Green Day's American Idiot musical came to a success

Green Day’s “American Idiot” took the pop culture scene by surprise twice.

When Green Day released the concept album in 2004, it surprised both fans and critics with a storyline that followed the lives of Jesus of Suburbia and St. Jimmy, punk kids facing a choice about how they’ll live their lives — as agents of rage or love.

The album was a massive success, selling more than 15 million copies and scoring four Top 20 singles. It was widely considered a turning point for a band that a few years before was still making scatological jokes.

The second surprise came in 2009, when it was turned into a stage musical that ran for 422 performances on Broadway, won Tony Awards for scenic and lighting design, and won a Grammy for best musical album. It also received Tony and Outer Critics Circle award nominations for best musical.

The punk kids from San Francisco’s Bay Area had clearly grown up.

The musical comes to the Kentucky Center’s Whitney Hall on Wednesday and Thursday night. Evan Jay Newman, the show’s musical director, said the current production remains true to Green Day’s album.

“We’ve always wanted to hold on to that grit, that energy, and cleaning it up would be detrimental to the vitality of the show,” said Newman, who also plays keyboards in the production. “It’s not necessarily something you usually expect from a Broadway show, but keeping the integrity of that rock ’n’ roll attitude was really important to the creative team.”

“I think it’s something different from what we normally experience in the theater,” said Newman, a stage actor, singer and musician who began working at age 8. “It helps us bring in that Green Day audience that’s so loyal to this album and the band. The show brings in people who are used to a more theatrical performance, but also a group of people that spends all of its time at rock concerts.”