Broadway Idiot (2013) - full transcript

Why hello there.

How're you doing?

I said heeeey-o!

There's people that like
to do things the safe way.

And that's just never been
part of my vocabulary.

♪ As time ticks by ♪

♪ Still I try ♪

♪ No rest for crosstops in my mind ♪

♪ On my own, here we go ♪

I don't know, I just,
I like to make my own path.

But I never thought I'd end up,
you know, doing Broadway.



♪ I walk this empty street on
the boulevard of broken dreams ♪

♪ Where the city sleeps ♪

♪ And I'm the only one
and I walk alone ♪

♪ I walk alone, I walk alone ♪

Billie Joe's a punk
rocker from the East Bay,

working class kid.

- Tickets.
- It's just me.

I'm from Rockville, Maryland,

upper middle class family and theatre geek.

We have nothing in common.

There's absolutely no reason
why this should work.

Again, you can be as
cocky as you want to be.

Broadway is such a foreign thing to me,

Stairway to your right, please.



This is crazy.

Tonight Billie Joe Armstrong

will be making his
professional theatre debut,

and his Broadway debut at one time.

Fucktime!

The role of Saint Jimmy,
usually played by Tony Vincent,

will be played by Billie Joe Armstrong.

I can't act, I can't dance.

Compared to a lot of these people,
I can't even sing.

Come on!

I was thinking to myself,

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

♪ Don't wanna be an American idiot ♪

♪ Don't want a nation
under the new media ♪

American Idiot, the album,
exploded on the scene

in those really hideous post 9/11 years.

♪ The subliminal mindfuck America ♪

It was a fierce stance
about the state of America.

♪ Everything isn't meant to be okay ♪

As a band we really wanted to make

some kind of concept record.

Drawing from like Tommy to Sergeant Pepper.

England!

Mike Dirnt kind of started it off,

and then we all just sort of joined in,

and we were all like,
"this could be really great."

♪ Well maybe I'm the faggot America ♪

To me, bringing American Idiot to Broadway

seemed like a really great idea.

♪ Don't wanna be an American Idiot ♪

♪ One nation controlled by the media ♪

I'm open to big crazy ideas.

But, you know,
I mean this album's, it's my baby.

So I wanna make sure nobody fucks it up.

♪ Calling out to idiot America ♪

♪ Welcome to a new kind of tension ♪

♪ All across the alien nation ♪

♪ Where everything
isn't meant to be okay ♪

♪ Television dreams of tomorrow ♪

♪ We are not the ones meant to follow ♪

♪ For that's enough to argue ♪

I never put so much emotion into any record

like I have into every song
that's on American Idiot.

♪ Summer has come and passed ♪

There are times where I
feel like I get choked up

and I feel like it's hard to
sing the next line

because everything comes from
some emotional place

that I've experienced in my life

and it resurfaces every time
that I play those songs.

♪ Like my fathers come to pass ♪

♪ Seven years has gone so fast ♪

♪ Wake me up when September ends ♪

It was the first time

I ever wrote about like my father dying.

So when I moved out I was 17,

you know, I started living in warehouses.

My dad died when I was 10,
so I said seven years

- as if it was seven years later.
- Right.

And then you go to, um,
at the end, at the last verse,

- it says 20 years.
- Right.

So it's an adult reminiscing
about being a young adult.

♪ As my memory rests ♪

♪ But never forgets what I lost ♪

♪ Wake me up when September ends ♪

And it just happened to be September?

Is that when it was?

Yeah, well he passed away in September,

and it's like the whole thing
is kind of like that,

it's like the worst month of the year,
you know.

I mean for some weird reason,
some strange like coincidence,

I mean whether it's like
my parent dying or...

To me it was all-it was a
9/11 kind of thing.

That's what resonated for me.

Here's the deal...

When we started
really kicking around this idea,

we did not know if Green Day
would give us permission

to do the production.

My heart was in my throat
a little bit because I thought,

"what if this doesn't work for them?"

When people think of Broadway,

they think of everyone's singing
and dancing and life is swell,

and you know,
the Rockettes or something like that.

What we're gonna try and do today
is map out the harder stuff.

My fear was that it was just
gonna be sort of absurd,

and not relatable and corny.

♪ I'm the son of rage and love ♪

♪ The Jesus of suburbia ♪

♪ The Bible of none of the above ♪

♪ On a steady diet of... ♪

At the start of the show

I lead my friends into this catharsis of

"there's gotta be something else out there.

This can't be all there is-

this town that's just sucking us dry."

Note to self...

get me the fuck out of turd town.

Let's start a war shall we?

American Idiot...

I would say 90 percent is
sort of based on my life.

I just wanted to get the
hell out of my town.

I wanted to leave with reckless abandon.

I didn't car where I ended up,

as long as I saw as much
as humanly possible.

And it had nothing to do
with where I came from.

That's what I was looking for.

♪ I beg to dream and differ
from the hollow lies ♪

♪ This is the dawning
of the rest of our lives ♪

♪ On holiday ♪

And then break,
and we'll just figure out who calls that,

and who makes the break.

In terms of the way
that we plan to tell our story

in American Idiot,
the closest thing would be opera.

In opera, you're telling your story

through the physical actions
and character behavior

that accompanies the singing.

This is the dawning of
the rest of our lives.

You're in the city now,
so it's like this massive exultation

that you've finally arrived here.

So sing the sh-out of it

and then your bodies should
just be like wild and mad.

♪ Sieg heil to the president gasman ♪

♪ Bombs away is your punishment ♪

♪ Pulverize the Eiffel Towers ♪

♪ Who criticize your government ♪

We put the stuff together.

And you never really knew if Green Day

would dig what we're going to
do with their material.

It was terrifying and incredibly important

to get Billie Joe's okay on it.

But we didn't see him
again for quite a while

because they were touring in Europe.

♪ Starry nights,
city lights coming down over me ♪

We started Green Day
when I was about 15 years old.

Coming from Berkeley we were always
exposed to different politics

where people were really confrontational.

So around 2003,

because of what was happening
in the administration

what was going on in the war in Iraq,

we started to take more
of a personal stance.

I remember going on this walk
and then thinking,

"I'm the son of rage and love,
the Jesus of Suburbia".

Those two lines right there for me were,

"Oh my God, here we go".

Those two lines came out
and they excited me

and scared the living piss
out of me at the same time.

♪ Rage and love, the story of my life ♪

♪ The Jesus of Suburbia is a lie ♪

♪ And screaming Are we we are ♪

I remember cranking that record
as loud as it would go,

and really just feeling understood.

For me,
coming of age in post 9/11 United States,

there was this sense of
sadness and disillusionment.

♪ Everyone's so full of shit ♪

♪ Born and raised by hypocrites ♪

♪ Hearts recycled but never saved ♪

♪ From the cradle to the grave ♪

♪ We are the kids of war and peace ♪

♪ From Anaheim to the Middle East ♪

♪ We are the stories and disciples of ♪

♪ The Jesus of Suburbia ♪

If you really take the time
to sit with the lyrics,

they are wonderfully poetic.

I am the king of fuckdom!

Billie is writing about
the world of suburbia

and convenience stores,
and those things that you grew up with

that you hate so much.

I've never seen a
cast connect to their characters

in such a profound way.

These characters are sort of us,
extensions of us.

I've gone through those periods of time

where I've just felt this desperate longing

to get out into a bigger world than this.

You just feel like, you know,

you're just sinking in to quicksand.

♪ To fall in love and fall in debt ♪

♪ To alcohol and cigarettes ♪

♪ And Mary Jane to keep me insane ♪

♪ Doing someone else's cocaine ♪

♪ And there's nothing wrong with me ♪

♪ This is how I'm supposed to be ♪

♪ In a a land-♪ Everybody!

♪ That don't believe in me ♪

Whether it has to
do with romance or politics,

I'm just trying to figure things out.

A theme of mine, is just,
you know, sort of just being...

you know, lost in chaos.

When I came on board,

the question was how do we
take this iconic album,

that primarily is sung by one person,

and create characters and stories

for a number of different people.

So after the...

♪ With every breath that I
am worth here on Earth... ♪

I love your falsetto.

Me and Barry Gibb.

For example the song "Last Night on Earth"

is going to be this moment

where Johnny and Whatsername

are shooting up on drugs
in a very romantic way.

So, already the image of
romantically getting high...

was in my head, and I thought,
"Well how can we make this...

how can we make this
a trippy love ballad?"

And I was on the train one day
and I started thinking about it,

and then I just thought...

how about a wall of sound,
beautiful vocal arrangement,

kind of in the style of the Beach Boys,

these beautiful falsetto harmonies,

just raining down on them.

♪ I text a postcard sent to you ♪

And I remember saying to Michael, I said,

"This is kind of crazy and it's going
to take a while for them to learn,

but I promise you, if it sounds anything
like my head, it's going to be worth it".

You take turns singing, right?

We put the stuff together and
today we have to show Green Day.

Baritones, you guys can really
ease up on the volume there.

♪ I walked for miles 'til I found you ♪

With "Last Night on Earth"

they won't know
what song it is when we start.

It doesn't have any of the signature chords

or instrumentation.

So when Declan starts singing,

♪ I text a postcard sent to you,
did it go through ♪

I think they are going to be like,
"Oh my god, that's the song".

Hey, Michael?

We have to get the go-ahead from Green Day

or the show is over.

They're one of the biggest
rock bands on the planet.

They're not gonna sign
a piece of paper that says,

"Oh yeah, you know,

you seem like a good guy
and I liked your play.

So here, go do whatever you want."

They need to make sure

it's something they can really get behind.

Whoo!

This one, um, this is a...

you'll know this song when you hear it.

Okay.

♪ I text a postcard sent to you,
did it go through ♪

♪ Sending all my love to you ♪

♪ You are the moonlight of my life,
every night ♪

♪ Giving all my love to you ♪

♪ My beating heart belongs to you ♪

♪ I walked for miles 'til I found you ♪

♪ I'm here to honor you ♪

♪ And if I lose everything in the fire ♪

♪ How can I ever make... ♪

♪ it through? ♪

Oh my God!

That's so...

oh my god that was-that
was fucking sick.

That was so good.

That was incredible, that was so good.

I was sitting next to Billie
Joe and I was so nervous.

And at the end of it he just
grabbed my leg and squeezed,

and told me how beautiful
he thought it was, so...

I was happy on two fronts.
We're telling our story,

and as importantly, the band is happy.

Man, I mean that's like...

you know I was just-I was floored.

As soon as I was able to hear it that way,

I was completely into it.

I could visualize it.
I was like, "Oh, this can work".

I didn't wanna, like, do it without-

Yeah, play with it and then, you know-

I kind of do it like how
I did on the record,

which has nothing to do with

the way you guys are
gonna do it whatsoever,

but, I mean, that'd be cool.

The band not only gave us
permission to do the show,

they've encouraged us
with great enthusiasm,

and with a kind of appetite

to hear their songs in a
really different way.

Say! Hey!

♪ Hear the sound of the falling rain ♪

♪ Coming down like an armageddon flame ♪

♪ The shame,
the ones who died without a name ♪

♪ Here the dogs howling out of key ♪

♪ To a hymn called Faith and Misery ♪

♪ And bleed,
the company lost the war today ♪

♪ I bed to dream and differ
from the hollow lies ♪

♪ This is the dawning
of the rest of our lives ♪

♪ on holiday ♪

The representative from
Jingletown has the floor.

♪ Sieg heil to the president gasman ♪

♪ Bombs away is your punishment ♪

♪ Pulverize the Eiffel Towers ♪

♪ Who criticize your government ♪

♪ Bang bang goes the broken glass and ♪

♪ kill all the fags who don't agree ♪

♪ Trials by fire, setting fire ♪

♪ Is not a way that's meant for me ♪

♪ Just 'cause ♪

♪ Just 'cause,
because we're outlaws, yeah ♪

♪ This is our lives on holiday ♪

You're just trying to create
a vessel for this...

this event to happen inside of.

And to create as much potential
for all kinds of action to happen,

whether it's the video action
or physical action.

So I made a very large room,

which ultimately became
a room of 40 foot walls.

The scene shop has layered in

all the things that we printed digitally,

And now that we're here in the space,

what I want to try to do is
make it feel like a real place.

And I always like to say,
like giving it its soul.

This one is like Will's room so this
is going to get like full of CDs...

What I'm starting to do

is to put things in the nooks and crannies

where the actors will kind of
see them as they're living here.

Things that the audience will never see,

but the actors will kind of discover

as they're here and working.

Alright so, um,
now why don't we move this square...

We have a team of designers who
are all after the same vision.

- They look too clean?
- Yeah, just a little clean.

The challenge is to create an
image of chaos on stage.

It's like writing a simple song.

You know, "Eleanor Rigby"
is a simple song...

but it doesn't mean that you
can fucking do it. You know.

There's... you know,

and what Christine Jones does with the set

is almost the same thing.

It's able to go-take you
to all these different places,

but what you're looking at is
a warehouse full of flyers.

We'll do this one for time
from the same place.

♪ I walk this empty street ♪

♪ on the boulevard of broken dreams ♪

♪ Where the city sleeps ♪

♪ And I'm the only one
and I walk alone ♪

American Idiot is based on my life

and old friendships.

The story's all about the character,
Jesus of Suburbia,

wanting to figure things out
and step up and-and-

you know, stand for
something he believes in.

It's about learning the hard lessons.

♪ Sometimes I wish
someone out there will find me ♪

♪ 'Til then I walk alone ♪

If you study musicals,
they talk to you about "I want" songs.

That song at the top of the show

where a character expresses
their wants for the evening.

So in terms of this,

I wanted to think about,
well, where is that moment?

♪ I want adventure in the
great wide somewhere ♪

♪ I want it more than I can say ♪

"Boulevard of Broken Dreams"
is kind of Johnny's "I want" song

we get into his character.

♪ I'm walking down the line ♪

♪ that divides me somewhere in my mind ♪

♪ On the borderline ♪

♪ of the edge and where I walk alone ♪

Your face should be out for the
"I" but it could be right on it.

I, you know, okay cool.

I play a character called Whatsername.

And um...

Whatsername is a woman who Johnny
meets when he's in the city.

They have an immediate,
exciting and sparky energy

with each other.

Okay, hold.

That's good, isn't it?

Johnny primarily sings
"Boulevard of Broken Dreams",

but we found a way to bring
Whatsername into that song

so we establish the romance at that point.

Awesome, thank you.

♪ I walk alone I walk alone ♪

There's this beautiful melodic line

that the guitars play in the turn around

between chorus and verse.

It's the da nun da nun da nun daaa nun

which I find so evocative,

and I actually took that and
I put it in the strings

at the beginning of the song,

because I wanted to
really set up that motif

because later on she sings it
in the last chorus.

♪ Sometimes I wish
someone out there will find me ♪

So we feel their worlds
intertwine a little bit.

♪ I walk alone ♪

♪ Ah ah, ah ah, ah ah, ahh ah ♪

♪ My shadow's the only
one that walks beside me ♪

♪ My shallow heart's the
only thing that's beating ♪

♪ Sometimes I wish
someone out there will find me ♪

♪ 'Til then I walk alone ♪

Did it feel a hair too fast just now?

Carmel, are you clicked on that?

Yes.

We can bring the tempo back if you want,
a little bit.

Maybe like 2?

What are you clocked at?

159.

Ca we try 157?

♪ She's a rebel, she's a saint ♪

♪ She's the salt of the
earth and she's dangerous ♪

♪ She's a rebel, vigilante ♪

So this is what it's supposed to be,
and I think it's really good.

♪ From Chicago, to Toronto ♪

♪ She's the one that they call ol'
Whatsername ♪

♪ She's a symbol of resistance ♪

♪ And she's holding on my
heart like a hand grenade ♪

I always wanted like
some form of community.

So if we could just do that each time.

To have that in the rock world is rare.

Same power strokes but just
doing all downstrokes?

Oh, okay, yeah,
play all the downstrokes just on that

♪ da da da daa da da da da da da bum ♪

- Do you have Facebook?
- Yeah.

I've just kind of seen that
world for the first time.

It's terrifying.
It is weird, man.

Billie Joe is so famous
and he is so careful

to protect his family from so many people

who want a piece of him...

I'm lucky to have a cellphone right now.

That he's really carved
out a very private life

for himself and his family.

And you can't have that
and be involved in a show.

The minute you're in a show,

you are part of that extended family,

for good or bad. For both, right?

- Billie, is that right?
- He's right.

Bon appetite.

I haven't experienced that sort
of camaraderie with-you know-

with people and making friends
like that in a long time.

Everyone was on the same level.

Like, there was one night,

people started picking
things up and jamming,

and then all of a sudden
we started playing.

And then Adrienne had the photo booth also.

And so there was bonding going on...

pretty wild bonding going on in that booth.

I think it just grew from there.

♪ She's an extraordinary girl ♪

♪ in an ordinary world ♪

♪ And she can't seem to get away ♪

Any audience normally observe only
a quarter of the playing space,

and there's three quarters from their heads

that go up to the top.

I wanted to make sure that
was part of our playing space

and not to kind of rule that area out.

Pop back is on the two of that fourth bar.

♪ She's all alone again ♪

♪ wiping the tears from her eyes ♪

I thought it was going to be easier.

I was like, "Oh, I can do this.
This is easy, this is nothing."

But... I don't know.

♪ From the one called Whatsername ♪

♪ She's all alone again ♪

It's difficult because
not only am I flying,

but I'm also singing.

♪ Some days he feels like dying ♪

But it's my job to show comfort
so we can deliver the story.

Because it's not about the flying,
it's about the story.

♪ She's an extraordinary girl ♪

Because all of the material
has already been written

and is being sung,

we can't really change what they're saying.

Johnny's walking through New York...

So we had to figure out
how to plot out a real story

and make them three dimensional characters.

Johnny is the vulnerable one that gets...

never had a family.

Michael Mayer saw something in what I do

that no one has ever really
been able to make sense of.

Not in the rock world.

Whatsername...
I always wish Whatsername had a name.

And so I just trusted him.

I knew what he was doing was-was cool.

5, 6, 7, go, 1...

We kept working to make the story clear

through the choreography.

Soft.

Steven had an idea

that the chorus in "When September Ends"

would do a kind of ballistic
searching for slumber

almost under the stage floor,

and it was thrilling to watch.

♪ 20 years has gone so fast ♪

But when we put it all together

it became very clear that it
was almost too much.

And it was taking away from
the simplicity of the story

of these three guys.

Yeah, I think I wanted to put
all the whistles and bells on it,

and actually when we
watched the whole thing

there's literally a moment
that described everything.

And as long as we held on to that moment,

right in front of us,
the nugget of the sequence,

everything else was able to fall away.

We've ended up with a version

that's got more stillness
than anything else,

which is the last thing
I thought it would have.

But working on it over the-over the weeks

and then looking at the whole show...

it's one of the pieces
that I'm most excited about.

♪ She puts her makeup on ♪

♪ like graffiti
on the walls of the heartland ♪

♪ She's got a little book of
conspiracies right in her hand ♪

♪ She is paranoid ♪

♪ Endangered species
heading into extinction ♪

♪ She is one of a kind ♪

♪ Well she's the last of
the American girls ♪

♪ She's a rebel ♪

When you're doing a new show,

it's really important that you
try it out somewhere

before you bring it to New York.

Who do you have coming tonight?

I got my mom, and my sister...

What you wanna do is give
yourself an opportunity

to put a show on its feet
with full production values

and learn what you can.

Put your damn top on!

You want to make sure it's
the cast that you want.

You wanna work the kinks out.

Oh shit my nails aren't dry!

And you wanna try it out in
front of an audience.

I usually am angry

when the audience comes for the first time.

I'm like, you know,
I've been having a great time

here in rehearsal,

and now you're going to come
with all your opinions...

so I'm like, "fuck, the
audience is coming."

Sound bright!
8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8...

But I don't feel that way at all.

I just can't wait to, like,
just to get them there

and like, see what happens.

You know what?
I have no idea what's going to happen

or what it's going to be like.

And so that's incredibly-
that's incredibly thrilling.

So just like, bring it.
Come on, fuckers. What?

♪ Don't wanna be an American idiot ♪

Go. Lights 10, go. Lights 11, go.

By opening night at the
Berkeley Repertory Theater,

the story that we had was 3
guys in a shitty little suburb

decide that they're going to get out.

So I lead my friends into a
farewell to our little town.

♪ Everyone's so full of shit ♪

♪ Born and raised by hypocrites ♪

♪ Hearts recycled but never saved ♪

♪ from the cradle to the grave ♪

♪ We are the kids of war and peace ♪

♪ From Anaheim to the Middle East ♪

♪ We are the stories and disciples of ♪

♪ The Jesus of Suburbia ♪

We're all getting ready to leave...

Will's girlfriend is pregnant...

I'm like "fuck".

She's like "oops, we have this problem".

♪ I don't feel any shame,
I won't apologize ♪

♪ When there ain't nowhere you can go ♪

So I end up having to stay at home.

♪ When you've been victimized ♪

♪ Tales from nother broken... ♪

♪ Home! You're leaving, you're leaving ♪

Tunny gets to go,

but Will is trapped
in his suburban wasteland.

♪ I beg to dream and differ
from the hollow lies ♪

♪ This is the dawning
of the rest of our lives ♪

We turn the scaffolding
into a bus and we tip it over.

And head off to the big city.

♪ This is our lives on holiday ♪

Johnny takes to the city like a troubadour.

He meets up with Saint Jimmy.

1234!

Saint Jimmy is basically

everything Johnny kind of wishes he was.

♪ My name is Jimmy and
you'd better not wear it out ♪

♪ Suicide commando that
your momma talked about ♪

♪ King of the 40 thieves
I'm here to represent ♪

♪ The needle in the vein
of the establishment ♪

He's this rush of adrenaline,

whether it's through drugs or sex.

When Johnny meets Whatsername,

their relationship is just wild and sexual.

♪ I text a postcard sent to you ♪

♪ did it go through ♪

♪ Sending all my love to you ♪

But then Saint Jimmy starts
to ruin him through drugs.

Meanwhile,
Tunny has gone down to Times Square

and enlisted.

♪ Ah, Novacaine ♪

He gets shipped off to the Middle East,

and he loses a leg in battle.

Michael really
stuck to the heart of the album

and then he created new characters.

I find all of those characters
very relatable.

Those people remind me of my friends

and they remind me of myself.

At the end of the show
Johnny has gotten off drugs

and comes home clean and sober.

♪ Home, we're coming home again ♪

Tunny has come back without a leg

but with a loving girlfriend.

And Will finally tries
to initiate a relationship

with his ex-girlfriend and their child.

♪ And in the darkest night ♪

♪ If my memory serves me right ♪

♪ I'll never turn back time ♪

♪ Forgetting you but not the time ♪

It's not Norman Rockwell.

This is a portrait of America today.

They knocked it out of
the park as they say.

It was amazing.

We've had a month and a half
of rehearsals for this,

so we were really ready for tonight.

Um, but having a crowd that
was on board with us like that

is a phenomenal feeling.

It's always a little bit like,
"Ohhh" you know,

"please,
please like it" and part of me is like,

"you know what, we're
making a piece of art.

We're putting it out there to the world,

If we love it, if we believe in it,
that's what matters."

I'm hoping the future is Broadway,

which is something I've never touched.

I've never been on Broadway before,

so this would be huge.

I felt sort of validated as a song writer,

my melodies felt validated.

You know,
people don't really talk about these things

like that in the rock world so much,

that, you know,
it's either a good song or it's a bad song,

or it's-you know, does it rock?

Is there a riff? Where's the hook?

Where's the blah blah blah blah?

Here we go.

When Tom Kitt put his spin on it

we were able to sort of
create sort of a dialogue

I think I've been waiting to
have my entire life.

So after we yanked Billie
Joe into our world,

he turns around and invites us...

into the world of Green Day.

Fuck.

The cast was in Berkeley
doing the show every single day

and playing "21 Guns" every day.

We were on tour playing
"21 guns" at the same time.

So we said, "Well,
why don't we just do this thing together?

Like-like let's do a recording."

The challenge with "21 Guns"

is that it has so many
different layers to it.

So we had to keep track of
how they're supposed to fit

when we were recording one at a time.

♪ Do you know
what's worth fighting for ♪

♪ When it's not worth dying for ♪

♪ Does it take your breath away ♪

♪ And you feel yourself suffocating ♪

♪ Does the pain weigh out the pride ♪

♪ And you look for a place to hide ♪

For me recording and producing is...

it's psychological.

♪ You're in ruins ♪

Cool. One more.

Alright, let's do one more, Rebecca.

♪ Did you try to live on your own? ♪

You have to wait for the person

to get in their comfort zone.

One more!

♪ When you burned down
the house and home ♪

One more.

♪ Did you stand too close to the fire ♪

Yep, that's it. Do it again.

♪ Like a liar looking for forgiveness ♪

And then all of a sudden, she's got a voice

that can bring you down to your knees.

♪ From a stone ♪

Yeah, nice.

Sorry, my heart is beating faster than...

Take a deep breath.

Awesome.
Just relax.

♪ One, 21 guns ♪

♪ Lay down your arms ♪

♪ Give up the fight ♪

God damn. She sounds so good.

♪ 21 guns ♪

♪ throw up your arms into the sky ♪

♪ You and I ♪

Wow.

- Hey, Christina?
- Yes?

Just simple, like, rhythmically, you and I,

you're sort of holding
on the note a little bit.

- Okay.
- Yeah, just go right into it.

Okay, great.
Maybe I should stop clenching my fist.

I'm like holding on to every note.

- That might help, too.
- That might help, yeah.

♪ From a stone ♪

♪ When it's time to live and let die ♪

♪ And you can't get another try ♪

♪ Something inside this heart has died ♪

♪ You're in ruins ♪

♪ Your in ruins ♪

♪ One, 21 guns ♪

Look at him!

♪ Throw up your arms into the sky ♪

♪ You and I ♪

That was awesome.

Except can we do one without sunglasses?

I don't think we're there yet, Billie.

The new arrangement of "21 Guns"

made me sort of re-
fall in love with the song.

You know, I think some
of these versions are-

are better than what we recorded.

♪ She outs her makeup on ♪

♪ like graffiti
on the walls of the heartland ♪

When the Grammys

asked Green Day to perform at the show,

Billie Joe immediately said, "well,
I want to do it with my cast."

- Here they are.
- Hey.

It's the Grammy party.

- Grammy party's up in the air.
- Grammy party!

I thought your hair might be down,
and sort of like that.

♪ She is one of a kind ♪

♪ She's the last of the American girls ♪

It's a little too much fabric, though.

Oh, yes!

You're a firebird.

Oh my god, this is the Grammy outfit!

When we opened at Berkeley,

there was a lot of interest in
bringing the show to New York.

And so, we are at the Grammys

and we find out that we're
definitely going to Broadway.

So not only do we get to
perform with Green Day,

on the Grammy Awards,

we get to actually say that
we're gonna be on Broadway.

- This is nuts.
- Yeah, it's crazy.

Show 'em your talent, buddy.
Show 'em your talent.

I don't know if you guys
have done award show thing

or anything close to it, but it's like...

kinda basically playing to cameras

more than it is playing to the crowd,

'cause everybody's a fucking zombie.

Like they're all-everyone's nominated,

like white knuckling it the whole time,

you know, like.

So that's one thing
we figured out a long time ago.

In the beginning,
three punks created a rock masterpiece

called "American Idiot".

Their dreams live on,

and "American Idiot"
has become a stage musical

about to hit Broadway
in a big way this March.

Here to set off 21 guns together,

the cast of American Idiot and Green Day.

♪ Do you know
what's worth fighting for ♪

♪ When it's not worth dying for ♪

♪ Does it take your breath away ♪

♪ And you feel yourself suffocating ♪

♪ Does the pain weigh out the pride ♪

♪ And you look for a place to hide ♪

♪ Did someone break your heart inside ♪

♪ You're in ruins ♪

♪ One, 21 guns ♪

♪ Lay down your arms,
give up the fight ♪

♪ One, 21 guns ♪

♪ Throw up your arms into the sky ♪

♪ You and I ♪

♪ When you're at the end of the road ♪

♪ and you've lost all sense of control ♪

♪ And your thoughts
have taken their toll ♪

♪ When your mind
breaks the spirit of your soul ♪

♪ Your faith walks on broken glass ♪

♪ And the hangover doesn't pass ♪

♪ Nothing's ever built to last ♪

♪ You're in ruins ♪

♪ You're in ruins ♪

♪ One, 21 guns ♪

♪ Lay down your arms give up the fight ♪

♪ One, 21 guns ♪

♪ Throw up your arms into the sky ♪

♪ You and I ♪

♪ Did you ♪

♪ Did you try to live on your own ♪

♪ When you ♪

♪ When you burned down
the house and home ♪

♪ Did you ♪

♪ Did you stand too close to the fire ♪

♪ Like a liar looking for forgiveness ♪

♪ From a stone ♪

There's something about a Broadway musical

that is magical.

♪ And you can't get another try ♪

As jaded as we might get
in this profession,

there's something about hearing the words,

"your show is going to Broadway"

that is just an undeniable thrill.

♪ One, 21 guns ♪

♪ Lay down your arms give up the fight ♪

♪ One, 21 guns ♪

♪ Throw up your arms into the sky ♪

♪ One, 21 guns ♪

♪ Throw up your arms into the sky ♪

♪ you and I ♪

♪ Nobody likes you, everyone left you ♪

♪ They're all out without you ♪

♪ Having fun ♪

We don't know what to call it.

It's not an opera really,

and it's definitely not your parents'
Broadway musical.

So I don't know how-how it's gonna go down.

The thing I was worried about

is I wanted to make sure
people had open minds.

When you're bringing your
family to go see something,

on Broadway,

it's hard to kind of go,

"now,
do I feel like being challenged right now?

Or do I want like, um...

a nice little fairy tale?"

American Idiot is like...
it's a cold reality.

- Hi.
- Yes, yes yes yes.

I skyped with Hoggett this morning.

He sends all his love,

he's "gutted" not to be here.
He's just "gutted".

But I described to him basically

the adjustments that
Lorin and I are making,

and he thinks that all sounds great.

So gear up.

What will be required

will be even more than
what was required prior.

Here we go.

♪ I lost my faith to this ♪

As soon as the Grammys are over,

we are starting up right away.

Everything about this day is so fucked.

What else is fucked?

There's an incredible amount of stress.

It's Broadway,

and so you really are under the microscope.

What we found in Berkeley

was that we had a lot to do,
still, to improve the story.

Saint Jimmy!

As well as the staging,
and the choreography,

and the arrangements.

Casting is a gigantic part of it.

♪ Beating out of time ♪

Billie and I wanted someone

who had a kind of all-American nature,

even though the character of Tunny

has become very pissed off
and aggressive and hostile.

Hey Stark! Stark and Johnny!

The most important thing for you,
is that the subtext

is mother-fucking land of
make be-motherfucking-lieve.

Do you know what I mean?
Don't worry about the steps,

just plug in to what that energy is.

♪ We are the kids of war and peace ♪

♪ From Anaheim to the Middle East ♪

♪ We are the stories and disciples of ♪

♪ The Jesus of Suburbia ♪

♪ Land of make believe ♪

♪ And it don't believe in me ♪

♪ Land of make believe ♪

♪ And I don't believe ♪

♪ I don't care ♪

♪ I don't care ♪

♪ I don't care ♪

It's a trip to see your life experiences

being interpreted on stage.

Let's start a war, shall we!

So don't think about when you're here,

as you turn around here.

There's Tunny, in his naïve way.

So that first step is commitment.

♪ Drain the pressure from the swelling ♪

And then there's Will.

The guy who wasn't really
quite ready to be a grown-up.

You know,
I've learned that lesson the hard way.

♪ Give me a long kiss goodnight ♪

♪ And everything will be alright ♪

Can I give you some other
things to think about?

Yes, absolutely.

And Johnny with all of his
wanting to stand for something

that he believes in.

♪ Saint Jimmy's comin'
down across the alleyway ♪

And then gets blindsided by himself.

♪ Comin' at you on the count of 1, 2 ♪

1, 2, 3, 4!

And Saint Jimmy's just-

he's just a bad motherfucker.

♪ My name is Jimmy and you'd
better not wear it out ♪

♪ Suicide commando
that your momma talked about ♪

Saint Jimmy is part of myself.

♪ The needle in the vein
of the establishment ♪

You know, everyone's got their demons.

Like, we're all creatures of habit.

It's hard to shake that stuff off.

Yow!

Billie Joe, just like all of us,
has his dark side...

Saint Jimmy!

The side that's self destructive,
manipulative,

charismatic but dangerous
to himself and to others.

♪ My name is Saint Jimmy,
I'm a son of a gun ♪

♪ I'm the one that's from
the way outside now ♪

There's a parallel between, you know,

me going to New York for the show

and what happened in American Idiot.

♪ I really hate to say it
but I told you so ♪

♪ So shut your mouth before
I shoot you down 'ol boy ♪

But this time,
it's almost like a second chance

to do it the right way.

Everybody!

♪ It's Saint Jimmy ♪

♪ And that's my name ♪

♪ Give my regards to Broadway ♪

♪ Remember me to...

Is that right?

♪ Ba ba ba ba ba ♪

♪ And tell them I'll be there 'ere long ♪

- Right?
- I'll be there 'ere long?

I think that's what it is.

- We gotta look this up.
- Yeah, look it up.

I love the Saint James theater.

It's got such a fantastic
feeling when you walk in.

There's something grand about it.

Give my regards to ol' Broadway

and say that I'll be there 'ere long.

You have the gorgeous
ornate architecture inside,

and the décor,
and then there's American Idiot.

I love that juxtaposition.

We were watching TV on tour,
and Mike goes,

"How do you know this shit?"

And I was like,

"I learned it when I was a little kid".

♪ Isn't it rich? ♪

♪ Aren't we a pair? ♪

♪ Me here at last on the ground ♪

♪ You in mid-air ♪

♪ Send in the clowns ♪

When I was a little kid,

from the ages of like 4 and a half,
until I was about 14,

I took, like, vocal lessons.

But I never told any of my friends,

Like I-because it was-it
was just something that I did.

And I was just learning
music, and you know,

maybe it wasn't the most masculine thing,
or whatever, in the world.

♪ Why can't they be like we were ♪

♪ Perfect in every way ♪

♪ What's the matter with kids today? ♪

My mom would take me around

and sing, like, at convalescent hospitals.

And I would sing anything
from like Frank Sinatra,

Al Jolson, George M. Cohen.

It would just be like stuff this woman,
Mrs. Favarone,

she would teach me, and I didn't...

I think it just kinds got
ingrained in my head.

I wonder if that has had some impact,

it must have,
in the way that you write songs...

You take a song like "Wake me
Up When September Ends"

which is the... you know,
one of the penultimate moment of the show,

one of the penultimate
moments of the album,

you know, and this progression...

which, you know, is so beautiful,

and feels to me like Chorus Line,
"What I Did for Love".

Yeah. Wow, that's a good one.

And then you have this major to minor,
which you know.

"Love is Here to Stay", too,
does that major to minor.

So it's-it is, all I mean it's
melodic and it's major to minor,

it's the-it's the-

it comes certainly from
this whole tradition.

Well I think album making,

or the art of it for me, is like,
that it takes you on a ride,

and the songs speak to each other.

Okay that's a stretch.

That's bad.

I don't know how to explain
how Billie Joe and I,

who come from such different worlds,

manage to have such a
fruitful collaboration.

To me what's so interesting

is it's that Tin Pan Alley stuff.

I think it's because both of us,
at our hearts,

are entertainers.

- So it's not just about drugs.
- Yeah.

'Cause here, it's such a metaphor,

that he became that kind of...

In my rock world,

things get so competitive,
that sometimes it's a-

you get into a mode where
people become discouraging.

This was just a different feeling.

It was almost-people were-

you know,
I don't want to over-romanticize about it,

but it was-everybody was
sort of encouraging each other,

and... you know,
it's just-it's New York, it's not like-

it's not some bullshit Hollywood crap,
you know.

The whole theatre thing
is really seductive,

and it's just inspiring too.

♪ I left my blood like
bullets over Broadway ♪

Every day I had this discipline ritual

where I would just write about anything.

It doesn't matter what it's about.

It doesn't have to even make sense.

♪ With broken legs and
roses over New York ♪

I would just write something.
It would be 30 seconds,

it would be 40 seconds,
it would be two minutes.

I just had this momentum of just,
like, writing songs.

And I would do that during the day,

and then I would end up going
to the show at night.

♪ In my own private suicide ♪

I just felt like a sponge.

I just kind of sucked everything up.

So, what I'm gonna do

is look at swapping you guys out.

I just want to make sure
it doesn't translate

as he's the father.

Today's our final rehearsal.

♪ Nobody's perfect and I stand accused ♪

We're going to do all of our
last little picky notes

or try new things for the last time.

What would be better is if
you were up here-ish.

- Ballet thing.
- Uh huh.

From "Jimmy died today".

I don't think it should be busy. No.

Will!
Okay, hold.

So Carmel,
we're gonna make a small adjustment.

So it'll be "Oh shit,
this is my life." Bam bam-

as opposed to a question.

Oh shit, this is my life.

♪ I'm the son of rage and love ♪

Hold there.

Can we have the cast in the house please?

Full cast in the house, please.

The time has come. The show is now yours,

so fly with it.

It's in-we're in spectacular shape.

I couldn't be prouder of it.

It's such a weird feeling because since,
you know,

since the beginning we've
been working and working

and shifting things and finding it.

Um... but um...

we found it and it's fantastic.

♪ I got a rock and roll band ♪

♪ I got a rock and roll life ♪

♪ I got a rock and roll girlfriend ♪

♪ And another ex-wife ♪

♪ I got a kid in New York ♪

♪ I got a kid in the Bay ♪

♪ I haven't drank or smoked nothin'
in over 22 days ♪

♪ So get off of my case ♪

♪ Off of my case ♪

I'm here to welcome you
to the Gypsy robe ceremony

for the opening night on Broadway,

of American Idiot!

Everyone who's making their
Broadway debut tonight

come here to the center of the stage.

The Gypsy robe tradition began in 1950

when a chorus dancer in
"Gentlemen Prefer Blonds"

sent a dressing robe to
the Imperial Theater

where "Call me Madam" was opening

with a note proclaiming the
robe had been worn

by all the Ziegfeld beauties
and would bless their show.

The Gypsy robe is awarded
to a member of the chorus

who has the most Broadway
musical chorus credits.

The honored gypsy puts on the robe,

circles the stage three times
counter-clockwise,

and the show is blessed.

Yeah!!

It will be our pleasure

to see the Gypsy robe for American Idiot

presented to Andrew Call.

Congratulations!

I always looked at Broadway

as being some sort of impossible dream.

It is my goal, it is my dream,

and I'm living it right now.

It feels so good.

These actors,
they put so much passion and heart

into what they're doing.

I heard Liza Minnelli is coming tonight.

Oh you punk kids were just terrific!

I loved what you were doing-all
that stomping around on stage,

it was simply inspired.

I woke up today thinking,
"Okay, it;s just another show,

it's just another show."

But it's not just another show.

It's American Idiot! On Broadway, you know?

It was really strange to see Donald Trump.

I was like,
"what the fuck are you doing here? Really?"

In 3, 2, 1...

Green Day is used to the stage,
but now they're coming to Broadway.

I am Ann Craig. Coming up, I'm taking you

inside their brand new
musical American Idiot.

It's showtime.

Did you ever think you'd get here?

Uh...

I've been working for this for 30 years...

I hoped I would make it.

The application of eye shadow

is a very very delicate procedure.

We all believe in it so much...

But um...

I've never felt so lucky in my entire life.

You deserve it, man.

Thanks. Thanks.

Opening night, baby!

It's gunmetal grey. I had to.

I love boys, they're stupid!

I don't know what to expect.

It's kind of helpful to be like,
"I can handle it".

I'm saying this now I'm thinking,

"Okay, you're definitely
jinxing yourself right now."

And now we're at 15 minutes.

It's time to unleash this on New York.

Let's do it.

1, 2, 3, it's fucktime!

♪ Don't wan an be an American Idiot ♪

♪ Don't want a nation
under the new media ♪

♪ Hey,
can you hear the sound of hysteria ♪

♪ The subliminal mindfuck America ♪

The reaction was amazing.

One hard-core Green Day fan is like,
"Oh my god."

I go, "It's not what you
thought it was gonna be was it?"

He was like, "Not at all."

And then I heard someone say,
"I guess this was inspired

by a rock band or something like that."

I mean they had no clue what Green Day was,

and that was really exciting,

because it was reaching
a whole new audience.

Amazing performances,

incredible energy,

not like anything else on Broadway.

My next guests star in the
acclaimed new Broadway musical

based on the Green Day album
of the same name.

From the looks of things tonight,
I can tell you

this show is going to attract
a whole new crowd

right here on Broadway.

Okay, here's the deal,
and this is the honest to god truth,

I don't read the reviews. I really don't.

American Idiot is getting

- phenomenal reviews.
- Great reviews.

I know that we got some ecstatic notices.

Almost the best thing
I've seen on Broadway.

And some notices that were
carping about this or that.

But I will say the audience
response was over the top.

It was crazy.

It was wild. Uh...

You know, I would just-all that
electricity, that excitement,

and sort of everything felt
like it was on fire.

Billie Joe went from being
moderately interested,

to getting more intrigued...

to becoming passionate

about what the whole Broadway vibe was.

So by the time I suggested to him

that my secret dream

was that someday he would
play Saint Jimmy...

he couldn't-I-I saw a little light...

behind his eyes, a flicker of excitement.

He said, "Oh really? You think so?"

I'm like, "Uh-huh."

And the next day he called and said,

"Oh my god, are you serious about this?
I'm shitting."

♪ My name is Saint Jimmy
I'm a son of a gun ♪

♪ I'm the one that's from
the way outside now ♪

♪ A teenage assassin
executing some fun ♪

♪ In the cult of the life of crime now ♪

The first day I rehearsed, Michael goes,

"Oh, there's something
I forgot to tell you.

This is going to be
really awkward at first."

And it was really awkward.

Don't look at the girls until the scream.

Okay.

Just be focused on him.

They don't even penetrate
your consciousness.

I was really really nervous

about whether I could do it at all.

Here we go, ready?

He didn't want the press to come,

he didn't want people to talk about it.

It was absolutely hush hush.

Do you mind? Just for me to see it again.

So we'd sneak him into a theater

where we would rehearse.

See how cool that looks?

She does that all in one.
You stop yourself.

She's a professional dancer.

Are you asleep?

I was nervous about acting in general,

you know, like, the silent moments,

the stillness in parts.

I'm not used to doing that at all.

It's dead silent and your
brain's going brrrrr you know...

"stay still, don't say anything."

You know, that part was hard.

He was freaked out.
He didn't know if he'd be any good.

Is life imitating me
or is rage imitating life?

I feel like a civil war,
like a knife in the heart!

I've got an axe to grind
and it's splitting my head open!

No friends, no girls!

I need both!

♪ Saint Jimmy's com in'
down across the alleyway ♪

♪ Up on the boulevard
like a zip gun on parade ♪

♪ Light of a silhouette
he's insubordinate ♪

♪ Comin' at you on the count of 1, 2 ♪

1, 2, 3, 4!

♪ My name is Jimmy and
you better not wear it out ♪

♪ Suicide commando
that your momma talked about ♪

♪ King of the 40 thieves
I'm here to represent ♪

♪ The needle in the vein
of the establishment ♪

♪ I'm the patron saint of the denial ♪

♪ With an angel face
and a taste for suicidal ♪

Whoa!

♪ Cigarettes and ramen
and a little bag of dope ♪

♪ I am the son of a bitch
and Edgar Allan Poe ♪

♪ Raised in the city
in the halo of lights ♪

♪ Product of war and fear
that we've been victimized ♪

♪ I'm the patron saint of the denial ♪

♪ With an angel face
and a taste for suicidal ♪

I'll give you something to cry about!

Saint Jimmy!

In the old days,
coming from sort of an underground scene,

there was a lot of bands
that you would watch

that were your friends'
bands and things like that.

You know,
everyone would sort of feed off each other,

and have fun, but at the same time be,
you know, learning.

Once Green Day took off,
we started losing that.

We were losing friends, which is fine,

you know, it's like, you only need a few.

But it's um... it's uh...

it gets, um... it just became difficult

to sort of find, um,
kindred spirits in that way.

♪ We are the world ♪

Which charity is this for?

Mine!

When the cast came along
I started to feel it again

and Ive always wanted that.

I've always been,
almost-almost naïve about it,

where I wanted to make those
kinds of relationships...

Did we get it? Did we get it?

And it didn't happen in
rock and roll music.

It happened in theatre.

That's the thing that sort of,
uh, blindsided me.

♪ My name is Saint jimmy
I'm a son of a gun ♪

♪ I'm the one that's from
the way outside now ♪

♪ A teenage assassin
executing some fun ♪

♪ In the cult of the life of crime now ♪

♪ I really hate to say it
but I told you so ♪

♪ So shut your mouth before
I shoot you down ol' boy ♪

♪ Welcome to the club
and give me some blood ♪

♪ I'm the resident leader
of the lost and found ♪

♪ It's comedy and tragedy ♪

♪ It's Saint Jimmy ♪

♪ And that's my name ♪

And don't wear it out!

Did I tell ya how many times
I've been reprimanded for...

- That was the best.
- For bad behavior.

I know.

One night I grabbed a bottle of
whiskey and took a sip of it.

And then- and then um...

and I remember you going-you were like,

- "You can't do that."
- Right.

You know, it was like, "note",
and it was like my notes was,

"Don't get bottle of whiskey
and bring it one stage."

Then the naked cowboy happened,

and then everything was off to the races.

And then another time,

I ran out and grabbed a bunch of Twizzlers,

and I threw it at the whole crowd,

and they were like "yeah!"

I was like, "Oh, that was pretty cool."

And then...

and then all of a sudden,

here comes Tom Hulce
walking back and he was like-

he goes, "Um... you... um...

there's this thing going on on the stage

and um... it's...

you can't run off of it because it's...

it's really disruptive to
what's happening on stage."

And I go,

"So, you don't want me to throw
Twizzlers at people anymore?"