This Is My Life

Saturday, April 9th, 2011 at 8:00 pm marked the last time I would ever see American Idiot on Broadway. My best friend (and fellow Idiot) and I went to NYC for less than a day. In fact, we only stayed for 14 hours. All to see our beloved show one more (TWO more!) times. We had tickets for the matinee, but did the lotto for evening (we didn't win, but if you don't, you can buy partial view seats for not much more money).

I could go into all the things that I think make the show special. I could give you another review (I mean, after all, it's nearly a completely new cast). But I won't go into too many details. Instead, I'll just say a few things.

1.) Seeing Billie Joe as St. Jimmy was pretty cool (but Tony Vincent still has my heart as the original St. Jimmy)

2.) Leslie McDonald as Heather = AMAZING! (She was in for Jenna de Waal in the evening performance)

3.) Libby Winters as Extraordinary Girl = DITTO! (Though I still say she was my favorite Heather, with Leslie pulling a VERY close second)

4.) Van Hughes as Johnny = Wow. Just wow. Angry Johnny works. I saw him as Tunny in January (Stark was on vacation) & loved him. I think I like him even better as Johnny. Also, he kind of looks like a late Mighty Ducks, early Dawson's Creek Joshua Jackson (thanks to my BFF for pointing this out). But that's fine by me. I've has a huge celebrity crush on Josh since the very first Mighty Ducks movie. :)

5.) Justin Guarini as Will = I had some fears. He laid them to rest. He acted the hell out of that role and his singing was fantastic (not to mention he ROCKED at the stage door after). Justin, I said I'd do it if I was wrong. This is my public apology. You were amazing. You do "emotionally disturbed" very well.  

6.) People who go to see American Idiot simply because Billie Joe is in it ANNOY ME! The story is amazing. Respect it. And respect the other actors as well. (Also, don't elbow people while trying to get Mr. Armstrong's autograph. And say thank you.)

If you want to read the things I've written about American Idiot, you can go HERE, HERE, HERE, or HERE. It's officially my most written about show.

Also, because Broadway Cares is raising money right now, they were selling the bus tickets from the show, autographed by cast members. Both my friend and I were able to get a ticket, signed by the original trio of Michael Esper, Stark Sands (squee!!!) and John Gallagher, Jr. Yay for fundraisers that let fans get great souvenirs!

 Jennifer Bowles (in Leslie's place, while Leslie played Heather) and Krystina Alabado.

Both super sweet and Jennifer is a fellow Southerner! :)

Ben Thompson (saw him play Favorite Son in January!). Also super sweet.

And I'll just be honest: I might have a teensy little B-way crush on him. He's a cutie!



I won't lie, seeing the show for the last time was hard. I literally sobbed through the last 20 minutes of the evening performance, causing the girls sitting next to me to make snide remarks (I won't say what I wanted to actually do to them...). Today was the first day I actually listened to the cast recording since last seeing the show. For anyone who knows me, that's a major deal. But it was nice to be able to say good-bye.

Johnny sums up the show for me best in the last line: This is my life.

Now onto the tour.