The producers of the critically acclaimed AMERICAN IDIOT announced today that OSCAR® and GRAMMY® Award winning rock star Melissa Etheridge will play the role of "St. Jimmy" for a one-week engagement, February 1 - 6, 2011. Ms. Etheridge is one of the most iconic recording artists in the music industry. For the rest of the month, Green Day frontman and the musical's composer and co-author Billie Joe Armstrong will return to the role of "St. Jimmy" and complete his 50 performance, limited engagement from February 10-27, 2011 at the St. James Theatre, 246 West 44 Street.

ST. JIMMY 2011 Performance Schedule:BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG: January 18 - 30MELISSA ETHERIDGE: February 1 - 6BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG: February 10 - 27

"Billie Joe and I always believed that it would be incredible to have a woman take on the role of St. Jimmy. This character is seductive, thrilling and dangerous. Melissa Etheridge is all that and so much more. She's a rock icon and we couldn't be more thrilled that she's bringing her immense talent to American Idiot," says Michael Mayer.

The performance schedule for AMERICAN IDIOT is Tuesday at 7pm, Wednesday 8pm, Thursday at 8pm, Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm & 8pm and Sunday at 3pm and 7:30pm.

Called "the first great musical of the 21st century" by The Toronto Star, AMERICAN IDIOT tells the story of three lifelong friends, forced to choose between their dreams and the safety of suburbia. Their quest for meaning in a post 9-11 world leads them on an exhilarating journey.

Based on Green Day's groundbreaking rock opera American Idiot, Billie Joe Armstrong and the band collaborate with one of the theatre's most acclaimed creative teams, led by the Tony Award-winning director Michael Mayer, Pulitzer Prize and two-time Tony Award-winning composer and orchestrator Tom Kitt, and Olivier Award-winning choreographer Steven Hoggett, to bring this explosive, iconic album to the stage.

In addition to either Armstrong or Etheridge, AMERICAN IDIOT stars Tony Award winner John Gallagher Jr. (Spring Awakening), Tony Award Nominee Stark Sands (Journey's End), Michael Esper (A Man For All Seasons), Rebecca Naomi Jones (Passing Strange), Christina Sajous (The Wild Party), and Jeanna de Waal (We Will Rock You - West End). The cast also features Declan Bennett, Jennifer Bowles, Andrew Call, Gerard Canonico, Miguel Cervantes, Van Hughes, Brian Charles Johnson, Lorin Latarro, Omar Lopez-Cepero, Leslie McDonel, Chase Peacock, Wallace Smith, Theo Stockman, Ben Thompson, Alysha Umphress, Aspen Vincent, Mikey Winslow and Libby Winters.

The show features Tony Award winning scenic design by Christine Jones (Spring Awakening), costume design by Baryshnikov fellow Andrea Lauer (The Butcher of Baraboo), Tony Award winning lighting design by Kevin Adams (Hair), Sound design by Olivier and Obie Award-winner Brian Ronan (Cabaret), as well as video design by Darrel Maloney. The Music Director is Carmel Dean and Lorin Latarro is the Associate Choreographer.

Reprise Records released The Original Broadway Cast Recording of AMERICAN IDIOT on April 20, 2010, the same day as the show opened. The official album features the original 24-member cast accompanied by Green Day, marking another incredible collaboration between the band and the musical. The Original Broadway Cast Recording of AMERICAN IDIOT is nominated for a 2011 GRAMMY® Award for Best Musical Show Album. The 53rd Annual GRAMMY® Awards will air on February 13, 2011, 8pmET/PT on CBS.

Melissa Etheridge has been a core Island Records artist since the release of her critically-acclaimed eponymous RIAA double-platinum debut album. For several years, Etheridge's popularity built around such memorable songs as "Bring Me Some Water" (from her debut), "No Souvenirs" (from Brave And Crazy) and "Ain't It Heavy" (from Never Enough), for which she won her first Grammy® for Best Female Rock Vocal. Etheridge hit her commercial and artistic stride with her fourth album, Yes I Am, featuring the massive hits "I'm the Only One" and "Come to My Window," a searing song of longing that brought her second Best Female Rock Grammy. The album went six times platinum and spent more than two and a half years on the album chart. Her highest charting album, Your Little Secret (#6 on the Billboard Top 200), included the hit single, "I Want to Come Over." Her astounding success led Etheridge to receive a Juno award for International Entertainer of the Year in 1990, the Songwriter of the Year honor at the ASCAP Pop Awards in 1996, and the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2007. Following her appearance as St. Jimmy in AMERICAN IDIOT, Etheridge will embark on a Canadian Tour in February in support of her latest album, "Fearless Love". For more about Melissa Etheridge, visit www.melissaetheridge.com.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos

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