John Gallagher Jr., Stark Sands & More Set for American Idiot; Cast to Perform on Grammy Awards with Green Day
The Broadway cast of American Idiot has been announced—and they’re headed for a live performance at the 2010 Grammy Awards. The new musical will star Tony Award winner John Gallagher Jr. (Spring Awakening) Tony nominee Stark Sands (Journey’s End), Michael Esper (A Man For All Seasons), Rebecca Naomi Jones (Passing Strange), Christina Sajous (The Wild Party), Mary Faber (Avenue Q) and Tony Vincent (Jesus Christ Superstar). American Idiot is set to begin previews on March 24 at the St. James Theatre and open on April 20, directed by Michael Mayer.
The cast will join Green Day to perform “21 Guns” on the Grammy Awards ceremony, which will air on CBS on January 31 live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Reprise Records released a new version of the hit single in December produced by Billie Joe Armstrong and performed by the cast of American Idiot and Green Day.
The Broadway cast will also include Declan Bennett (Rent), Andrew Call (Cry-Baby), Gerard Canonico (Spring Awakening), Miguel Cervantes (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), Joshua Henry (In the Heights), Van Hughes (Hairspray), Brian Charles Johnson (Spring Awakening), Joshua Kobak (Rent), Lorin Latarro (Movin’ Out), Omar Lopez-Cepero (Evita tour), Leslie McDonel (Hairspray), Chase Peacock (High School Musical), Theo Stockman (Hair), Ben Thompson (Cyrano), Alysha Umphress (Bare), Aspen Vincent (Dirty Dancing) and Libby Winters (White Noise).
All but two of the cast members of the 2009 Berkeley Repertory Theatre production of American Idiot are taking the show to Broadway. The most notable casting change is Sands in the principal role of Tunny, previously played by Matt Caplan (Rent, South Pacific).
“This wildly gifted company takes my breath away,” director Michael Mayer said in a statement. “They bring such depth and passion to the material. It is a rare honor to be blessed with such spectacularly imaginative performers.”
American Idiot follows the exhilarating journey of a new generation of young Americans as they struggle to find meaning in a post 9/11 world, borne along by Green Day’s electrifying score. This high-octane show includes every song from the acclaimed album American Idiot, as well as several songs from the band’s three-time Grammy-nominated new release, 21st Century Breakdown. Billie Joe Armstrong and Green Day have collaborated with Mayer, orchestrator Tom Kitt and choreographer Steven Hoggett to bring this iconic album to the stage.
The show features scenic design by Christine Jones, costume design by Andrea Lauer, lighting design by Kevin Adams, sound design by Brian Ronan and video design by Darrel Maloney.
