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Bid online for American Idiot items!

posted by Chad Jones on Wed, Apr 14, 2010
in Events , News

Today, as Green Day’s American Idiot takes Broadway by storm, the Tony Award-winning Berkeley Repertory Theatre announces a rare opportunity for fans to bid on exclusive items from the show’s world-premiere run in California. Four collectors’ items — including a guitar autographed by Green Day and the Berkeley Rep cast — will be available for 10 days on eBay beginning today, Wednesday, April 14. All proceeds from the auction benefit Berkeley Rep, a nonprofit theatre company dedicated to developing exhilarating new plays like American Idiot, Girlfriend, and Passing Strange.

The auction — which can be accessed at www.berkeleyrep.org/IdiotAuction — begins at 7pm PT today (Wednesday, April 14) and concludes at 7pm PT on Saturday, April 24. Berkeley Rep will receive 100 percent of the auction’s proceeds.

The auction includes the following hot items:

• A brand-new Epiphone LP Jr guitar autographed by all three members of Green Day and the Berkeley cast of American Idiot as they recorded a new version of “21 Guns” at the band’s Jingletown Studios in November 2009.
• A framed 20" x 30” photo of the original rendering for the show’s four-story set — with its sky-high walls, rolling stairs, punk posters, television monitors, and dangling car — created by Scenic Designer Christine Jones, who earned a Tony Award nomination for her work on Spring Awakening.
• A mixed-media collage of fabric swatches, photos, and sketches created by Costume Designer Andrea Lauer as she invented the outrageous outfit — including striped armband and pink combat boots – worn by Obie Award-winning actress Rebecca Naomi Jones, who portrays Whatsername (the collage is signed by Ms. Lauer and framed alongside a photo of Ms. Jones from the Berkeley run taken by renowned theatre photographer Kevin Berne).
• A similar collage by Ms. Lauer that features photos, drawings, and images of Whatsername alongside other characters from the show portrayed by Tony Vincent (St. Jimmy), Joshua Henry (The Favorite Son), and Libby Winters (ensemble).

The Broadway engagement of American Idiot, produced by Tom Hulce and Ira Pittelman in association with Berkeley Rep, began previews on March 24 and officially opens on April 20. The show tells the exhilarating tale of a new generation of young Americans as they search for meaning in a post-9/11 world, borne along by Green Day's electrifying score. With a cast of 19 led by Tony Award-winner John Gallagher, Jr., this high-octane musical follows the journey of three lifelong friends as one takes off for a life in the city, one leaves home to fight for his country, and one stays behind, frozen in the safety of suburbia.

American Idiot made its world premiere in Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theatre in September 2009. Its record-breaking run brought in the biggest advance sale in the Theatre’s 42-year history, the biggest day at the box office, 18 of the top 20 days ever, and due to ticket demand had to announce its first extension before it played its first performance. Now it’s taking up residence at the St. James Theatre in Manhattan, which is located at 246 West 44th Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue. Visit americanidiotonbroadway.com for information.