Pictured: L to R - Jason Ellis as Johnny, Benjamin Eisenhower as Tunny and Judah Woomert as Will. Photo courtesy of The Sarasota Players.

This week, catch the last performances of The Sarasota Players’ production of Green Day’s American Idiot. The production, which debuted earlier this month, is the Sarasota-premiere of the two-time Tony Award-winning musical and feels particularly timely as America moves into election season.

While The Players production of American Idiot is not designed to make any kind of political stance, the very essence of the show–which is a sung-through rock musical based on the band’s iconic album of the same name–centers around feelings of sociopolitical angst and disillusionment. Written shortly after the events of 9/11, American Idiot, in large part due to its chart-topping popularity, seemed to become the collective voice of a generation fed up with the status quo. The musical, which features little dialogue other than the lyrics of the featured songs, follows Johnny, Tunny and Will, three disgruntled men who struggle to find a sense of meaning in suburban America. Their journeys take each of them on disparate paths as they search desperately for direction and purpose in 21st Century America. “The entire album contains multiple storylines but there are very few lines of dialogue. It’s pretty much just the songs,” says Amanda Heisey, Director of Marketing at The Players. “The album was written a year or two after 9/11 and that’s the time period the story is set in, but Green Day has always maintained that the story could be set in any time period because it thematically centers around something that is constantly happening and relevant.”

The positioning of American Idiot as the final show of The Players’ season was intentional. Producing the show in the summer allowed for the organization to target an untouched talent pool, one rife was actors and musicians that the organization otherwise wouldn’t have the chance to work with. “It’s very specifically in the season where it is, because we wanted to capture students that were home for college and hadn’t gone back yet. The show features a lot of upper high school or college students home from summer break–the title itself drew people out that hadn’t auditioned for us before,” says Heisey. “We just really have a wealth of talent in this area and if we’re doing things that really interest them, people will want to come out and be a part of it.”

August 7 to 18, The Crossings at Siesta Key, 3501 S Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, 941-365-2494.

Pictured: L to R - Jason Ellis as Johnny, Benjamin Eisenhower as Tunny and Judah Woomert as Will. Photo courtesy of The Sarasota Players.

For ticket information click here.