Davey Elmer Posted May 26, 2014 Posted May 26, 2014 Hi, all. After falling in love with the American Idiot musical, I decided to try and apply my creative writing skills to adapting 21st Century Breakdown into a musical, and although I'm still very much in the early stages, I thought I'd share my thoughts and the process with other GD fans. The first thing I thought of when trying to craft a more concrete narrative for the album was to center the story around social rebellion and unrest, with Christian and Gloria (and some new characters) getting caught up in a semi-apocalyptic collapse of society, which led me to come up with the following 'set-list' (it's still very raw and isn't in any set order yet, so comments and suggestions would be welcomed): Song of the Century Warning 99 Revolutions 21st Century Breakdown Viva la Gloria Before the Lobotomy (minus the parts that were used in AI) Christian's Inferno East Jesus Nowhere Peacemaker Murder City Little Girl Restless Heart Syndrome Horseshoes and Handgrenades The Static Age American Eulogy See the Light A Quick One, While He's Away That's All Right Like a Rolling Stone Another State of Mind Hearts Collide Lights Out Minority Olivia Drama Queen Nice Guys Finish Last She I'm not sure all of the songs will end up in the final product, but I thought they fit the idea of societal collapse, unrest, and turmoil and the development of a romance set against that backdrop. I'm still very much working on the specifics of the story, so, as with the set-list, comments and suggestions would be welcomed.
Funky Kong Posted May 26, 2014 Posted May 26, 2014 Just a thought but why the bonus tracks? if you do indeed want a more concrete storyline as you suggested I can't see how their covers make any sense.
November's Storms Posted May 26, 2014 Posted May 26, 2014 Sounds like an interesting idea, I'd love to see where it goes. Just don't make it all too pazzaz and showy.
Spike Posted May 26, 2014 Posted May 26, 2014 I think Breakdown would actually make a better musical than American Idiot. The songs lend themselves more to musical-style re-arrangements.
Todd Posted May 26, 2014 Posted May 26, 2014 I can see the bonus tracks Fitting in, and I really like the rest of the setlist, but I donnt see how the bonus tracks would fit in that order. But I'd love to see a few of them included
Spoopy Doo Posted May 26, 2014 Posted May 26, 2014 I can see the bonus tracks Fitting in, and I really like the rest of the setlist, but I donnt see how the bonus tracks would fit in that order. But I'd love to see a few of them included They said it isn't in any order yet The first thing I thought of when trying to craft a more concrete narrative for the album was to center the story around social rebellion and unrest, with Christian and Gloria (and some new characters) getting caught up in a semi-apocalyptic collapse of society, which led me to come up with the following 'set-list' (it's still very raw and isn't in any set order yet, so comments and suggestions would be welcomed):
Rock_N_Roll_Girlfriend Posted May 26, 2014 Posted May 26, 2014 I just wish the American Idiot Musical would have open auditions for the parts so Green Day fans can participate. I mean who would represent better a character and a song of the album better than a fan? And we are some pretty talented fans, you know?
Davey Elmer Posted May 26, 2014 Author Posted May 26, 2014 I'm starting to get a better picture of the story and what songs I want to use: The story starts in a city, with both Christian and Gloria arriving there from other places . At a rally decrying the current state of society, they meet and fall in love, reject the messages they're hearing, and go off on their own, but get caught up in the chaos and turmoil of a terrorist attack and are separated, ending up in different places. Christian falls in with the people who committed the terror attack while Gloria - who was injured and can't remember much of what happened - is rescued by a street preacher and his followers and starts to be sucked in by their rhetoric. Eventually, though, the two find their way back to each other and head off to start a new life together. List of characters and songs: Characters Christian Gloria BJ Olivia The Nowhere Man Jason Andrew Songs (in rough story order) Song of the Century 21st Century Breakdown Viva la Gloria Warning/99 Revolutions mashup Brain Stew/Before the Lobotomy Chorus mashup Hearts Collide Lights Out/Christian's Inferno mashup East Jesus Nowhere/Peacemaker/Little Girl mashup Murder City Drama Queen/Olivia mashup Like a Rolling Stone Another State of Mind Horseshoes and Handgrenades Minority The Static Age Restless Heart Syndrome/She mashup See the Light American Eulogy
Spike Posted May 26, 2014 Posted May 26, 2014 I just wish the American Idiot Musical would have open auditions for the parts so Green Day fans can participate. I mean who would represent better a character and a song of the album better than a fan? And we are some pretty talented fans, you know? Who's to say the cast so far hasn't been made up entirely of Green Day fans?
Heather. Posted May 26, 2014 Posted May 26, 2014 Who's to say the cast so far hasn't been made up entirely of Green Day fans? I agree, most of them really did seem to be fans. Just because they're not card carrying GDC members doesn't mean they're not worthy. And sure, there are talented GDC members, but most of us would suck so I'm glad the parts went to aspiring actors. Actually, I'd rather it not be performed by fans, because it's cooler to indoctrinate new people.
Spike Posted May 26, 2014 Posted May 26, 2014 I agree, most of them really did seem to be fans. Just because they're not card carrying GDC members doesn't mean they're not worthy. And sure, there are talented GDC members, but most of us would suck so I'm glad the parts went to aspiring actors. Actually, I'd rather it not be performed by fans, because it's cooler to indoctrinate new people. On the flip side, it might be enough to put them off for life
burnout409 Posted May 26, 2014 Posted May 26, 2014 I didn't mind the AI musical and I enjoyed it when I saw it, the soundtrack fucking sucked though! But no not another musical! Never!
Overjoyyed Posted May 26, 2014 Posted May 26, 2014 I just wish the American Idiot Musical would have open auditions for the parts so Green Day fans can participate. I mean who would represent better a character and a song of the album better than a fan? And we are some pretty talented fans, you know? there were open auditions in a few cities (Toronto being one of them) when they were looking for the original touring cast.
green day is Posted May 27, 2014 Posted May 27, 2014 Brain Stew/Before the Lobotomy Chorus mashup Do you have an arrangement for this or is it a concept at the moment?
Gwen Stacy Posted May 27, 2014 Posted May 27, 2014 I would love to be in charge of this because I think my interpretation of Breakdown's story is pretty neat. I would also say that the album is pretty much already in musical form, so no need to add in extra songs. The only song I could think of that would actually mash up well would be Restless Heart Syndrome and Little Girl. They both share a "run away" lyric so it could go something like this: (Starting in with Restless Heart Syndrome. Gloria is pleading with Christian about something.) Lord knows I'd try to find a way To run away *record scratch* RUN AWAY! From the rivers to the street... And telling her to run away is Christian telling her to get out of his life. I've thought about this before.
Of Rage and Love Posted May 27, 2014 Posted May 27, 2014 First of all, any 21CB theater show would have to take place in a cathedral, it would have to be a massive specticle like the album, with huge extravagant sets and big immersive instrumentation. Also, it shouldn't have any covers at all, maybe not trilogy songs either. Edit: Or another albums, just 21CB straight through, its already and hour and ten minutes, there's no point in extending it or altering it.
Asa. Posted May 27, 2014 Posted May 27, 2014 Don't use the cover songs. They were written by someone else with a meaning and I think using them like this would be twisting them.
green day is Posted May 27, 2014 Posted May 27, 2014 Don't use the cover songs. They were written by someone else with a meaning and I think using them like this would be twisting them. Wake Me Up and Novacaine got the fuck twisted out of em in the AI Musical.
Davey Elmer Posted May 27, 2014 Author Posted May 27, 2014 Do you have an arrangement for this or is it a concept at the moment? I have no musical talent whatsoever, so this is just a libretto/rough outline of how I think a 21CB musical adaptation could play out. I would love to be in charge of this because I think my interpretation of Breakdown's story is pretty neat. I would also say that the album is pretty much already in musical form, so no need to add in extra songs. The only song I could think of that would actually mash up well would be Restless Heart Syndrome and Little Girl. They both share a "run away" lyric so it could go something like this: (Starting in with Restless Heart Syndrome. Gloria is pleading with Christian about something.) Lord knows I'd try to find a way To run away *record scratch* RUN AWAY! From the rivers to the street... And telling her to run away is Christian telling her to get out of his life. I've thought about this before. I'd very much like to see your version of the story if at all possible. First of all, any 21CB theater show would have to take place in a cathedral, it would have to be a massive specticle like the album, with huge extravagant sets and big immersive instrumentation. Also, it shouldn't have any covers at all, maybe not trilogy songs either. If you don't include at least some of the cover songs and/or material from other albums, you don't have enough material for a full score due to the fact that 5 of 21CB's songs were already used either in whole or in part for the American Idiot musical. BTW, I decided to refine my song list from earlier a little bit in order to re-arrange a few songs, so here's the new song order, along with the expected performers of each: Song of the Century - Company 21st Century Breakdown - Christian Viva la Gloria - Gloria 99 Revolutions - Company Brain Stew (a mashup of Brain Stew and the Before the Lobotomy Chorus) - Gloria Christian's Inferno - Christian Hearts Collide - Christian and Gloria Lights Out - Company East Jesus Nowhere/Peacemaker/Little Girl - The Nowhere Man, Jason Andrew, and Gloria Murder City - Christian and Company Warning/Minority - BJ, Olivia, and Christian Another State of Mind - The Nowhere Man, Jason Andrew, and Gloria Drama Queen - Christian, BJ, and Olivia Like a Rolling Stone - Christian Restless Heart Syndrome - Jason Andrew, the Nowhere Man, and Gloria Horseshoes and Handgrenades - Company She - Christian The Static Age - Company See the Light - Christian and Gloria (closes the show) American Eulogy - Company (serves as the 'curtain call'/encore)
Invention Convention Posted May 27, 2014 Posted May 27, 2014 This would be awesome!!!! But sadly I can't see it happening...I think 21CB was intended for something of this sort, I think it would do better as a movie
Davey Elmer Posted May 28, 2014 Author Posted May 28, 2014 I'm currently working on using the commercial versions of these songs to put together a proof-of-concept recording for the show musically, and hope to find some way to make it available once it's finished, so stay tuned.
Sauli Posted May 28, 2014 Posted May 28, 2014 omg I am so glad you chose me to participate in a musical xd
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