What do I think of when people talk about American Idiot? I think of New York City, Broadway, an incredible cast, Green Day, all my new friends I have made, the way I felt when I saw American Idiot, etc. This list can go on forever. But the thing is that no one else wants to talk about it with me except for Emily and the friends I have made through American Idiot. Obviously I have no problem with that, but sometimes all I want to do is share it with everyone. I talk about it at school with my friends and all they say is "American Idiot; blah blah blah; It sucks; why would I wanna see that?" You know what? I get sick of it all the time.
Here is what I'm thinking. If you have never seen something, don't judge it. Those friends don't know the things that I have felt while seeing American Idiot and they never will. All it is is their loss.
I got the chance to see American Idiot twice in one trip; One time balcony seats and the other front row. Let me tell you that they were two different experiences that I LOVED. I am going to tell you about the front row seat experience because honestly it is more entertaining and it is when I truly knew that American Idiot would be in my heart forever.
It was a wednesday and our 3rd day being in the big apple. I had seen American Idiot for my first time on that Monday and I loved it. After that show Monday I was told that our good friend Shelly gave us her front row tickets that she got on Idiot Nation, and we were going on wednesday night to see it. They were couch seats. Emily's favorite guy in American Idiot was Michael Esper and we got the chance to sit right in front of him for 90 whole minutes! I was ecstatic. But I really didn't know until after how much this was going to affect my life. So wednesday evening my friend Emily and I were super excited. We went back to the hotel, changed, did our hair and makeup and also gulped down a Monster. We thought that would help us get pumped up for the show. Little did we know that it kind of made out nerves worse. Emily's parents walked us down to the theatre and got us situated and then we were off on our own. Correction: Emily ran ahead of us from our hotel to the Saint James Theatre. (That could have been the Monster, or maybe not :) )We went to go get our cushions because we thought that we wouldnt be able to see over the stage. We got to our seats and sat down. Man, let me tell you... MY HEART WAS LIKE A BOMB! (hehe) I was nervous, excited and my heart was racing faster than my own thoughts. Mine and Emily's stomachs were upset because of all these mixed feelings inside of us and we actually took Tums. (no joke) So i looked at my phone one last time and it was 10 minutes before the show was about to start. I turned off my phone and put it in my purse. (LIKE A GOOD GIRL) Emily and I were waiting for the famous " 1..2..3..It's Fuck Time." Little did we know time flew and we heard it! I sat back in my chair, hands shaking, skin feeling clamy waiting for the show to start. The sounds of the multiple television sets blared and my heart bursted. I barely noticed that by the time the curtain rised mine and Emily's arms were linked together. We were right there, so close we could actually touch them if we wanted to. I remember when Michael finally turned around and Emily and I squeezed our arms tighter as we silently fangirled. I actually remember Michael glancing at us a few times. Or maybe he wasn't. Who knows. It made us feel good; thats all that matters. We got super excited when Andrew came slamming on the stage right in front of us. You should have seen our faces when John almost kicked the beer bottle at our face during Boulevard. Emily was tempted to grab it off of the stage but she was afraid she was gonna get yelled at. Jelousy became of us while being so close to Michael and Jeanna makeing out on the couch during Holiday. Honestly it was hard NOT to glance over there while trying to watch what was going on in the middle of the stage. (guilty as charged) We could hear the whispers of Michael and Gerard while on the couch. Michael whispered something about his pants being ripped to Gerard. We enjoyed all of the spit, sweat and flying garbage that was thrown our way once in awhile. I remember us linking arms AGAIN as Michael sang his solo Novacaine. I was nearly in tears. But I held back my tears because I was afraid to cry. Emily and I felt terrible when we noticed Michael choking on his water in the beer bottle while trying to finish singing. I remember us noticing little things on the stage that amused us. There was a picture of Jesus shaving his beard on the wall. Once Emily pointed that out to me, we couldnt stop laughing. We weren't laughing loud, but enough to have the people behind us thinking that we were freaks. Emily cracked up when I tried to catch a piece of confetti that fell during Whatsername. :) By the time the cast started to sing Good Riddance, I was happy. I was content with what was going on right then and there. The cast was right there in front of me. When they stepped even closer after Good Riddance, I was afraid to scream too loud because I am a fairly shy person. I wanted a pick though, so I screamed a little. After they walked off the stage Emily and I grabbed our trash and Love Happened Here flyer off of the stage and ran to take our cushions back. I almost twisted my ankle as we were running down the stairs. I didn't care though. All I cared about was getting to be the first ones to stage door. We ended up getting pretty close. We had stage doored Monday so it was a little bit calmer.I still had all this adreneline pumping through me though. What we really wanted to get was a better picture with Michael Esper because the first picture turned out blurry.
We stood there FOREVER waiting for Michael to come out.
Wait lets take a detour. So Monday while Michael was signing playbills, he accidently skipped signing mine. We called him back and he said that he would come back. Sadly he forgot. I forgave him though because I knew that we were coming back Wednesday. Anyways...
Michael finally came out. His hair all wet. We felt bad for him because it was really cold out. He came back to Emily and she asked him for a picture again. Well I didn't know that I was supposed to get IN the picture, so I was just off to the side. Then I got yelled at by Emily because I wasn't in the picture! Well in all that commotion, Michael skipped my playbill AGAIN! This time I was afraid to call him back (again) so Emily yelled his name. He appologized and signed my playbill. Michael signed on the words -_-. But I was still glad and I appreciate him coming back. Later that night Emily was explaining that his breath smelled like M&M's..... Alright now I wished that I would have been in that picture.
We also had a fun time chasing down Tony Vincent down the street. We got to see him for one of his last shows. He was in a huge hurry, but he stopped and took a picture with us anyways.
After that trip, I logged onto twitter and followed every single Cast Member. I met tons of people that loved American Idiot and Green Day just like me. They had other things in common with me too! I still to this day talk to them and they are my Idiot Family. These people will always be apart of my life. I know that I will not meet everyone, but only they understand and have the same feelings as me when it comes to this kind of love. We have this special bond together and it makes us all happy. We understand eachother and laugh when all we do is fangirl over someone from the cast or ANYONE for that matter. I am so thankful for them and I love them very much.
American Idiot means so much to me. It made me believe that I can truly be myself and do anything I put my mind to. American Idiot is about growing up. It is about finding yourself and dealing with everything in life. No matter how much you have going on in your life, there will always be people waiting for you at home that love you and care for you very much. American Idiot will always be in my heart forever. I will remember everything about it. Every detail. I will be able to tell my own children about it and hope that they have something like American Idiot to help find themselves. American Idiot made me open up! I am still shy, but I talk more and more every day. I open up more with myself about my feelings and accept them. American Idiot is an amazing production that if you get the chance to see it, you should. It changed my life forever.
American Idiot will always have a special place in my heart <3
If the touring cast of American Idiot is coming somewhere near you, or even if you can travel, I HIGHLY reccomend you see it. See it, feel it, taste it, be it. You only have one chance, so why not take that chance?
