American Idiot, the blast-furnace of a musical built around the songs of Bay Area natives Green Day  and first produced at the Berkeley Rep in 2009 has circled back  from Broadway, landing at the Orpheum for the final run of its first North American tour (Now through July 8). The rock solid cast—including several veterans of the New York production—takes the stage with an exuberant ferocity that belies the fact that this is the last stop of a long haul that began in Toronto six months ago.

After last night’s official opening, we spotted director/conceptualist Michael Mayer positively beaming at the back of the house, surely impressed at the stamina and professionalism of this remarkable troupe. You’d be hard-pressed to name another touring show with this degree of polish.

Scott J. Campbell plays Tunny (Photo: Doug Hamilton)

The show stitches all of the songs from the 2004 American Idiot album—along with numbers from Green Day’s subsequent 21st Century Breakdown record—in a loose, poetry slam of a storyline about a troika of teenage boys seeking to escape the miasma of contemporary suburbia in search of some inchoate ‘better life.’ Propulsive punk-pop songs like “I Don’t Care” and “Know Your Enemy” effectively convey the sneering, pissed-off angst of adolescence, while anthemic ballads including “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and “Wake Me Up When September Ends” alchemize sometimes self-dramatizing teen bathos into genuinely moving onstage moments.

The emotions and characters in American Idiotare as boldly and broadly drawn as graffiti tags: Musical vernacular aside, the show is much more akin to opera than to traditional musical theater: It invites its audience to get swept up in the music, to wallow and soar in grand percussive projections of their of their own emotions, rather than closely follow witty lyrics and clockwork plotting.

Arena rock spectacle at the intimate Orpheum
(Photo: Doug Hamilton)

American Idiot even has its own three tenors: Van Hughes as Johnny, who descends into heroin addiction; hunky Scott Campbell as Tunny, who joins the army out of aimlessness rather than patriotism; and Jake Epstein as Will, who stays behind in their hometown with his pregnant girlfriend. They’re remarkably focused actors, imbuing their loosely sketched roles with specific humanity and creating surprisingly individuated characters amidst the overall atmosphere of stomping ensemble spectacle.

A bell-clear sound system, an arsenal of well-deployed lighting and video effects, and Steven Hoggett’s frenetic full-bodied choreography help American Idiot concentrate and elevate the the pleasures of an arena rock show into something just as visceral, but much more rewarding in the intimate 2200-seat Orpheum.

Sit in the pit! A limited number of $25 Orchestra Pit Rush seats will go on sale two hours prior to each performance at the Orpheum Theatre Box Office only. These tickets are available to anyone and you must be present to purchase. Cash only with a limit of two tickets per person. Tickets will be sold on a first come, first serve basis.

Video clip after the jump

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Larry Smith (Photo: Gilian Zoe Segal)

Larry Smith, editor of SMITH Magazine and the Six-Word Memoir project, and the just released book, THE MOMENT: Wild, Poignant, Life-Changing Stories from 125 Writers and Artists Famous & Obscure lived in the Lower Haight for most of the nineties, where he collaborated with the then-unknown Dave Eggers on the late, lamented MIGHT magazine. Now a Brooklyn-dweller, Smith still makes it out to SF three times a year or so, usually staying with his sister in the Outer Mission, where he tries to hit Arizmendi for baked goods and Philz for coffee every morning. We hit him with our tourist tips questionnaire…

What’s your favorite cultural institution to spend time at in the city, and why?

Indoors it’s 826 Valencia, the hub of Dave Eggers’ writing center for kids—you can feel energy the moment you walk into the place. Ourdoors it’s the Japanese Tea Garden. I’m usually running around like a nut between work and play while I’m in town, and when I grab a few hours to chill at the Tea Garden it gets my head back together. I took my son there when he was about eight months old and he had a blast.

Where’s your favorite view in the city?

The changing panorama as I walk from Noe Valley to the Lower Haight.

Where’s your favorite place to shop in the city? 

It was the men’s shirt store, Kweejibo (R.I.P.), where nearly every one of my shirts that people comment on came from. Now it’s Sui Generis, a consigment store on Market on the edge of the Castro, I got a Dries van Noten there that all my guy friends in New York envy.

 Smith’s food faves after the jump Read more…

Master Distiller Arne Hillesland brews up a new reason to say "L'chaim!" (Photos: Distillery No. 209)

In the first month that we’ve been online, at least one unplanned theme has begun to emerge here at the SF Agenda: Oddball pairings. First, we saw the meeting of beefcake and pulled pork at Sneaky’s; then, we took a class in matching teas with cheeses; and now we’re confronted with the question of just what cocktail one might choose to accompany the oversized, undersalted quenelle  of ground carp and onions affectionately (or unaffectionately) known as gefilte fish. It’s a pressing question as tonight and tomorrow night are the first and second seders—the symbolism-laden family feasts that begin the Jewish community’s annual week-long celebration of Passover, high season for gefilte fish eating.

The herbaceous, saline bite of a Dirty Martini seems just right. The salt of the olive juice reintroduces some briny depth to what is often little more than a bland, room temperature fish burger; and typical gin botanicals —including lemon peel and cucumber—are classic partners of the piscine.

Kosher for Passover vodka

Well, at Distillery No. 209, that inventive den of contemporary booze-craft hidden away on a pier behind AT&T Park, they’ve actually concocted a Semitic gin and a facacta vodka.