Whisper House

Duncan Sheik's 2009 concept album was adapted to the stage in 2010. The Chicago premiere runs through February 15 at Black Button Eyes Productions. An Off Broadway production opens on March 12, 2020. Jarrow and Sheik discuss the musical in an interview here.

American Idiot

Rolling Stone: The Nineties' irrepressible punk brats grew up with a bang, proving they could take on the kind of gargantuan old-school concept album that nobody else seemed to have the guts to try anymore. Billie Joe Armstrong raged against the political complacency of Bush-era America with ferocity and a Who-size sense of grandeur.

New York Times: Pop on Broadway, sure. But punk? Yes, indeed, and served straight up, with each sneering lyric and snarling riff in place.

Peter Filichia: “If we didn’t have so ugly a society, we wouldn’t have shows as ugly as American Idiot. In the post-9/11 world, everything seemed to be breaking down- including perfect rhymes in lyrics.”

Broadway Abridged:
DIRECTOR MICHAEL MAYER: So what do you think the... Rock opera would be about?
BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG: Maybe things don't work out the way you think they'll work out, or maybe that girl you feel like drunk dialing once in awhile... (trails off, smiles weirdly)

Tony Awards clip here.
Chicago premiere clip here.

The Protomen

And now for something completely different.

I recently watched the documentary “Gaming in Color” which explores the intersections between the gaming and LGBTQ communities.

I saw parallels between the growing pains of the gaming industry and those of commercial musical theater. Both industries have found that quickly rising production costs and producers pushing for escapist entertainment have left creators fighting for art.

I’ve loved theater and video games for most of my life but rarely have the two worlds intersected. My small pile of video game design ideas includes an adventure game where you play a stage manager rushing to solve the technical and emotional problems backstage at a show before opening night.

I’ve decided to draw some comics this week that look at cultural intersections between musical theatre and gaming, from game characters portrayed on stage to in-game villains performing fabulous musical numbers. First up, THE PROTOMEN! A rock opera inspired by the Megaman games. The games started on the NES and followed a series of battling candy colored robots and their human creators. The rock opera reimagines the backstory for the anti-hero supporting character Protoman.

I’m not sure if there’s an audience for this topic beyond me. If you find these interesting, let me know in the comments.