Billie Joe Armstrong musical coming to Geffen Playhouse in September

The latest stage musical from Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong will have its West Coast premiere at the Geffen Playhouse in September, the Los Angeles theater company announced on Thursday.

“These Paper Bullets!” -- loosely inspired by Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” -- will run at the Geffen from Sept. 8 to Oct. 18, after which it will play at the Atlantic Theater Company in New York. The two theater companies are co-producing the staging, which will be directed by Jackson Gay.

Armstrong wrote the songs for the musical, which is set in the world of rock and follows four musicians from Liverpool who find themselves in London looking to make an album. Playwright and television writer Rolin Jones of Woodland Hills wrote the script for the show.

The new musical was seen last year at Yale Repertory Theatre, which commissioned the work. The title comes from a soliloquy delivered in Shakespeare’s original play by the character Benedick.

Armstrong branched out into musical theater six years ago with “American Idiot,” which opened at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and transferred to Broadway. The musical has toured the U.S. and has seen productions overseas.

The Broadway cast recording for “American Idiot” won the Grammy Award for musical show album.

No casting has been announced for the Geffen run of “These Paper Bullets!,” which will officially open Sept. 16 in the Gil Cates Theatre. The company previously collaborated with the Atlantic on the play “Farragut North” by Beau Willimon.

Twitter: @DavidNgLAT