Released by the American punk trio Green Day in 2004, American Idiot was a concept album in the vein of The Who classic Tommy. It features the anti-hero Jesus of Suburbia and some friends who are going through an existential crisis in post 9-11 America.
Like Tommy, American Idiot was eventually turned into a stage musical. The first production of American Idiot was held in Berkeley in 2009, and in 2010 the musical debuted on Broadway. American Idiot was nominated for a Tony for Best Musical that year. It lost out to Memphis, but it did pick up two Tonys in design categories.
Thursday and Friday Nov. 28-29 a touring production of American Idiot is running at Conexus Arts Centre. Performances are at 8 p.m. both nights, and tickets range from $37-$75. To give you a taste of the musical delights that await, here’s video of Green Day performing with the Broadway cast from American Idiot: