It's your last chance to catch The Hypocrites' acclaimed production of American Idiot. If you haven't seen it, what are you waiting for?! If you have seen it, go again. They've managed to create something incredible here. They've made a more legitimately punk performance than Green Day ever was.
This scrappy store front troupe gives a stripped down, gritty realism to the musical that works far better for the story line than the big budget Broadway versions. The set is a graffiti strewn hole in the wall where the pre show is a band. During the show, characters grab and chug beers from the audience and toss dime bags (of Smarties) to the lucky.
In this "Hair" for the new millennium, the teens experience love, loss, addiction, military deployment, and teen pregnancy. Although the kids begin the show desperate for freedom and jonesing to leave town for adventures, ultimately they all discover there's no place like home. The vocals are powerful stuff, and the cast connects with each other and the audience in a compelling way. We loved it and highly recommend it.
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American Idiot
The smash musical by Grammy Award-winning punk rock band Green Day
"A visceral and impassioned theatrical experience"
- Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
"Succeeding where Broadway failed"
- Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times
"An impressive, immersive underground-style gig"
- Kris Vire, Time Out Chicago
Book by Billie Joe Armstrong and Michael Mayer
Music by Green Day, Lyrics by Billie Joe Armstrong
Directed by Steven Wilson
Musical Direction by Andra Velis Simon
Choreography by Katie Spelman
Running August 28 – October 25, 2015
August 28 – October 25, 2015
Directed by Steven Wilson, Musical Direction by Andra Velis Simon
3pm
The critics agree, "American Idiot feels precisely as raw, real, reckless and angry as it should." - Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times; "A visceral and impassioned theatrical experience... Director, Steven Wilson, integrates the amazing flexibility of his hugely talented young cast with the material in a strikingly rich fashion." - Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune; "A rousing reinvention." - Time Out Chicago; "Utterly entertaining." - Chicago Readers; "Go see it before it's over." - Gapers Block; "This particular version ofAmerican Idiot is a work of endurance, timing, commitment, passion and insuppressible talent... The Hypocrites continue to rise not just to the rank of one of our city’s best storefronts but one of Chicago’s best theaters period." - Newcity Stage
American Idiot at The Den Theatre's Heath Main Stage, 1329 N Milwaukee Ave. Purchase American Idiot Tickets Today
It's your final chance to catch season opener, American Idiot (and pick up a Hypocrites tee & American Idiot drink ware!), but mark your calendars for
THE REST OF THE HYPOCRITES' AMAZING 2015/16 SEASON!
They are some of our favorite locals with talent to spare and one of our consistent top picks here at ChiIL Live Shows. They have the dramatic chops to take on everything from French absurdist classics and ancient myths, to modern musicals, and everything in between!
Congrats to Sean Graney and the cast of All Our Tragic for winning Best New Work and Best Ensemble respectively.
Up Next:
Sean Graney's The 4th Graders Present an Unnamed Love-Suicide. Oct 30 - Nov 8. Co-directed by Joel Ewing and Mechelle Moe. Featuring Brian Baren, Justin Burns, Hunter Dunn, Heather Lauritzen, Jauhara Saunders, Cleo Shine and Olivia Shine. Presented in a special artistic collaboration with Senn Arts Magnet High School's The Yard.
More info, cast bios and tickets at www.the-yard.org.
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Hypocrites Tixs:
Get
Tickets
for The 4th Graders Present an Unnamed Love-Suicide
The 4th Graders Present an Unnamed Love-Suicide
October 30 – November 8, 2015
By Sean Graney, Co-Directed by Joel Ewing and Mechelle Moe
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Tickets
for H.M.S. Pinafore at Actors Theatre
H.M.S. Pinafore at Actors Theatre
November 17 – December 13, 2015
Co-adapted by Sean Graney, Andra Velis Simon, and Matt Kahler; Directed by Sean Graney
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Tickets
for Burning Bluebeard
Burning Bluebeard
November 19, 2015 – January 10, 2016
By Jay Torrence, Directed by Halena Kays
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Tickets
for The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie
January 22 – March 6, 2016
By Tennessee Williams, Re-imagined and Directed by Hans Fleischmann
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Tickets
for H.M.S. Pinafore at A.R.T.
H.M.S. Pinafore at A.R.T.
March 8 – 20, 2016
Adapted and Directed by Sean Graney
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Tickets
for Adding Machine: A Musical
Adding Machine: A Musical
March 18 – May 15, 2016
Directed by Geoff Button
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Tickets
for Johanna Faustus
Johanna Faustus
May 20 – 29, 2016
Co-Adapted by Emily Casey and Sean Graney; Directed by Sean Graney
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Tickets
for Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado at Olney Theatre Center
Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado at Olney Theatre Center
July 14 – August 21, 2016
Adapted and Directed by Sean Graney; Pirates co-adapted by Kevin O'Donnell
Heads Up San Fran:
ChiIL Live Shows adored The Hypocrites' Pirates of Penzance and highly recommend it. Now Chi, IL theatre is taking California by storm, bringing The Hypocrites' delightfully immersive, lovingly loopy, and fantastically eccentric 80-minute take on Gilbert and Sullivan’s preposterous, topsy-turvy world to Berkeley Repertory Theatre.
If you are in the Bay Area, come join the party!
Get
Tickets
for Pirates of Penzance at Berkeley Rep
Pirates of Penzance at Berkeley Rep
October 16 – December 20, 2015
Co-adapted by Sean Graney and Kevin O'Donnell, Directed by Sean Graney