The ensemble of American Idiot (Photo by Jeff Lorch)
Reviewed by Matthew Beymer
The Mark Taper Forum
Through November 16
This review is part of the Stage Raw/Unusual Suspects Youth Journalism Fellowship
With the reopening of the Mark Taper Forum comes the serendipitous rebirth of rock band Green Day’s American Idiot, a co-production between Deaf West Theatre and Center Theatre Group told in both American Sign Language and English. The punk rock musical is just as raw and exhilarating as ever, and it remains a powerful indictment of American suburban culture and politics, as well as of the conventional musical theater spectacle. Yet at its core, this reimagined presentation, directed by CTG artistic director Snehal Desai, lacks continuous vigor due to its half-baked script and confusing staging.
Originally conceived by Green Day and Broadway director-book writer Michael Mayer, American Idiot follows friends Johnny (Daniel Durant/Milo Manheim), Will (Otis Jones IV/James Olivas), and Tunny (Landen Gonzales/Brady Fritz) in their stifling suburbia, where they struggle to define their place in an unmerciful society. Johnny takes inspiration from the mythical drug dealer St. Jimmy (Mason Alexander Park) and Whatsername (Mars Storm Rucker), Will separates from his pregnant girlfriend Heather (Ali Fumiko Whitney), and Tunny enlists in the army and encounters the Extraordinary Girl (Kaia T. Fitzgerald/Jerusha Cavazos). The narrative is straightforward in theory, though it becomes trivialized by its paper-thin characters. American Idiot is supposed to evoke an inherent stylistic bareness, yet it renders character growth nearly invisible onstage. This becomes exacerbated by Desai’s nebulous arrangement of the leading men – at one point, five actors are clearly present onstage while a lone actor lingers behind the scaffolding, hardly visible.
The fusion of Colin Analco’s ASL choreography with Jennifer Weber’s dance choreography does, however, keep the production on track, enhancing its emotionally charged scenes. Dance captain Lark Detweiler’s solo in “Holiday” is fierce and captivating, asserting the power of this marriage of ASL and dance within the first 20 minutes of the show.
Performers Landen Gonzales, Mars Storm Rucker, and Mason Alexander Park also stand out as they truly inhabit their characters onstage, even if the libretto provides bare-bones descriptions of the characters themselves. Their characters are conveyed well by David Murakami’s projection and caption design, which is further supported by Takeshi Kata’s minimalistic scenic design. However, the visual presence of mass media does not consume this production as overwhelmingly as the dozens of TV screens in the original 2009 Berkeley Rep production, which is surprising during a highly contentious election year.
Center Theatre Group and Deaf West Theatre at The Mark Taper Forum, 135 North Grand Ave., downtown, Tues.-Fri., 8 pm; Sat., 2:30 & 8pm.; Sun., 1 & 6:30 pm; thru Nov. 16. https://CenterTheatreGroup.org. Running time: 90 minutes with no intermission.
