Media Morsels 4.23.10

• American Idiot Rocks on Broadway
• Opening Night Coverage
  Broadwayworld.com has tons of photos, including: the red carpet, with guests like Ana Gasteyer (who I walked by inside the St James) and Paul Rudd, and creatives like Green Day (with Mike Dirnt rocking a Ramones T-shirt) and Tom Kitt (who I passed on my way into the theatre and congratulated on the show and his recent Pulitzer win!); the curtain call, including photos of the cast serenading us with a special rendition of “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”, with the whole company on guitar. It was beautiful; and the after party, with the best looking cast on Broadway, including Johnny looking a little bit country and little bit rock and roll!
  
  Playbill.com also has some opening night coverage, including brief interviews with the stars and the creatives. And Broadway.com has some red carpet video coverage (and photos) to share, as does MTV.com.
  
  
• Congratulations to the cast, crew and entire creative team on an awe inspiring and beautiful opening night. Rave reviews abound, including mine (duh!) and the NY Times.
  
  
• Audience members at the April 22 performance of American Idiot were treated to a very special encore: from Green Day! According to accounts from Playbill.com (and a friend of mine who works at the theatre!) the band took the stage after the cast’s curtain call and played a short set, including the track “American Idiot” and a classic from their 1994 breakthrough record, Dookie, “Basket Case.”
  
  
• On the eve of their opening, the cast of American Idiot was asked by Playbill.com what records they would take with them to a desert island. Many of the cast members responded with Beatles albums while director Michael Mayer said he’d bring Judy at Carnegie Hall. I think, aside from the original cast recording of American Idiot (naturally,) I’d bring Foo Fighters’ Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, although I might switch it for One by One so I could listen to one of my favorite Foo tunes, “Come Back;” the new cast recording of Hair; and a Led Zeppelin box set, because I can’t decide on just one album! What would you bring? Leave your answers in the comments section.
  
  
• Green Day and American Idiot also recently rocked MTV, taking over their airwaves for a week and culminating in a special 30-minute look behind the scenes, complete with snippets of the show and interviews with cast members, Green Day, Michael Mayer and Tom Kitt. You can view (or re-view) it online at MTV.com.
  
  
• Check out these video snippets of the show from Broadway.com.
  
  
• Broadway Week on Regis and Kelly
  Next week, Regis and Kelly (and Gelman) will welcome several shows to their studio as part of their annual Broadway week. Kicking off the week on Monday April 26 will be American Idiot! Set your DVR, and maybe set someone else’s as a back up: A few years ago, John Gallagher, Jr. and Lauren Pritchard performed a number from Spring Awakening and my DVR decided to stop working just before they performed. Good intentions foiled, one again.
  
  
• Theatre Award Season Update
  The Drama League nominees were announced this week. The awards, which honor excellence in Broadway and off-Broadway each season, will be presented on May 21. The Drama League awards differ from many other awards; they are presented in four categories, Best Play, Musical, Play Revival and Musical Revival, plus an individual performance honor. (The individual performance honor can be conferred upon an actor only once in a lifetime, so Norbert Leo Butz, for example, can’t be honored this year for Enron since he’s been honored in the past for his Tony winning turn in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.) Nominees of note: American Idiot(!) and stars John Gallagher, Jr. and Tony Vincent, Clybourne Park and star Jeremy Shamos, Finian’s Rainbow, Next Fall, Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson and star Ben Walker, Mark Paul Gosselaar (The Understudy) and Anna Deavere Smith (Let Me Down Easy and also a West Wing alum!). I’m a little disappointed that Circle Mirror Transformation didn’t get any love, but we can’t all be nominees. Visit Playbill.com for a full list of nominees.
  
  
• Cumming Not Coming to Broadway
  Stage and screen vet Alan Cumming will no longer be playing the Green Goblin if when Spider Man makes its way to Broadway. Cumming, who has been appearing as a recurring guest star on The Good Wife, has now joined the TV show as a series regular, creating scheduling conflicts with Spider Man. Rumors abound that an update on Spider Man is imminent, but with this fly in the ointment, who knows when the announcement will come or what it will say.
  
  
• Further From Normal/Back to Normal
  Early this week, it was confirmed that J. Robert Spencer would leave Next to Normal on May 16. Spencer currently stars in the Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning show as Dan, patriarch of the Goodman household. Later in the week, the NY Times reported that – wait for it – Brian d’Arcy James would succeed him! This is fantastic news, as d’Arcy James is an incredible performer, and originated the role of Dan off-Broadway at Second Stage. Looks like I’m going to be seeing the Pulitzer winning show for a fifth time, now.
  
  
• Bloody, Bloody Record!
  Great news: Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson is getting a cast recording! Playbill.com is reporting that the cast will head into the recording studio on April 26 to lay down the tracks. A release date has not been set but I will definitely keep you updated! (Also, the Public announced on Thursday that Bloody, Bloody is going to break the 22nd amendment and stick around for a third term, that is they’ve extended their run again. The deliciously rockin’ musical will now play until May 30.)
  
  
• Greetings, From Manchester, England, England!
  Most of the original revival Tribe of Hair are spreading love and peace and daises across the pond. Broadway.com recently caught up with Tribe leader (and West End vet) Gavin Creel to talk about his experience bringing this American classic to London (and bringing Wally along for the ride!)