Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong made his Broadway debut last night (September 28), taking to the stage in American Idiot, the musical he co-penned and composed.
Armstrong is standing in for actor Tony Vincent as St Jimmy, a spectral character who leads main character Johnny down a drug-addled path after moving from suburbia to the city.
St Jimmy first appears onstage around half-way through the 90-minute production, which is being staged at the St James Theatre just off New York‘s Times Square. Armstrong‘s debut last night was met with deafening screams from the audience.
His performances were lightly choreographed and included the track ‘Know Your Enemy’ and ‘Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)’ which he performed during an encore with the entire cast.
Armstrong will perform a further seven shows throughout the rest of the week, with understudies taking over on October 5 as the singer heads out on the band’s South American tour.
Despite the announcement of the singer’s participation in this week’s performances, the theatre was not at capacity last night.
American Idiot is told almost entirely through song and imagery flashed on screens dotted throughout the stage set.
The musical features every song from the 2004 album ‘American Idiot’ plus four tracks from their most recent effort ’21st Century Breakdown’, plus two B-sides and a song that Armstrong wrote for his wife as a teenager.
