Green Day musical coming to Arlington Hts.

Posted July 30, 2015 11:00 pm

Daily Herald reports

The music of Green Day will come to life onstage this summer as Up and Coming Theatre Company presents the regional premiere of “American Idiot.”

Performances will take place at 2 p.m. Aug. 8, 9 and 16, and 8 p.m. Aug. 8, 13 and 15 at the Forest View Education Center, 2121 S. Goebbert Road in Arlington Heights. Tickets are $20 at www.uactheatre.com.

Based on Green Day's Grammy-winning, multiplatinum album, “American Idiot” is a rock musical that tells the story of three friends on a quest for meaning in a post-9/11 world. As fate leads each one down a different path, and each must contend with both external obstacles and his own inner demons.

“I feel that each decade of musical theater has its generation-defining show,” director Jim Shedd says. “I find 'American Idiot' to be a beautiful piece that comments on the youth of America after 9/11. While it is a story about that disenfranchised era, it is also a universal story about the mistakes we make when we are young and the consequences of growing up.”

“American Idiot,” which won two Tony Awards in 2010, features all the music from Green Day's 2004 concept album, as well as selections from the 2009 follow-up, “21st Century Breakdown.”

Cast list: Abby Vombrack, Buffalo Grove; Alayna Appino-Tabone, Palatine; Alex Levy, Buffalo Grove; Alex Vito, Schaumburg; Amanda Jacobs, Arlington Heights; Amanda Nach, Des Plaines; Ashley Foreman, Round Lake Heights; Bennett Norris, Des Plaines; Bob Spidale, Addison; Britny Hendrickson, Round Lake; Cale Singleton, Cary; Catherine Athenson, Lake Forest; Chris Filarski, Hoffman Estates; Chris Gonzalez, Wheeling; Christina Melgar, Wheeling; Cole Festenstein, Arlington Heights; Domingo Morales, Buffalo Grove; Erica Chin, Chicago; Erin O'Brien, Algonquin; Grace Baird, Arlington Heights; Jacqui Kotula, Palatine; Jay-R DeLeon, Bartlett; Jennifer Ledesma, Chicago; John Fogarty, Elmhurst; Julie Hoadley, Palatine; Kat Chawalisz, Buffalo Grove; Katey Kelleher, Cary; Kelly Wojo, Arlington Heights; Lauren Jordan, Chicago; Lauren Brooks, Palatine; Leah Davis, Buffalo Grove; Linda Andrews, Palatine; Lisa Panizo, Park Ridge; Lizzy Behrendt, North Riverside; Marni Robins, DeKalb; Max Zumpano, Gurnee; Mitch Schaeflein, Rolling Meadows; Nicolette DeGuia, Chicago (Lincoln Square); Noreen Patel, Hoffman Estates; Rebecca Sweeney, Bartlett; RJ Cecott, Hickory Hills; Rob Chesler, Chicago; Roy Brown, Prospect Heights; Samm Stonecipher, Grayslake; Sheradin Jansen, Grayslake; Tyler Callahan, Barrington.

The cast of "American Idiot" features, from left, Abby Vombrack as Heather, Leah Davis as Whatsername and Ashley Foreman as the Extraordinary Girl. Courtesy of Up and Coming Theatre Company

The cast of “American Idiot” includes, clockwise, from front left, Alex Levy, Cale Singleton, Alex Vito, Bennett Norris, Roy J. Brown and Mitch Schaeflein. Courtesy of Up and Coming Theatre Company

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