BLINK-182 SONGS TELL A STORY IN ‘1996’
Appropriately, San Diego audiences are the first to experience Daniel Durston’s “1996 — A blink-182 Musical.” Durston, a longtime Elvis on the “Million Dollar Quartet” national tour and a former “Big Brother” house guest, is world-premiering his stage show that incorporates the music of Poway-born blink-182 at the ongoing San Diego International Fringe Festival in Balboa Park.
Durston conceived the idea for the show a dozen years ago after seeing the Green Day jukebox musical “American Idiot.” “I walked out not feeling like I got a story,” Durston recalled. “I’m a bit bigger of a blink-182 fan than of Green Day. Two years went by and I thought, ‘No one’s doing it, so I’m going to do it.’ ”
“It” was creating a musical integrating blink-182 songs with a tale about a fledgling pop-punk band that also addresses issues of mental health. Durston spent 10 years writing the show, which is about 21⁄2 hours long, but has been stripped down to an hour to meet Fringe Festival length limitations.
“It’s not just about the blink-182 music,” he explained. “Those songs sell themselves. It’s what I’m trying to say to audiences — we don’t know who’s fighting depression. By doing this, I try to shed light on it and live in memory of those I’ve lost.”
Durston’s dreaming big: He’s hoping to someday take his cast-of-nine musical to Broadway. But before that, he’s seeking official support from blink’s band members. “If they read the script,” he said, “they’ll see I’m very passionate and real and honest about it.”
The Fringe show, which I saw last Sunday, is a staged reading with actors holding scripts. Blink’s music is thoughtfully worked into Durston’s story, which is promising but has some kinks to work out.
You can still catch “1996 — A blink-182 Musical” at the Centro Cultural de la Raza at 9 p.m. today; 6 p.m. Saturday; and 4 p.m. Sunday, which is the Fringe Festival’s closing day. sdfringe.org