BYE BYE BIRDIE Reviews — Page 6

Well let's get excited...a new block of tickets have just been released till April, 2010.

"The reviews came out like less than 24 hours ago...can they even put pull-quotes into a commercial and air it that quickly?"


Yes, they can. We used to do it all the time where I worked, for all the film studios. The spots can be cut, the graphics (sometimes elaborate) can be added in a couple of hours later (after they're designed and animated), the spots are onlined and QC'd often overnight, and the commercials air the next day.

Happens all the time, actually. Particularly during awards season(s).

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Updated On: 10/16/09 at 06:48 PM

I've seen Academy Award nominations in ads on the same day they were announced.

Sorry but I can't agree that this show has one of the "strongest books" of Broadway musicals. If anything, I really think this production points out or highlights the major problems with the book of this show. Rose is a doormat at the end of the day, their relationship makes little sense, so it's hard to root for them. They are literally fighting since the show starts, and well, since Stamos and Gershon have no chemistry together, it's extra harder to buy this relationship. I agree with Brantley that it's impossible to believe that Gershon's Rose would have stuck around during all those years to wait for Stamos' Albert to commit. And as I mentioned before, the mother character is obnoxious even if Houdyshell manages to be pretty hilarious in the role.

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Adam Feldman's Time Out NY review, with a memorable final line:
Casting catcall: Bye Bye Birdie

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PJ, if only I could use that last line as my signature ...

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Producers, heed the sad dying call of Bye Bye Birdie: When you play at star****ing, you often get ****ed by your stars.

Le-gasp!

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I have a crush on Adam Feldman's smarts. Anyone else?

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"I have a crush on Adam Feldman's smarts. Anyone else?"

Count me in.

"But friends do not let friends look so bad in public."

He's a freaking genius. Brantley was correct, but Feldman was hysterical.

That's not cute, love. That's Dick Van Dyke. And that had more talent and charisma in one eyelash than Stamos will ever have in this and all his future lives.

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Among the principals, Nolan Gerard Funk DID get the best reviews, so it wouldn't be too hard to find quotes for him:

'[Funk] and his pelvis are having a good time, and his rockbilly intro [is] infectious.' - Variety

'He sings well and swivels his hips with just the right amount of lewdness.' - Associated Press

'Funk adds a bit of spice [to Conrad Birdie].' - Bergen Record

The Daily News called him 'entertaining,' and New York magazine says Funk was 'effortlessly hilarious.'

Gershon, Irwin and Stamos bore the brunt of the negative reviews, but even Stamos has got a good quote from John Simon, who largely enjoyed the show and called 'the elastic Stamos' a 'worthy successor to Dick Van Dyke.'
John Simon review of 'Bye Bye Birdie'

I also want to concur with Rayandallthatjazz about the book of 'Bye Bye Birdie.' It's no masterpiece. The characters of Rose and Albert are pretty bland, and there's no big rooting interest for them to get together. Also, there's not much going on in Act II. 'Spanish Rose' and 'Rosie' seem anticlimactic and tacked on to give Rose and Albert something to do. The old movie, with Ann-Margret, resolved this by having everything build up to Conrad's appearance on 'The Ed Sullivan Show.' The comic chaos that ensues there should be the climax of the show; instead, it ends Act I, and it's a tough act to follow. Instead of making Rose and Albert the leads, the better and more dramatic focus would've been Kim, who's torn between Conrad and Hugo. Does she go with the bad boy or the good guy? ... I agree: Rose seems far too strong to have hung around all these years waiting for a hen-pecked mama's boy.

As for Funk's quotes, they're still better than the ones you'd find for any of his castmates at 'Bye Bye Birdie.'

Updated On: 10/17/09 at 01:23 AM