1: When director/co-writer Michael Mayer was putting together the musical, Green Day composer/frontman Billie Joe Armstrong let him listen to some songs for 2009's "21st Century Breakdown." The show wound up including six songs from that album, along with two "Idiot" bonus tracks and an outtake from 1992's "Kerplunk" -- plus the 1997 hit "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" as an encore.
2: The dialogue came from diary entries and other Armstrong statements in a booklet with the deluxe version of the "American Idiot" CD.
3: Armstrong and Melissa Etheridge played the character St. Jimmy on Broadway for limited runs.
4: Armstrong wrote a few songs for "Idiot" while walking around the track at Macalester College in St. Paul. His wife, Adrienne, is from the Twin Cities, and they have a home here.
5: The giant apartment-building backdrop used on Broadway has been scaled down for the touring version -- from 45 feet high to 25 feet.
Characters enter the public domain. Winnie the Pooh becomes a killer. Where is remix culture going?
Salman Rushdie's 'Knife' is unflinching about his brutal stabbing and uncanny in its vital spirit
WNBA fashionistas showcase their styles at the draft with spotlight on women's hoops
Paris Hilton backs California bill to bring more transparency to youth treatment facilities
