Hypocrites' 'American Idiot' revival a resounding success

Posted September 10, 2015 11:00 pm

Jay W. Cullen, left, Luke Linsteadt and Steve Perkins play a trio of friends whose late-adolescent coming-of-age is chronicled in The Hypocrites' production of “American Idiot,” inspired by Green Day's 2004 rock opera. Courtesy of Evan Hanover

There may be no Chicago-area theater company better suited than The Hypocrites to revive “American Idiot,” Green Day's explosive portrait of disaffected youth adapted for the stage from the band's 2004 album of the same name, plus a few songs from 2009's “21st Century Breakdown.

After 19 seasons, The Hypocrites remains as bold as ever, delivering an intimate, aggressive revival of this raw, noisy, punk rock opera that in some ways improves on the 2010 Broadway production and its subsequent 2012 tour.

Director Steven Wilson's canny, kinetic production boasts a scrappy, passionate cast comprised mostly of recent grads and Hypocrites newcomers, all of whom take turns playing in the onstage band.

Wilson mutes the overtly political, post-Sept. 11 references that underscored the original production. Instead, he emphasizes the personal, playing up the frustration and resentment of Millennials experiencing for the first time the angst every generation feels standing on the cusp of adulthood.

The show is better for it. And it's better for The Hypocrites' staging it in an off-Loop storefront. In fact, there may be no venue more suitable than The Den Theatre in Chicago's Wicker Park, an eclectic, energetic haven that artists and musicians have long called home.

It's where suburban punk rock refugees Johnny (Luke Linsteadt), Tunny (Steven Perkins) and Will (Jay W. Cullen) would go to try to launch their rock 'n' roll careers. Possibly they'd end up at a club like the nearby Double Door.

Fittingly, the action unfolds at what appears to be a downscale version of that seminal venue created by set designer Joe Schermoly and lighting designer Heather Gilbert. We first encounter the titular “idiots” playing to rapturous young fans on a graffiti-covered stage against a chain link backdrop.

Buoyed by modest success and a burning desire to escape the 'burbs, the restless youths decide to go to New York City. But after Will's girlfriend Heather (Alex Mada) announces she's pregnant, Will (played by Cullen with the sad-eyed resignation of a man who realizes he's done before he begins) stays behind to stew in his parents' basement and drown in a bottle of Jack Daniels.

The rudderless Tunny (a sympathetic Perkins), meanwhile, gets seduced into enlisting in the army by Favorite Son (an all-American hero played by Brian Keys of Aurora).

Johnny (Lindsteadt, in a pleasing performance that could use more heft) plays his guitar for tips on a street corner. He meets his ideal woman in Whatsername (Krystal Worrell, a lovely singer with too little to do). At the same time, he falls under the spell of St. Jimmy, his drug-abusing alter-ego (transgender performer Malic White), who's alluring and dangerous and a constant presence in the young lovers' relationship.

The mostly sung-through show is propelled by a score from Billie Joe Armstrong, Tre Cool and Mike Dirnt with potent, perceptive lyrics by Armstrong.

The women's roles in the barely there book by Armstrong and Michael Mayer remain underwritten, and the Den's less-than-stellar sound system makes many lyrics unintelligible. But music director Andra Velis Simon conveys perfectly Green Day's raw, raucous sound evidenced in the anthemic “American Idiot” (a galvanizing opener) and the churning “Letterbomb” (a first-rate turn by the female cast members). Also worth noting is the haunting “We Are the Waiting,” the desperate “Novocaine,” the conciliatory “21 Guns” and the ever-poignant “Wake Me Up When September Ends.”

Katie Spelman's intriguing, hyperactive choreography suggests overmedicated adolescents while Mieka van der Bloeg's punkish costumes are a striking reflection of the Johnny-St. Jimmy bond. But much of the credit rests with Wilson, who emphasizes the personal in this all-too-familiar “Idiot's” tale.

Malic White plays St. Jimmy, who guides Johnny's descent into drug addiction in The Hypocrites' production of "American Idiot." Courtesy of Evan Hanover

Whatsername (Krystal Worrell), center, heads up the all-female band made up of Isa Arciniegas, left, Elisa Carlson, second from right, and Extraordinary Girl (Becca Brown), right, in the male-dominated rock opera "American Idiot" from The Hypocrites. Courtesy of Evan Hanover

Remaining behind in suburbia with his pregnant girlfriend, Will (Jay W. Cullen), center, drowns himself in a bottle of Jack Daniels in The Hypocrites' revival of the punk rock musical "American Idiot." Courtesy of Evan Hanover

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★ ★ ★

Location: The Den Theater, 1339 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago,<a href="http:// the-hypocrites.com"> the-hypocrites.com</a>

Showtimes: 8 p.m. Friday; 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday through Oct. 25

Running time: About 90 minutes, no intermission

Tickets: $28-$36

Parking: Metered street parking or $10 parking passes available at the theater box office for the theater's parking lot at 1215 N. Paulina St., Chicago

Rating: For mature audiences, includes sexual situations and scenes depicting drug use

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