Green Day To Bring In ‘Da Noise & Bring In ‘Da Punk With New Musical

Green Day are one step closer to bringing their infectious pop-punk music to a place their fans probably never imagined the Berkeley trio playing – Broadway.

On Monday, the band announced plans to bring its multi-platinum and Grammy award-winning album, “American Idiot” to the stage in their Northern California hometown.

Green Day will collaborate with Michael Mayer, the renowned director of “Spring Awakening,” which won eight Tony Awards including Best Director and Best Musical in 2007. The new show – also titled “American Idiot” – will receive its world premiere in the band’s own backyard at Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

“American Idiot” – which just wrapped it’s first workshop (AKA its testing phase) in New York City – follows working-class characters from the suburbs to the city to the Middle East, as they seek redemption in a world filled with frustration, according to the band’s label, Reprise Records.

“We are really excited to be working with Michael Mayer on this project,” Green Day’s frontman Billie Joe Armstrong said in a statement to Access Hollywood. “We’d been thinking of bringing ‘American Idiot’ to the stage, but knew we needed to find the right partners. After meeting with Michael to discuss the possibility, he invited us to see ‘Spring Awakening.’ We were so impressed with that production, as well as his vision for ‘American Idiot,’ that we knew we’d found the perfect collaborator. Plus, doing it in our hometown at Berkeley Rep was an obvious bonus. They’re an amazing theatre group, very adventurous, and their willingness to take chances is in keeping with the spirit of the album. The end result will be terrific, and we’re really proud.”

The show includes every song from the “American Idiot” album, as well as several new songs from Green Day’s upcoming release, “21st Century Breakdown.” The musical will run from September 4 through October 11, opening Berkeley Rep’s 2009/10 season.