Bye Bye Birdie - general thoughts?

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 11:00am

I'm a little less than a week out from opening night of a community theatre production of Bye Bye Birdie, and I was wondering about what people here think about it. This was my first exposure to the musical as a property, and while it's certainly light as a feather thematically there's still a lot of fun to be had, especially through choreography.

Looking at the adaptations, the 1963 movie benefits from having Dick van Dyke and Paul Lynde reprising their Broadway roles, but even that's not enough to make up for the trainwreck that is the adaptation. The 1995 TV movie with Jason Alexander and Vanessa Williams sticks closer to the book of the musical and is better for it.

Has anyone had any exposure to Bring Back Birdie?

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 11:04am

It's a wonderful show deserving of a GOOD revival.

That said, I wonder how the whole plot of Conrad Birdie having to kiss a 16-year-old would play on stage nowadays...

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 11:17am

I've always enjoyed BYE BYE BIRDIE. When presented as written it's a fun and energetic piece. When tampered with, it's a disaster.

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 11:29am

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "It's a wonderful show deserving of a GOOD revival.

That said, I wonder how the whole plot of Conrad Birdie having to kiss a 16-year-old would play on stage nowadays..."

I've definitely made jokes about that last point during rehearsals. But I think the script takes some of the edge out of it by depicting the teens as very horny and eager in their own right.

[JSquared2]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 11:37am

It's still a great show ---- as long as it's done as written and as a period piece -- and no one (that means you too, Harvey) tries to "update" the book to make it past the PC police.

Unfortunately, both the Encores production and ESPECIALLY the Roundabout revival were both (for the most part) poorly cast.  The Vanessa Williams/Jason Alexander TV movie was the only one that got it right.

[goodlead]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 2:08pm

I saw and LOVED the original Broadway production.  The audience was completely with it from the overture onward.  There were a few lines excised from later productions about what a sweet old lady was the mother of Gypsy Rose Lee (Gypsy had opened a few months before).

I saw and HATED Bring Back Birdie.  Peter Filichia wrote about the first preview of the latter show -- how the entire audience was primed for a show as good as its predecessor.  But when the curtain came down on Act I, a chorus of boos swept the theater.

 

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 4:47pm

I directed the show at a high school a few years back. The book is dated in places but it's still a charming show. I think it's one best left for amateur and regional groups these days, I'd be surprised if a full scale revival would work any better than the 2009 one but I would still check it out. Most of the songs hold up quite well. It's interesting that it was written as a contemporary show but now feels very much like a period piece which I think gives those involved and the audience a different kind of response to it.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 5:28pm

It's odd that this show has been tinkered with so much over the years (to an extent). The feature film is not faithful to the stage show, the Tommy Tune tour had some new numbers, the Vanessa Williams film had some different new numbers, the 09 revival seemed to do its own thing, and IIRC there are some "options" that can be licensed onstage (A Mother Doesn't Matter Anymore and Let's Settle Down, for example). And then Harvey Fierstein was going to adapt it for a live TV musical with JLo, where I believe he was going to make Albert a high school music teacher.

[GregoryStellar]

Posted: 7/16/22 at 10:17am

I just love BYE BYE BIRDIE ! This wonderful piece is full of energy and life! Just full of positivity!

 

Updated On: 1/5/23 at 10:17 AM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/16/22 at 10:41am

Its a terrific, time period show. Everyone loves it. The stories you hear from everyone about their own experiences with it over the years are eye opening. 

[David10086]

Posted: 7/16/22 at 1:37pm

I've seen the original movie, the TV movie, and some local community productions of the show - and never liked any of them. It just never caught my interest. 

[blaxx]

Posted: 7/16/22 at 4:02pm

David10086 said: "I've seen the original movie, the TV movie, and some local community productions of the show - and never liked any of them. It just never caught my interest."

Well, then it must be an awful show.

[David10086]

Posted: 7/16/22 at 5:28pm

blaxx said: "David10086 said: "I've seen the original movie, the TV movie, and some local community productions of the show - and never liked any of them. It just never caught my interest."

Well, then it must be an awful show."

For me it is, but others seem to like it. Just never clicked with me. To each his own...

[MCW1227]

Posted: 7/16/22 at 10:35pm

Loved the movie but despised the revival at Roundabout with Stamos. Just awful. 

[Owen22]

Posted: 7/17/22 at 9:56am

As Charles Strouse will tell anyone who will listen, "Bye Bye Birdie" was the first rock musical.

We did it my senior year of high school and I've seen many productions over the years.  In my evolving understanding of such things, I now get that "Birdie" was the "Book of Mormon" of it's time (though much more American-universal).  "Birdie" was (for then) very modern satire of the times it was set, farcically commenting on the era's casual racism, it's burgeoning worship of celebrity culture and the new power of the teenager. "Hymn For A Sunday Evening" was so late 50's/early 60's culturally specific, just as "Mormon's" references are so of the moment. Though possibly eye-rolling now, "How Lovely To Be a Woman" was theatrical irony playing out in one number, very smart for the time.  (And though no feminist icon, Kim is smart enough to eventually realize kissing an older man isn't exactly the way to grow up and balks at the idea).

I also believe that the show doesn't work well anymore because it is always revived sincerely.  I'm thinking a truly innovative director could take that original satire and take it to it's extreme, not exactly a "wink-wink" revival, but maybe in that direction.

[darquegk]

Posted: 7/17/22 at 10:25am

You almost have to embrace the irony, because the show, great as it is, bets HARD on the wrong horse. "Rock and roll and the notion of teen culture is a flash in the pan with no substance behind it," the show seems to say; "it's the Great American Standard and dance-band culture that will win out in the end."

Sixty years later, we know that isn't the case. 

[JSquared2]

Posted: 7/17/22 at 11:45am

Owen22 said: "As Charles Strouse will tell anyone who will listen, "Bye Bye Birdie" was the first rock musical.

We did it my senior year of high school and I've seen many productions over the years. In my evolving understanding of such things, I now get that "Birdie" was the "Book of Mormon" of it's time (though much more American-universal). "Birdie" was (for then) very modern satire of the times it was set, farcically commenting on the era's casual racism, it's burgeoning worship of celebrity culture and the new power of the teenager. "Hymn For A Sunday Evening" was so late 50's/early 60's culturally specific, just as "Mormon's" references are so of the moment. Though possibly eye-rolling now, "How Lovely To Be a Woman" was theatrical irony playing out in one number, very smart for the time. (And though no feminist icon, Kim is smart enough to eventually realize kissing an older man isn't exactly the way to grow up and balks at the idea).

 

You're REALY overthinking things.

 

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 7/22/22 at 9:38pm

I've occupying myself backstage tonight by reading reviews of the 2009 revival and... yikes.

[Emma_Pillsbury]

Posted: 7/23/22 at 2:28pm

I love "Bye Bye Birdie". I find it to be a clever & good-natured satire of its time. If it's done really well the show really clicks, and if it isn't it falls flat on its face. 

The 2009 Roundabout revival that starred John Stamos and Gina Gershon was misguided and missed the mark.

The 1996 television film which was more faithful to the original stage show suffered from the casting of a lackluster (and much-too-old) Chynna Phillips in the role of "Kim McAfee", redeemed by superlative performances by Vanessa Williams as "Rose", Jason Alexander as "Albert" and Tyne Daly as "Mae".

The 1963 George Sidney directed film version is a completely different animal altogether. It was merely a vehicle to shine a spotlight on Ann-Margret. But one can't deny that the film's opening and closing bookends featuring her on a treadmill in that yellow dress against that blue backdrop is iconic and probably more than justified the changes made.