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healingmirthTonight was Billie Joe Armstrong's Broadway debut, and as much as I'd like to pretend that I'm totally jaded about it, as much as I would have *said* I was, if anyone had asked me five minutes before the curtain went up, I was sitting on the edge of my seat and my heart was racing just a bit when I knew he was about to appear on stage.
The opening number was probably the most electric I've seen it in the *mumble* times I've been to see the show, and I don't say that lightly. They all jumped higher, sang with more verve (which wasn't always a good thing) and threw themselves into the choreography like I can't remember in a long time. Michael Esper (bless him) nearly tipped his couch over backwards. I could hear Stark stomping his foot during "City of the Damned".
Now, I've never seen Green Day live in concert, but I sort of know how it goes, and I sort of knew what to hope for in Billie Joe's performance. I assume that's what everyone else was expecting to see, and we got it. To go with the cheering when the house manager made the announcement (was there anyone in the house who didn't know who was playing St. Jimmy?), there was a full minute of applause at the end of his first and probably best song - "St. Jimmy"
It didn't occur to me until nearly the end of the show tonight that St. Jimmy doesn't do any of the choreography. I also couldn't remember whether Tony comes on with the cast for "Good Riddance" - he must? But I can't picture where he stands on the stage like I can with the rest of the cast. Billie Joe, of course, was center stage, and sang the first verse before handing off to the others as it usually went. At one point Michael Esper was hopping up and down behind him (so, so adorable) and Theo (whose hair was unprecedented levels of wacky during "Too Much Too Soon") wove over to kiss him on the cheek during his own line. The cast got a standing ovation both at the curtain call and again at the end, though everyone in the orchestra appeared to stay standing the whole way through. (I mostly sat so that people could see over my head - a lot of the mezz people stayed up as well)
A while ago, I mentioned an Out interview with Michael Mayer about the gay themes in the show, and while I was willing to go along with him about Whatsername-Johnny-St. Jimmy being a love triangle of some sort, it wasn't until seeing Billie on tonight that I really saw St. Jimmy as someone really jealous of Whatsername. Where Tony Vincent is mature, and sort of creepy, and clearly engaged in a power struggle with Whatsername (whether you're viewing St. Jimmy as an actual person, as Johnny's alter ego, as a personification of the drugs, whatever), Billie Joe's St. Jimmy is petulant, and needy. He wants Johnny to pay attention to him. He wants Johnny to play with him. It's not so much more sexual as differently sexual; it's more blatant.
Now, some of the nuance in the performance that I picked up on tonight is probably always there. I don't remember ever watching Tony leave Johnny and Whatsername behind on the stage floor before (one of the many, many details that I've missed, since there are so many places to look) but Billie Joe was dragging himself away, unhappy about it, looking like he was waiting to be invited back. Ditto that at the end of Letterbomb, when I noticed for the first time tonight that as Whatsername yells at Johnny, she's driving St. Jimmy farther and farther away. Banishing demons through the power of song! \o/
One of the odder moments in the night, and I have no idea whether it was intentional or not, was when Jimmy and Johnny bring the lipstick out to paint their chests. (I'm not going to go on about Billie Joe taking his shirt off onstage, but yeah, that happened too.) Billie Joe's tube looked like it had melted in his pocket, so when he uncapped it, the first thing that happened was a line of literally blood-red poured down his chest before he drew the heart. It was especially effective, but I'm pretty sure it was accidental. I think "The Death of St. Jimmy" was my second-favorite of his songs, vocally and performance-wise, mostly because he got to be as impish as he wanted.
(Also, hi Andrew Call, carrying Billie Joe offstage. How many people in the audience would have traded places with you at that moment?)
Also, I was loitering inside taking pictures of the cast board so long that I walked out right in front of Wallace Smith - without noticing. So there's this ridiculous crowd at stage door, and just as I get to the barrier there's this cheer from the crowd, which made me say "oh shit, who's behind me," prepared to be an idiot, no pun intended. Thankfully (?) It was the one member of the cast that I don't feel at all emotionally attached to. (Nothing personal, Wallace, it's just that you're at least 6 hours behind the rest of them.)
ETA - There approximately a million pictures from the tumblr, an audio clip, and so far one video - [http://fuckyeahamericanidiot.tumblr.com/post/1208278180/grassmah-video-of-good-riddance-september] - which picks up after Billie Joe's verse, in which you can see for yourself that Michael Esper hops up and down, though Theo is sadly off-frame at the key moment.
The opening number was probably the most electric I've seen it in the *mumble* times I've been to see the show, and I don't say that lightly. They all jumped higher, sang with more verve (which wasn't always a good thing) and threw themselves into the choreography like I can't remember in a long time. Michael Esper (bless him) nearly tipped his couch over backwards. I could hear Stark stomping his foot during "City of the Damned".
Now, I've never seen Green Day live in concert, but I sort of know how it goes, and I sort of knew what to hope for in Billie Joe's performance. I assume that's what everyone else was expecting to see, and we got it. To go with the cheering when the house manager made the announcement (was there anyone in the house who didn't know who was playing St. Jimmy?), there was a full minute of applause at the end of his first and probably best song - "St. Jimmy"
It didn't occur to me until nearly the end of the show tonight that St. Jimmy doesn't do any of the choreography. I also couldn't remember whether Tony comes on with the cast for "Good Riddance" - he must? But I can't picture where he stands on the stage like I can with the rest of the cast. Billie Joe, of course, was center stage, and sang the first verse before handing off to the others as it usually went. At one point Michael Esper was hopping up and down behind him (so, so adorable) and Theo (whose hair was unprecedented levels of wacky during "Too Much Too Soon") wove over to kiss him on the cheek during his own line. The cast got a standing ovation both at the curtain call and again at the end, though everyone in the orchestra appeared to stay standing the whole way through. (I mostly sat so that people could see over my head - a lot of the mezz people stayed up as well)
A while ago, I mentioned an Out interview with Michael Mayer about the gay themes in the show, and while I was willing to go along with him about Whatsername-Johnny-St. Jimmy being a love triangle of some sort, it wasn't until seeing Billie on tonight that I really saw St. Jimmy as someone really jealous of Whatsername. Where Tony Vincent is mature, and sort of creepy, and clearly engaged in a power struggle with Whatsername (whether you're viewing St. Jimmy as an actual person, as Johnny's alter ego, as a personification of the drugs, whatever), Billie Joe's St. Jimmy is petulant, and needy. He wants Johnny to pay attention to him. He wants Johnny to play with him. It's not so much more sexual as differently sexual; it's more blatant.
Now, some of the nuance in the performance that I picked up on tonight is probably always there. I don't remember ever watching Tony leave Johnny and Whatsername behind on the stage floor before (one of the many, many details that I've missed, since there are so many places to look) but Billie Joe was dragging himself away, unhappy about it, looking like he was waiting to be invited back. Ditto that at the end of Letterbomb, when I noticed for the first time tonight that as Whatsername yells at Johnny, she's driving St. Jimmy farther and farther away. Banishing demons through the power of song! \o/
One of the odder moments in the night, and I have no idea whether it was intentional or not, was when Jimmy and Johnny bring the lipstick out to paint their chests. (I'm not going to go on about Billie Joe taking his shirt off onstage, but yeah, that happened too.) Billie Joe's tube looked like it had melted in his pocket, so when he uncapped it, the first thing that happened was a line of literally blood-red poured down his chest before he drew the heart. It was especially effective, but I'm pretty sure it was accidental. I think "The Death of St. Jimmy" was my second-favorite of his songs, vocally and performance-wise, mostly because he got to be as impish as he wanted.
(Also, hi Andrew Call, carrying Billie Joe offstage. How many people in the audience would have traded places with you at that moment?)
Also, I was loitering inside taking pictures of the cast board so long that I walked out right in front of Wallace Smith - without noticing. So there's this ridiculous crowd at stage door, and just as I get to the barrier there's this cheer from the crowd, which made me say "oh shit, who's behind me," prepared to be an idiot, no pun intended. Thankfully (?) It was the one member of the cast that I don't feel at all emotionally attached to. (Nothing personal, Wallace, it's just that you're at least 6 hours behind the rest of them.)
ETA - There approximately a million pictures from the tumblr, an audio clip, and so far one video - [http://fuckyeahamericanidiot.tumblr.com/post/1208278180/grassmah-video-of-good-riddance-september] - which picks up after Billie Joe's verse, in which you can see for yourself that Michael Esper hops up and down, though Theo is sadly off-frame at the key moment.
