Staging Green Day’s ‘American Idiot’ must be quite something

It’s been three weeks since Globe held a press conference for 9 Works Theatrical’s adaptation of Green Day’s American Idiot and I still don’t know what to say about it. But if I were to trust the press release, then it should be “incredibly biting” — whatever that meant.

I felt silly at the press conference’s venue — the Hard Rock Café in Glorietta — where I, a first-timer, couldn’t help but take pictures of the guitars and other paraphernalia once used by my rock ‘n’ roll heroes. There they were, hanging on the walls in glass boxes, their fingerprints and dried saliva all imaginable from where I stood. In these events where there is often a masquerade between the snooty and the snobbish pressmen and presswomen, I tried my best to hide the tears welling in my eyes as I shamelessly took pictures of the 1971 Gibson Marauder Noel Gallagher used during the recording of Oasis’ “Be Here Now,” the Hondo Deluxe Tom Petty once played on a tour, the cabana jacket Ian Anderson wore on Jethro Tull’s 25th Anniversary Tour, etc. etc. I had to stop myself from going head over heels, out of my wits fanboying; I didn’t want to lose my job.

I promptly lost, however, my two drink stubs right after the waiters informed me that they couldn’t be used for beers or any alcoholic drink. A friend gave me one of his and I exchanged it for coffee which tasted like watered down 3-in-1. It made my eyeballs sink and I wondered where rock ‘n’ roll went.

But the food at the buffet table was great. I remember going back there thrice. Maybe add a fourth for desserts. It wasn’t the usual food they serve you in press cons where they put anything on your plate — like pink potato salad — just to say they did charity and fed starving writers, nor was it overdone like in some press events where you’d wonder if it was a debut or a wedding you were attending. The food was rock ‘n’ roll.

Basti Artadi, Jason Fernandez, Miggy Chavez and Nel Gomez rock out as St. Jimmy, Johnny, Will and Tunny, respectively.

You see, that afternoon, we weren’t really given a long-enough preview of what’s to come on opening night this June 24; the cast only suited up and performed four popular Green Day songs from American Idiot (the title track, 21 Guns, Wake Me Up When September Ends, and Boulevard of Broken Dreams) and their mic levels were all over the place. But as to its story or  plot, all we were given were snippets in the press release, or once in a while at the open forum, the cast members would say a sentence or two about the character they’re playing. What we get is something along the lines of “post-9/11 coming of age youth in revolt story.” But naturally, we, members of the press with not enough material to hold on to, gravitated to questions like “How does your character affect you in real life?” or “What preparations did you have to make for your role?” To which Miggy Chavez replied “Sobrang bago nito sa akin kasi sa pagbabanda, wala namang preparations, eh.” To which Basti Artadi of Wolfgang reacted by glaring at him, causing Miggy to backtrack and say, “Sa ChicoSci at least, walang preparations.” Oh, what a beautiful mess it was to mix the theater-going folk and the peeps in entertainment.

But for all the show business that floated in Hard Rock Café that afternoon, there were some things which I thought were worth looking into. Rather, that I quite look forward to seeing. I got to talk to Joe Caliro, Globe Telecom’s head of stores and retail transformation management, on this partnership with 9 Works Theatrical and I realized that it must be his insight on the production — or perhaps, equally, the need to unveil this new stage by Globe, the Globe Iconic Store — that’s really running the show.

“We are not just sponsoring this event. We’re producing it,” he said proudly. “We want to introduce theater to the public, make it more accessible. We call it ‘accidental theater.’ You can buy your tickets to sit up front and experience the way you would in a theater. Or you could sit in the grass or you could stand there and watch it for free.”

Alex Godinez, Ela Lisondra and Yanah Laurel (Heather, Extraordinary Girl and Whatsername) are the riot girls of American Idiot.

“‘Cause if you look at how most people experience entertainment, it’s movies, it’s television, it’s EDM concerts and stuff,” he added. “They can’t afford theater. Theater’s very expensive. Touring shows cost P8,000 per ticket. Less than three percent of the population can afford that. So you have to make it reachable. You have to make it affordable.”

I spotted director Robbie Guevara and asked him what the audience can learn from this story of post-9/11 youths, whether our youth faces the same problems as the characters or not. He replied, “I think the youth nowadays have the same problems — and joys —regardless of where they’re from. A lot of it has to do with media. A lot of it has to do with social media. A lot of it has to do with technology. Generally speaking, their attention span is shorter than in the generation I grew up with.

“I didn’t have all these distractions when I was growing up,” Robbie narrated. “Phones are distractions. You attend a children’s party, they’re not playing on the grass. They’re on their phones. And I find that a bit sad. I find that alarming. If the parents don’t address it, it’s going to explode one day.”

So again, I asked Joe Caliro about this somewhat contradictory move for Globe to produce — not just sponsor — a show that has such strong views against the media. (In Green Day’s own words, “Don’t wanna be an American Idiot/One nation controlled by the media/Information age of hysteria/It’s going out to idiot America.) He said, “No, it’s not at all contradictory because what Green Day is talking about is how social media, if it’s not responsible, can corrupt people, right? It’s not just social media. Television commercials make you think you could be white, right? It’s not true. So there needs to be truth in media. So, you know, as part of Globe’s purpose, we want to make sure that people are aware that not everything on social media’s true. So, no, it’s quite appropriate for a telco to do this.”

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Before I forget, American Idiot won two Tony Awards and a Grammy. It will run at the BGC Amphitheater for nine nights from June 24 until July 9. Visit www.globe.com.ph/american-idiot for more details. Tickets are available via Ticketworld at 891-9999 or visit https://www.ticketworld.com.ph.