Punk Rock Opera Gives Lessons on Modern Culture

Theatre Department

The characters Johnny (Chandler Reid Evans), St. Jimmy (Ross Wagner) and Whatsername (Claire Fossey) on the "American Idiot" stage, presented April 15-24 on campus.

Thanks to welcome support and accommodation from the university's theatre department, a group of international students had the opportunity to combine their language skills and the content of one course in an engaging new element.

As part of their Seminar in United States Culture, Communications, and Institutions, 20 English Language and Culture students saw the opening performance of Green Day's punk rock opera American Idiot on Friday, April 15 with more background information than typically comes with the playbill. The collaboration was initiated by instructor Wendy McBride: "I couldn't think of a better venue to illustrate many of the themes of our course on American Culture. We were so lucky the theatre department so graciously responded to our requests."

In a lecture the previous week from Michael Riha, Theatre Department chair and set designer extraordinaire, the students heard enthusiasm in the introductory information about the show, the set and the department. This was organized to provide in-depth perspective and to enhance the overall theatre experience. As part of the lecture, they toured the set and saw the view from backstage while learning about the themes and background of the particularly intense and exuberant production.

These English Language and Culture students come from a wide range of fields of study – from journalism and architecture to voice and food science – and from a diverse assortment of native countries: Armenia, Brazil, China, East Timor, Korea, and Pakistan.