Am I getting old?

I was looking at the NY Times on line (It's only a matter of time before they will be charging us for looking at their website! It's horrifying, and probably true. But that's another blog). I flipped over to the theater section and read the review for American Idiot, the new "Green Day" musical that just opened on The Broadway and is based on their album of the same name. As I read, I found myself rolling my eyes and "tsk tsk"-ing.

It got a rave from Charles Isherwood ensuring a healthy run but I must admit, whole thing seems so silly, doesn't it? All the photos and videos I've seen reveal a group of very young, very hip actors with piercings, tattoos and pre-determined bedhead jumping around in a very angry, disenfranchised way on what seems to be a very edgy, modernistic set dotted with flat screen tv's and lots of psychedelic lighting. It looks to me like a very fast moving, fast cutting MTV music video. (Is MTV still on? Do they still make music videos? Whatever happened to Martha Quinn and Nina Blackwood? Sigh... quietly sings, "video killed the radio star!")

At first glance it seems like a terrible idea. Who would be interested in a musical based on Green Day? It's rock music! Not Elvis or Frankie Valli or Buddy Holly. CONTEMPORARY ROCK MUSIC! I'm sure it's very loud and very in your face and probably expresses themes that would make our parents very uncomfortable!

But then I remembered going to see Hair in NYC over New Years weekend this past year. I LOVED IT! It was all about being yourself, standing up for what you believe, challenging the status quo, and it was all filtered through rock music and a non-linear story line before the musical Company came along and claimed the non-linear story line for itself. That show made our grandparents VERY uncomfortable. It brought up themes that no one wanted to deal with even though they were staring everyone in the face. Hair seems tame in comparison to American Idiot but is it really all that different?

I brought this up to Jamie the other day and he said, "Well, you are very conservative when it comes to musicals."

"What do you mean!?" I replied.

"You have very specific opinions about musicals and how they should be written and directed and all that. You're always saying how badly some of these new shows are written and constructed."

But, I don't want to be conservative! I don't want to be an old curmudgeon! I'm too young to be an old curmudgeon! I'm hip! I'm with it! For god's sake, I even voted democrat!!!!!

So, in the interest of NOT turning into a fuddy duddy, I am going to go see American Idiot when I go to NYC in early May. I may complain that it's too loud and I may tell anyone who'll listen that it's assaulting my eyes with it's multimedia extravaganza of color, light and video BUT, I will be there. And I will NOT be a curmudgeon!