Their sound has changed quite a bit since then, of course, causing my opinion to shift as well. With their disappearance from the entertainment radar, despite continuing to make music, I’d venture to say many others considered them a fading influence, as well.

I was instantaneously reminded of their former popularity when I found out Broadway’s “American Idiot” was coming to MSU. I stepped into Wharton Center Tuesday night to see the show, devoid of any clue what to expect. At first glance, skinny jeans, spiky hair and men wearing eyeliner did not seem to coincide with my image of a Broadway production.

As the show opened with a full stage singing the band’s hit single “American Idiot,” I was pleasantly surprised by the high energy shown by the cast. The stage filled with dancers headbanging and singing along to the chorus and, although the choreography wasn’t typical of a Broadway show, it definitely caught my attention.

Throughout the musical, I was highly impressed with the wide variety of voices the actors possessed. While there definitely were some over-the-top Broadway bellows, I also heard the scratchy punk vocals I expected to hear. The plot is a coming-of-age story of three best friends, and while two of the three embraced the punk sound, when Thomas Hettrick, who plays “Tunny,” opened his mouth, I fell in love with his voice. He could hit the highest and lowest notes, and he made me feel what his character was feeling, scene after scene. As the show went on, I found myself liking the Broadway versions of the Green Day songs better than the originals.

Right from the beginning, one thing I noticed was the colorful use of language. And by that, I mean profanities were spewed left and right, from the first line to the last. If I got a quarter for every time an actor flipped off the audience, I could pay half my rent for next month. Also, the constant sex scenes in the background combined with a scene where “Johnny,” played by Alex Nee, shoots up his girlfriend with heroin made for some unexpected surprises. Granted, although it did embrace the true rebellious “punk” lifestyle, I found myself looking at the young kids sitting in the audience and cringing.

Aside from the profanity, I thought the plot was well-written. The story tackled several hot-button issues that come with growing up, such as teen pregnancy, addiction and struggling to find success in a big city. It seemed reminiscent of “Across the Universe,” with the splitting up of lives, ever-present drug use and implications of war frustration. There could have been a little bit more transition between each song, though ­— at some points, it felt like the cast was rushing to squeeze a list of songs in.

Once they got to the end, the main actors all crowded the stage, guitars in hand. As they began to strum the chords to “Good Riddance” in unison, there was a collective cheer throughout the theater. The harmonies were beautifully executed, and as each actor took their turn to sing a line of the song, it brought a sense of closure to the story.

While I’m not exactly the biggest fan of Green Day’s music, the production possessed an extremely talented cast and made the story worth watching.