BERKELEY, CA – American Idiot, the rock album by Green Day, was transformed into a rock opera performed at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre's 600-seat Roda Theatre.
Michael Mayer, director of Spring Awakening, helped bring the album to the stage, and the staged adaptation of the multi-platinum CD, which also includes several songs from Green Day's latest album, 21st Century Breakdown, is expected to be headed for Broadway.
Masque Sound brought in a Yamaha PM1D digital audio console for front of house mixer, David Dignazio, for the Berkeley production.
American Idiot uses an onstage band along with 19 performers and features the music of Green Day vocalist/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tré Cool, with lyrics by Armstrong.
Mayer collaborated with Armstrong on the story. Mayer also worked with Tom Hulce and Ira Pittelman, who had previously worked with Mayer as lead producers on Spring Awakening.
"This is the second show that I've mixed using a Yamaha PM1D, and the first that I've set up and programmed," said Dignazio, a mixer for Broadway productions for the past 14 years.
"I was pretty much self taught on the console, but assistant designer, Mike Farfalla, was instrumental in teaching me about the console and getting me more familiar with the software and the control surface. The PM1D was easy to pick up on, and a great console to use for American Idiot since it's very user friendly and gave us the flexibility we needed to make the show happen. We were able to make changes on the fly during production. Most of all, the console sounded great."
Ronan's recent Broadway sound design credits include Next to Normal, Grease, Curtains, Spring Awakening and Grey Gardens, to name a few. Dignazio, whose recent Broadway credits include Shrek the Musical, was chosen by Ronan to mix American Idiot at the Roda Theatre. He'll head back to Broadway with American Idiot when it finds a home there in 2010.
For more information, please visit www.yamahaca.com.
