American Idiot: 2 (Circle Slips R8)
It’s been a while since a show captivated me so much from the start, but I’m already a little (lot) obsessed. I’ve not stopped listening to Green Day &/or the Broadway cast album since I saw the show the first time and I was certainly not disappointed with my second visit. It was sooo good. I mean, SO good! I don’t have a whole lot to say today as I’m still taking it in, but as you may have gathered, I loved it. (Although I will say I shouldn’t go into the theatre too early as the 9/11 video loop made me rather depressed after a few minutes of too much time to think about it all).
Anyway, as is often my habit with my crazy obsession shows, the blogs from this point on (if I ever finish them) will be a random mish mash of highlights, thoughts, notable moments and stage door round ups, all interspersed with far too much mental fangirling, which will hopefully not result in the cast never speaking to me again (I am SO sorry, I just can’t help myself).
Soooo… I was sitting in the right slips, front row nearest the stage and whilst it was a good view, I could only see half of Will’s sofa and none of his ‘flat’ behind it. I’d quite like to try the other side now, but I’ll confess I’m rather looking forward to all my front row tickets!
The focus for me tonight was just picking up more of the subtleties that I didn’t catch on my first visit and I found myself particularly caught by Johnny’s run through of his time in the city during Whatsername. It was a clever way (I thought) of explaining who St. Jimmy actually is [if you don’t want to know who St Jimmy actually is, don’t read the rest of this paragraph], especially when Johnny puts on the braided waistcoat and kisses Whatsername by the wall. I’ll admit that even knowing who St. Jimmy is, I found that scene earlier in the show between him and Whatsername (Last Night On Earth) slightly confusing. I could appreciate that Johnny was letting the St Jimmy side of his personality take over, but it did sort of look like Whatsername just didn’t care that the bloke she’d been kissing two minutes previous had been replaced by a completely different one. I therefore particularly liked that they clarified things at the end by having Aaron’s Johnny re-enact the moment as his St Jimmy alterego. I also love St. Jimmy first appearance in Boulevard Of Broken Dreams as Johnny’s ‘shadow’; ‘my shadow’s the only one that walks beside me’. It’s an early hint at his true identity and it ties in nicely, especially when that moment is also replicated during Whatsername. I really do love that ending number. So beautifully done.
So, as I already mentioned, I’ve been listening to both the soundtrack and the originals a lot this week and it gave me more of a context for the music in the show. I love the harmonies and the deviations from the source material. It’s different, yet not…! The vocals are excellent right through the show and the ensemble really shine through.
Finally, I wanted to mention Ross William Wild, who is excellent, even though he isn’t actually in the show… It seems a little odd to me really, when they could easily have cast one of the ensemble boys in the role, however, Ross is utterly brilliant so I can hardly criticise! I love his Favourite Son video, it’s spot on with all the cheesey winking and perfect smiles and then when he reappears as the Rock Star boyfriend later on, you’d hardly notice it’s the same actor. I wonder if I’d have picked up on that if it had been an actor I didn’t already know…
So, stage door went well. I brought the poster from the Apple Store Q&A and got everyone to sign it, including Mark Crossland and Alex. I felt bad not stopping Steve in case he thought I didn’t like him, so I told him he’d already done it. Amelia didn’t look like she was going to stop anyway, so I just left her to walk past. I didn’t want to be difficult and ask for anything special, but I did ask Aaron to sign it to me, so it’s a little bit extra special. I’m going to frame it and put it up on the wall at some point and I’m really quite excited about that! Yay! I also told everyone I loved it and would be back, obviously. Alex was really chatty, which was nice and I then saw Luke on my tube home, but as I’d already briefly spoken to him at SD, I felt silly so buried myself in blogging to avoid awkwardness…!
Anyhoo, my last trip resulted in a booking spree and I suspect this one will too. I need to go back and soon!
Peace, loVe loVe and happiness,
K xx
[Actual publish date: 26/8/15]
So Currently Captivated 
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