Just Announced Green Day, cheerleaders highlight a new round of Broadway in Chicago

Ten years ago, probably no one would have guessed the creators of South Park, a band whose best-known album was called Dookie, and a mediocre high-school comedy starring Kirsten Dunst would ever make musicals that would play in Chicago via the Great White Way. While we already knew about the Tony-winning Book Of Mormon coming to town, there are a few more musicals coming to Chicago, as just announced by Broadway In Chicago for the spring 2012 season.

Green Day was, at one point, a punk-rock tastemaker. And what’s more punk-rock than Broadway musicals? The band’s epic American Idiot will be coming to the Oriental Theater Feb. 7-19. Featuring songs from the Grammy-winning album of the same name, American Idiot tells the story of three longtime pals who must decide between leaving suburbia to follow their dreams and, presumably, staying put.

When you think of movies that would make good stage musicals, goofy high-school comedies generally aren’t high on the list. Apparently, nobody told that to the creators of Bring it On: The Musical. Playing from March 6-25 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, Bring it On follows the eponymous film’s plot of outrageous cheerleading rivalries and their effects on personal relationships. The best news about this, however, is that we can’t be too far off from Can’t Hardly Wait: The Musical.

The season will also bring a few more traditional musicals. (South Pacific, Jersey Boys, and Fela! will all have runs.) More info, and tickets, can be procured through Broadway In Chicago.