St. Billie Returns To The St. James

[mallorymaloney]

Yea, some of them do.

Hehehe ... I knew you'd take the bait, T Ann. You and I are not without our similarities!

Hope to meet you during one of St Billie's performances.

[GDM]

Hehehe ... I knew you'd take the bait, T Ann. You and I are not without our similarities!

Hope to meet you during one of St Billie's performances.

see you around. i'll be here.

[elanorelle72]

see you around. i'll be here.

damn I won't be able to see St Billie

I will have to settle with playing blues in a bar in New Orleans

[GTI]

Which to go to, his birthday or the last show?

[LouLou]

Yay! I just bought my ticket for the show on Januray 29 at 8pm OMG I can't believe I made this happen!!! Damn I'm good! lol

[lastnightonGDA]

I would give people evil glares if they were NOT singing along. I mean, Green Day fans around the globe are coming together to see this, so let's get those sticks out of our asses and HAVE FUN.

[E!!i]

While I agree with the phone stuff, I think it's great when people start sining the songs. I remember interviews with Billie and Michael Mayer (and possibly some of the cast, I don't remember) saying they'd love to see the audience participating. Fuck proper theater etiquette, this isn't a Shakespeare play, and it's not meant to be one.

you're so damn right, this was what I wanted to say with my post!

I've never heard that saying before. I think people going to see a musical based on a popular rock album should expect to hear people singing along with the songs. I don't think many of the people at the AI musical are snooty theater goers with tiny binoculars getting pissed every time they hear someone cough. It's a rock musical based on popular songs, people should expect audience participation, especially in such a small venue. This isn't the Phantom of the fucking Opera, it's American Idiot.

so damn right, too is plaid a snob or something like this?

blah fucking blah. i hope someone runs naked thru the crowd. bunch of theater babies.

haha this would be a great idea! :eyebrow:

[E!!i]

I have to agree with that, nothing worse then someone singing stupidly loud and out of tune... to a song like last night on earth or when it's time! At a concert fair enough....

so should only the people sing who can sing?

One of the last times I saw the show I was sitting in the mezz with Beth- Billie Joe was sitting about 10 seats from us. I think he found it hard not to sing along himself lol.

And yeah I guess it was distracting

oh this would be so awesome if Billie would sit in the row in front of me or even in the same row (beside me ) and would sing along to the musical

[GDM]

I just dare someone to sing along to Last Night on Earth! I dare ya!

[E!!i]

Green Day would give their music to a director and a composer and a cast if they didn't give a shit about the outcome of the show and theatre. Basically by disrespecting the theatre community you are making yourself (or whomever it is) look stupid AND you are disrespecting Green Day's work. If I were Billie I would be embarrassed at the way people acted the last time he was on stage.

People that pay this much to see a show (regardless of their age or what music they are fans of) should be able to enjoy the show and not have to put up with other audience members being obnoxious. Speaking as someone who loves both Green Day and theatre, I would ask they those in attendance behave accordingly.

I think I'm just a Green Day freak and not a snob like those theater people

[GDM]

Is there a reason to call us names?

I don't think Plaid Ducky or I or anyone who has different views about SINGING along has called anyone names, but we've been called crybabies, snobs, and righteous.

[E!!i]

You can be excited and applaud when necessary, but to yell 'I love you, Billie' before he begins to sing, that's rude and uncalled for.

And what about "I wanna fuck you, Billie" ? :eyebrow:

[E!!i]

I tell you who I am, someone who goes to the theater.... a lot. And goes to concerts... a lot. There is a difference in the experience. And there are times for audience interaction in both experiences and there are times when it's not appropriate. Singing along to every song is just not appropriate. You can call us righteous and that we're telling you how to behave, but apparently neither you or Andres have respect for our opinion either. So maybe we should just leave it there.

I wonder if when Billie Joe went to see Next to Normal in New York and LA if he sang along with the cast out loud. I've seen him several times in the audience at American Idiot, both he and Adrienne. And Tre. And Mike. And they all may rock out during the show, but I've never seen them sing-a-long.

I don't care what they do, I'd just do what the fuck I want to!

How about this? Everyone who wants to sing along at a reasonable volume level and enjoy themselves, go for it. Everyone who wants to be very quiet and respectful, do that too. And we can all just glare at each other for having different ways of enjoying the show.

THIS!!!

[pols4tre]

I reckon I'm going to go to this :) I went when he did it back in September and it was the trip of a life time.

I'm aiming to go for a week in February and hoping to see the last show, but dates aren't official yet! I'm booking it all in January. Hope to see some of you there!

[E!!i]

I would give people evil glares if they were NOT singing along. I mean, Green Day fans around the globe are coming together to see this, so let's get those sticks out of our asses and HAVE FUN.

man I should have done this when I watched the MTV World Stage Performance in the cinema cause most people were so silent and were just sitting there and I totally rocked out

Is there a reason to call us names?

I don't think Plaid Ducky or I or anyone who has different views about SINGING along has called anyone names, but we've been called crybabies, snobs, and righteous.

you can call us freaks or dumbasses

[Radioactive1]

Ahh it's just not a Green Day thread without an argument.

[GDM]

you can call us freaks or dumbasses

I'd rather not, thanks. Because I don't think you are freaks or dumbasses, just people with different opinions.

Ahh it's just not a Green Day thread without an argument.

Ha, ain't that the truth!

[**nobodylikesyou**]

One of the last times I saw the show I was sitting in the mezz with Beth- Billie Joe was sitting about 10 seats from us. I think he found it hard not to sing along himself lol.

And yeah I guess it was distracting

I was just gonna mention this but you already did. I loved being distracted by his singing that day.♥

It is what it is people. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I certainly don't think proper theatre behavior is expected or wanted for this show.

[pasalaska]

*completely ignoring argument/heated discussion*

Going to go look at flights next week. SO GODDAMN EXCITED I FEEL LIKE RUNNING UP AND DOWN MY STREET ANNOUNCING THIS FACT LOUDLY WHILE FLAILING EXCESSIVELY.

[Bastard of 1967]

As i said before, I pay to go see Green Day play but I don't get all fucked up about it when people around me sing. Green Day is far more important to me than actors, so if anything, that would be the situation when I'd be upset about it but really...you can see why that'd be silly.

Also as I said before, when I went to see the show before and there were some people singing along, it didn't bother me one bit. I could still hear the actors just fine, I was still able to enjoy it. No one was being obnoxious, and I don't think thats what I'm advocating for.

I'm gonna take the middle ground on this. I agree with those who have noted that the show is a Broadway performance, not a rock concert. I also agree that because the show is built around a punk rock opera, it's appropriate to play loose with *some* of the traditional theater etiquette, and that the traditional theatergoers in the audience need to appreciate that as well.

[digress] On that point -- I found it just piss-perfect that when Green Day performed with the AIOB cast at this past year's Tony awards, they chose "Know Your Enemy" to play before all the stuffed-suits, the critics, the traditional "PUNK ROCK DOES NOT BELONG ON BROADWAY!!" naysayers....I broke out in a huge grin when they hit the lyric "Bringin' on the fury/The choir infantry/Revolts against the honor to obey" -- that's just what that song's performance, in that venue and at that time, was all about! [/digress]

But as a matter of common civility and courtesy, you need to use your head in deciding when you need to lighten up vs. tighten yer a-hole. I very much agree with those who have noted that not everyone in the audience is a Green Day fan, and so I do see us as having a role like emissaries in that regard....be respectful to these folks, don't do something that is likely to interfere with a reasonable theater-goer's enjoyment of the show, and maybe they'll become one of the converted if you will.

So for my practical take on all this....when we see the show again in January, I'll be wearing basically what I wore to it last April -- slacks, a nice sweater (hiding a Green Day tour shirt underneath -- thus awesome in April to have been able to just rip the sweater right off when the band took the stage after the encore! --And might come off again during the Good Riddance encore this time ), all topped off with my Chucks. I do think it's appropriate to look for cues from the cast as to whether or not it's appropriate to sing a phrase or verse along with them. The "Amen!" and "1-2-3-4" callbacks in Holiday and St. Jimmy are the best examples of that, and you *know* that Billie's going to let us know when he wants us to join him or when he wants us to shut the f*ck up. But singing along loudly to the ballads like LNOE or When It's Time vs. just mouthing the words to yourself? I have to agree that in a non-concert context that's just fucking RUDE to the cast and to the rest of the audience -- even to other Green Day fans who came to hear the cast, not a bunch of American Idol wannabes in the audience.

[Abbey.]

So for my practical take on all this....when we see the show again in January, I'll be wearing basically what I wore to it last April -- slacks, a nice sweater (hiding a Green Day tour shirt underneath -- thus awesome in April to have been able to just rip the sweater right off when the band took the stage after the encore!),

whew, for a minute there i thought you were gonna say rip ur shirt off during the death of st jimmy, grab sarah's lipstick, and draw a heart on yourself.

[Bastard of 1967]

whew, for a minute there i thought you were gonna say rip ur shirt off during the death of st jimmy, grab sarah's lipstick, and draw a heart on yourself.

I....I don't know what to say other than +1rep to you for that one.

[Tripe]

I see both sides of the issue, but I think I lean the way of less than crazed behavior in the theater. Personally I am a "mouth along, hum along" type of person at the show. Low singing next to me would probably not bother me, but if someone were singing out and out loudly next to me or behind me, I really would find it distracting and annoying. Good or bad singing, although bad singing would be worse. I have had horrible, loud, off-key singing next to me in the pit at a concert and it did get on my nerves after awhile... And when BJ is onstage, yelling and cheering at his entrance seems natural, but not screaming "I love you" during dialogue or ballads.

And I think it's assuming a LOT to think people "know how to behave in a theater." There were several questions posted by first time theater-goers in the AI thread when the first shows began regarding this very subject. Plus, witness the idiots at the talkbacks who wasted valuable Q & A time with inanities like "Billie Joe, can we get a hug?" Eeeeek, hurt me.

[pasalaska]

I liken the people who sing along excessively loudly in the musical to the people who scream 'OMFG I LOVE YOU BILLIEEEE' during the acoustic encore at a GD concert.

it's just kinda... wrong. and annoying.

Sarah and I whispered/mouthed along to the musical when we saw it, and when we met the cast afterwards, they were saying excitedly how they saw us singing along. So they evidently like it when people are enthusiastic about the music and the performance.

aaaand that's my two cents.

[Tripe]

I'm gonna take the middle ground on this. I agree with those who have noted that the show is a Broadway performance, not a rock concert. I also agree that because the show is built around a punk rock opera, it's appropriate to play loose with *some* of the traditional theater etiquette, and that the traditional theatergoers in the audience need to appreciate that as well.

But as a matter of common civility and courtesy, you need to use your head in deciding when you need to lighten up vs. tighten yer a-hole. I very much agree with those who have noted that not everyone in the audience is a Green Day fan, and so I do see us as having a role like emissaries in that regard....be respectful to these folks, don't do something that is likely to interfere with a reasonable theater-goer's enjoyment of the show, and maybe they'll become one of the converted if you will.

So for my practical take on all this....when we see the show again in January, I'll be wearing basically what I wore to it last April -- slacks, a nice sweater (hiding a Green Day tour shirt underneath -- thus awesome in April to have been able to just rip the sweater right off when the band took the stage after the encore! --And might come off again during the Good Riddance encore this time ), all topped off with my Chucks. I do think it's appropriate to look for cues from the cast as to whether or not it's appropriate to sing a phrase or verse along with them. The "Amen!" and "1-2-3-4" callbacks in Holiday and St. Jimmy are the best examples of that, and you *know* that Billie's going to let us know when he wants us to join him or when he wants us to shut the f*ck up. But singing along loudly to the ballads like LNOE or When It's Time vs. just mouthing the words to yourself? I have to agree that in a non-concert context that's just fucking RUDE to the cast and to the rest of the audience -- even to other Green Day fans who came to hear the cast, not a bunch of American Idol wannabes in the audience.

Kudos, Michael. And did you know I will be sitting next to you for that Sunday show? Good to know you won't be screaming "I love you Billie!" or singing really obnoxiously to LNOE next to me.