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Green Day Ready ‘American Idiot’ Musical

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Good news Green Day fans: Not only are the boys finishing up their new album, 21st Century Breakdown, for release on May 15, but they’re also prepping another major project: a theatrical production based on their 2004 concept album American Idiot!

The script for the show was co-written by Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong and Tony Award-winning Spring Awakening director Michael Mayer. The musical is expected to premiere in September at Berkeley, CA’s Repertory Theater and run through October 11.

“It doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Armstrong recently told the New York Times of the band’s move to the performing arts realm. “But that’s what I love about it. When people see it, it’s going to be my wildest dream.”

The plot will revolve around a group of characters in their early 20s, with the central roles lifted directly from the album’s lyrics: Jesus of Suburbia, St. Jimmy, and Whatshername. “It’s not the most linear story in the world,” Armstrong told the NYT. But judging from the description on Berkeley Rep’s website we’re not anticipating too much trouble following the action: “[American Idiot] follows working-class characters from the suburbs to the city to the Middle East, as they seek redemption in a world filled with frustration.”

The show’s score will include every song on its namesake album, plus new tunes from 21st Century Breakdown.

In related news, the video for “Know Your Enemy,” the lead single off 21st Century Breakdown, will premiere April 24 on MTV, and is reportedly being directed by the Motion Theory team (who’ve also worked with Adele and Beck) [via MSN UK].