‘American Idiot’ to get first Korean run

Broadway musical “American Idiot,” an adaptation of punk rock band Green Day’s seventh studio album of the same title, will be staged for the first time in Korea, according to its local promoters.

The one-act, sung-through musical premiered on Broadway in 2010. Green Day did not appear in the production, though its songwriter and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong occasionally played the role of St. Jimmy, one of its three young protagonists. 

The musical was nominated for a number of Tony Awards in 2010, including Best Musical, and won two awards: best scenic design and best lighting design. The show had another North American tour in 2011.

Green Day’s 2004 studio album enjoyed enormous popularity worldwide, selling over 15 million copies with more than 6 million copies sold in the U.S. alone. The rock musical album tells the story of three young men and their struggles to make sense of the world and find meaning in their lives, post-9/11.

The album also spawned a string of hit singles, including “Holiday,” “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and “American Idiot.” Among them, “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 2005.

The musical follows the album’s plot; its script was co-written by Billie Joe Armstrong and director Michael Mayer.

Green Day was formed in 1987 and is one of the world’s best-selling bands of all time, having won five Grammy Awards and sold over 75 million albums globally.

“American Idiot” will be performed from Sept. 5 to 22 at Blue Square’s Samsung Electronics Hall in Hannam-dong, Seoul. Tickets range from 60,000 won to 150,000 won. For more information, call 1588-5212.

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)