John Shearer/Getty ImagesThese punks just want to sing. And dance. And put on a show!
Taking a page from their idols the Who, Green Day is hatching a musical production based on the 2004 multiplatinum rock opera American Idiot.
The punk trio's creative force, Billie Joe Armstrong, has teamed up with director Michael Mayer (who won a Tony helming the 2007 Broadway production of Spring Awakening), with songs written by Duncan Sheik.
Armstrong and Mayer cowrote the musical's book while Green Day contributed the entire song cycle from the Grammy-winning album (including the singles "Jesus of Suburbia," "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and "Wake Me Up When September Ends") as well as tracks from the upcoming Idiot sequel, 21st Century Breakdown, hitting stores in May.
"The end result will be terrific, and we're really proud," says Armstrong.
The show chronicles the album's antihero, Jesus of Suburbia, as he breaks away from his suburban town and heads for the big city, where he encounters a punk-rock freedom fighter named St. Jimmy and a woman called "Mother Revolution," and is forced to choose between rage and love.
It will have its world-premiere run Sept. 4-Oct. 11 at the Berkeley Repertory Theater.
And if all goes well in their hometown, Green Day could eventually take their Idiot act to Broadway.