Is Billie Joe Armstrong in 'American Idiot' a Broadway star in the making?
Pop & Hiss had a case of New York-envy this week, when Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong, a California boy, no less, had a brief stay on Broadway. Armstrong, filling in for star Tony Vincent, took over this week the role of drug-pushing evil-doer St. Jimmy in "American Idiot," the theatrical production inspired by the 2004 Green Day album of the same name. Times staffer Pamela Wilson, however, made the cross-country trip, and filed this guest post for Pop & Hiss on her reactions to Armstrong's jump to Broadway.
Billie Joe Armstrong is not a large man, but he knows how to fill up a stage.
Birthed in punk, the Green Day frontman has become a fine rock 'n' roll showman. Still, he's no doubt an artist more used to holding an audience of 20,000 in the palm of his hand than interacting with a cast of professional actors. But on Wednesday night on the stage of the St. James Theatre in New York, he seemed more than comfortable on Broadway, coming off like a pocket-pistol Ethel Merman.
Filling in for regular scene-stealer Tony Vincent as St. Jimmy in "American Idiot," Armstrong had no problem remembering the lyrics, seeing as how he wrote them. As the drug-pushing alter ego of the main character, Johnny, played by Tony-winner John Gallagher Jr., Armstrong did all the choreography and stage business required for the part, including stripping off his shirt and carving a bloody heart into his chest before shooting himself in the head with a toy gun. "Bang!"