How you think about the production of American Idiot, which opened last night at the Mark Taper Forum, depends on your context. Do you see it as a co-production of Deaf West Theatre Company? Do you think of it as a revamp of a punk rock musical? Or do you look at it as the first Taper production and directorial debut of Snehal Desai’s tenure as the Artistic Director of Center Theatre Group? Let’s start with the most promising frame — as a Deaf West co-production. As with all Deaf West productions, there’s a joy in seeing the theater’s stage and audience welcoming and nurturing deaf theater. Seeing audience members signing across the theater and then seeing a musical carried through both voice and American Sign Language is stunning. In the best Deaf West productions, the sign language becomes more than simply a presence, it adds a deeper layer to the story itself. Often, the choices of which characters sign and which sing or speak tell us something about the characters themselves. That’s less so with American Idiot. Here, the three leads are performed by signing actors who have singing doubles who lurk around them. There hasn’t been a deeper attempt to integrate signing into the story, such that it is. Which takes us to the musical itself. American Idiot was never a musical known for its stellar book, which takes the form of short letters written home between songs. The musical lives and dies on Green Day’s 2004 concept album. If that’s enough for you, go, you’ll probably love it. Also, if someone says this is the Vegas production of a musical and you jump in line — again, go, there’s plenty of simple spectacle and turntables and projections to keep you sated. But, if neither of those is an instant sale, I’m not sure this production is going to convert you. The album and musical haven’t aged terribly well. For the musical to work, you have to buy into and connect with the rebellious spirit of youth and find it timelessly captured in these lyrics. Maybe it’s that we’re too far from the Bush years and American wars of the early aughts, the zeitgeist has shifted and it’s made the piece feel a bit threadbare. Or maybe it’s that what little punk edge it once had has become more performative than raw. There’s something a little too clean about this production that’s focused more on creating a spiffy production than capturing the jagged spirit of youth. My son leaned over and whispered during “Boulevard of Dreams,” “They made a song about loneliness into an ensemble number.” It’s more about stage picture and spectacle than grit. What you’re left with is the dramatic arc of the three main characters or the lack thereof. Without that messy, teen spirit you’ve got three guys who start out in suburbia loathing their lives who, a year later, find themselves back in suburbia with just a war wound, a drug habit, and an ex-girlfriend to show for it. This brings us to that last frame of reference, the Taper directorial review of its new artistic director. Mr. Desai nodded to the import in his curtain raiser. He spoke of the first show he saw 10 years ago at the Taper and imagined what his first show might be. Add to that that the Taper has been closed for a year while CTG gets its financial house in order and that this is one of only three shows in this year’s season (as opposed to six that performed on the Taper stage across almost 50 years). This first show is a big deal. This is a moment for the new artistic director to open the book on the theater's next chapter, an opportunity to begin to define its new soul. At its best, great artistic direction picks the perfect play for a specific audience at exactly the right moment in time. The partnership with Deaf West is understandable and always a strong choice. American Idiot as the show, gives me pause. Why did Mr. Desai gravitate towards this musical as the perfect way to kick things off? What made him think — that’s the show for our time? American Idiot will be a ‘hit.' Between Deaf West’s audience and the excitement of a rock musical on the Taper stage, it’ll sell tickets. I wonder if it'll define the next chapter for this diminished but essential Los Angeles theater. American Idiot plays at the Mark Taper Forum in Downtown Los Angeles through November 16th. This is Anthony Byrnes Opening the Curtain on LA Theater for KCRW.
The Taper's new soul?
