"American Idiot" by LEOS Musical Theatre Company.

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

“American Idiot” is the story of three boyhood friends, Johnny, Will and Tunny, each searching for meaning in a post 9/11 world. The show features the music of Green Day with the lyrics of its lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong and book by Billie Joe Armstrong and Michael Mayer.

I'd read a couple of reviews of this production, something I don't normally do, and some of the things mentioned in the other reviews weren't that good. I can honestly say that whatever issues with sound and light occurred over the last two days have obviously been sorted out as I really enjoyed this production of the show.

I've seen the show several times before and have enjoyed every production I'd seen, and this one was not the one to make me change my mind.

For me, there have to be a couple of prerequisites to make it a success, and they are that it has to be loud and also to have raw energy. Well, that's two boxes ticked right away from the opening number, the title song. The show doesn't open, it explodes into life!

Johnny, played by Jack David, is the main protagonist of the story. On his journey, he experiences nihilism, drug abuse, and lost love with Whatsername. Jack just happens to be a singer in a rock band, away from the stage, so this role is tailor made for him. He looks like a rock star, he sounds like a rock star, he is a rock star (where have I heard that before?). What he also has is the ability to bring out the emotion in rock ballads like "Wake Me Up When September Ends", and Jack can play the guitar as well.

Tunny, played by Rhodri Denton, accompanies Johnny to the city, but soon joins the military and is sent to war. Tunny suffers serious injuries and during his rehabilitation, he falls in love with his nurse Extraordinary Girl, and she returns home with him. 

Will, played by Sultan Chaudhury, plans to leave town with the group until his girlfriend, Heather, reveals that she is pregnant with his child. Will stays at home in an alcohol and drug-infused depression, gradually spiralling to a very dark place.

All three main male leads have very different voices and that's what makes this show such a diverse project. Rock, and especially punk, doesn't suit everyone's voice, but it's that diversity that makes this musical such an interesting creature. The diversity of the voices really blend well and that creates even more emotion and passion from that rock base.

Whatsername is played by Megan Hill, Extraordinary Girl is played by Zoe Davey and Heather is played by Alice Goodall. This trio give brilliantly powerful performances, matching the attitude and passion of their male counterparts. Needless to say, their vocals are also powerful and, when required, full of attitude.

St Jimmy in this production is female, but of course this is a character who could be either gender, is played by Tessa Raum. In other productions St Jimmy has been overtly demon like in their attitude to temptation of sex and drugs and rock n roll, but Tessa has given the role a more human vision, which is probably an even more dangerous character.

Theo is another interesting character with a slightly devilish image, and played by Matthew McAuley. Matt has always had a really strong voice but has that tenderness in his vocals when called for. Both strengths are on show with Theo and the ensemble voices. 

Alysha is played by Carrie McNabb, who I can't remember seeing before on stage (apologies if that's not right), but what an impression Carrie made in this role.

Favourite Son is played by Andy Cattanach. This is a character that really exists in Tunny's imagination after watching TV ads and develops into an all singing, all dancing American soldier. There's a real glitz and glamour scene involving Favourite Son, complete with full on choreography for Andy and his backing dancers.

Something that is new, as far as I could remember, in this production is the introduction of the Seven Deadly Sins as an alternative ensemble set of characters. The Seven Deadly Sins are made up of Pride (Tassia Sissins) Envy (Nicola Adcock), Greed (Hayley Wood), Lust (Molly Parkinson), Gluttony (Joshua Read), Wrath (Charlotte Buchanan) and Sloth (Sian Hooton).

The ensemble consists of Laura Lawless, Eleanor Harvey, Mike Harvey, Tracy Hooton, Dan Bates, and Giacomo Ciccognani, fleshing out the stage perfectly and giving that extra vocal power.

Directed by Elle Bates and Assistant Director Becky Morley, they have slightly updated the period by setting the story in Trump's America. Along with only a few new touches, the story remains as powerful, raw and energetic as it ever was. Becky is also the Producer and, along with Elle and the rsst of the cast, responsible for the array of props used in the show.

Choreography by Sarah Lim Smith who really injects energy into these choreographed pieces. With this story being completely sung through, that also means that there is also a lot of choreography to go with the score, even the ballads. The choreography though is shared with various songs crediting other choreographers in the group like Tessa Raum, Meg Hill and Alice Goodall.

Musical Director is Ada Galen, who headed up the live band on  keys. The rest of the band consists of Ben Henderson (Bass), Herian Egan (Violin), Tim Yearsley and Tom Wakeley (Guitar) and Jack Hose (Drums). Green Day are a brilliant and exciting live band and that comes across on their recordings, and this band faithfully replicated that Green Day feel, and with Ada as MD also managed to strip back some of the musical pieces to create a simplistic and emotive score, which in turn really highlighted the lyrical value of Billie Joe Armstrong's songs.

The costumes have mostly been sourced from pre loved pieces, which is a great idea for a theatre company, cutting down the costs as well as recycling items that may have ended up in landfill. Sustainability is a core value for LEOS. They also match the feel of the era as well as the rawness of characters.

Sound is by Matt Haslam and was absolutely how I wanted to hear a rock jukebox musical, powerful and in your face rebellion style. The mix between the band and the vocalists was just right, even when you think back to the 1970's, with the birth of punk, the production of some of the records back then had the vocals slightly lower in the mix to get that rawness into the sound of the records. Take it from someone who was just a teenager when punk exploded.

The show includes the hit songs “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”, “21 Guns”, “Wake Me Up When September Ends”, “Holiday”, “Give Me Novocaine”, " Good Riddance (The Time Of Your Lives)" and the blockbuster title track “American Idiot”. Also included are several songs from Green Day’s 2009 release 21st Century Breakdown, and an unreleased love song, “When It’s Time”.

Lighting Design is by David Price and this was another exciting design and operation from David. The artist's palette of colour was splashed all over the stage at one point, almost taking on the image of a nightclub setting, raising the audience, and cast from the dark underbelly story of this show to a joyous and celebratory party.

Set hire is thanks to another theatrical legend from behind the scenes, Roydon Charlesworth. A triple tier stage set which allowed cast members to be above the stage floor, making the choreography look even more spectacular, and then on the top level, the band were situated.

Stage managed by the Queen of Stage Management, Katie Bird with Stage Crew of Vicky Palmer and Anakin Thain. Just having Katie on board promises to make scene transitions as smooth as silk.

Making theatre completely accessible is something that LEOS feel strongly about and there are several "helping hands", including a QR code in the programme to access the audio side of the programme and closed captions at every performance. There's also a touch tour and BSL Interpreted performance on the Saturday matinee, among other accessible things in place.

Throughout the run of "American Idiot", LEOS are also raising funds for their chosen charity, which is The Will Garvey Trust Foundation, a local charity based near Ilkeston (or Ilson, depending on where you hail from). The charity's aim is to prevent young suicide, and as September is Suicide Awareness month - why there is a month to highlight this I'll never know as it's something we should all be aware of 365 a year. So please give what you can to help such an amazing cause.

I'm not sure if Thursday was a special day, but as we walked into the auditorium, we were treated to an acoustic performance of some songs, not from the show, but a lovely way to ease the audience into the feel of the show, also to highlight the charity's cause.

"American Idiot" is at the Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton until Saturday 5 September with a matinee and evening performance on the final day.

Photography thanks to Ali Langton.