Reopening of the Mark Taper Forum with ‘American Idiot’

LOS ANGELES – Everything about the musical “American Idiot” is visceral.

There is anguish and anger in the faces, in the voices, in the words.

For actor Daniel Durant, musical theater wasn’t something he really found until his breakout role in Deaf West’s production of “Spring Awakening” about a decade ago.

“My whole life, you know, being raised proudly as a deaf person, I wasn’t really aware of musicals,” Durant said.

Durant, who describes himself as profoundly deaf, has since learned that it’s not so much about the music or lyrics as it is about the emotion the songs contain. It’s been said that characters in musicals sing because their feelings are so intense that spoken words aren’t enough, and this production of American Idiot will highlight that point in a new way.

“That this musical is in sign language is very visual,” Durante said. “There is additional expression, there is sign language, there is energy and emotion put into it. So we really hope the audience sees that and really feels that impact.”

Johnny is played by Durant, as is Milo Manheim, an actor best known for starring in Disney Channel’s Zombies franchise.

“We’re both kind of two heads on one character, so to speak,” Durant explained. “[Manheim] It is the voice and I am the visual part and the sign language part. And we both created this character together.”

Rehearsals are also conducted bilingually, with director Snehal Desai and deaf company members communicating through interpreters.

This is the fourth collaboration between Center Theater Group and Deaf West Theater in about two decades, and the latter’s artistic director, DJ Kurs, says that in that time a lot has changed.

“We, as a deaf community, have found new ways to express ourselves through music and social media,” he said. “Making ‘American Idiot’ is just a great way to show our rage, our place in the world and to really use music as a language to reach everyone on a global level.”

He admits that the announcement of the program caused mixed reactions in the deaf community.

“Some people said: Who? What is Green Day? he remembered. “Then other people said, oh, I love Green Day. “I bought his cassette, we put it in the car and listened to it.”

“That’s really a reflection of the community in the world we live in today,” he added. “For me, it’s really exciting to be able to do theater at this time and in a world where the deaf community is closer to music than ever before.”

Lark Detweiler, whose Instagram username is @deafdancer, is one of the troupe members who knew the band well.

“When I was a kid, my family really liked Green Day,” they said. “Actually, I’m a big Green Day fan too. If you listen to alternative music and you don’t know it [‘American Idiot’]like what are you doing?

Detweiler is not only a member of the ensemble, but also serves as dance captain. While the bilingual nature of the production posed some communication challenges, they explained, the dance does not share that difficulty.

“The language of dance remains the same regardless of who can hear, who can move, whatever,” they said.

“American Idiot” marks a milestone in the history of Center Theater Group. It is the start of the first season scheduled by Desai since he became artistic director, the third person to hold the position since CTG was founded.

Get to know the music of yesteryear.

“I was hearing it over and over again,” he said. “I had the CD. “We don’t even have CDs anymore.”

Reviewing it now, you’re surprised at how relevant it still is.

In 2004, when Green Day’s “American Idiot” album was released, there was a contentious election, a war in the Middle East and division in the country.

There was a lot of noise in the world, he remembers, and today it is much the same.

“I think the journey of these three characters is that they want to be proud Americans and find their identity. But sometimes it can be difficult in a world where you shout and sound deaf,” Desai said. “We took this idea of ​​what happens if you are shouting in a world that seems deaf to you, and instead you are deaf in a world that is constantly shouting but not hearing each other, and how can we start to find a place to listen to each other? others”.

In this case, that place is the Mark Taper Forum, which has been largely silent for the past year.

Desai believes this is the perfect show to reopen the iconic venue.

“The Taper is a forum, right?” said. “It is intended to be a community public space. And it seemed like the right program at this time to bring our different communities together.”

“I think it represents the best of Los Angeles,” Kurs said. “CTG and Deaf West have been around for a long time, and we are definitely pillars of the theater community here in Los Angeles, and it is truly a special moment to be able to open Taper again with this collaboration.”

His company has a successful track record in musicals, including the acclaimed Broadway production of Spring Awakening with Durant.

They are currently developing a musical based on the film Coda, which the actor also starred in.

He says representation of the deaf in the media has improved significantly in recent years, a trend he hopes will continue.

“There is access to the arts world, to theater, to all kinds of different places in the arts world that we… historically haven’t had access to,” she said, “so I’m very happy to see this happen.” . .

American Idiot is about being heard, and that’s especially significant at a time, he says, when no one, both deaf and hearing, seems to agree.

“There are so many people whose rights are not recognized, whether they are disabled, LGBTQ, deaf, whatever,” he explained. “We are fighting for our rights, we want people to notice us and see us, and we want fair treatment.”

Understandable feelings, whether spoken, sung, or signed, or all of the above.