added.

The musical features the hits "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," "21 Guns," "Wake Me Up When September Ends," "Holiday" and the blockbuster title track "American Idiot" from Green Day's 2004 Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum album. Also included in the score are several songs from Green Day's 2009 release "21st Century Breakdown," and an unreleased love song, "When It's Time."

American Idiot premiered at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in September 2009 and played through November of that year. In April 2010, the musical opened on Broadway where reviews were unanimously positive with Charles Isherwood of the New York Times calling the show "the most adventurous musical to brave Broadway in the past decade" and the Toronto Star naming it "the first great musical of the 21st century."

For more information on American Idiot, visit http://www.americanidiotthemusical.com.