What's the appeal of Bye Bye Birdie?

Definitely one of those shows that's more fun to be in than to watch.

I'm just fascinated by how wrong-headed it is in hindsight. The show's whole moral is that "youth culture- not just rock and roll culture, but YOUTH culture- is an embarrassing and temporary fad; but the Great American Songbook and post-war culture is timeless and will last forever."

Flash forward fifty years? Not so much.

There is nothing wrong with Bye Bye Birdie that has good direction, choreography, and acting. That of course goes for every musical but especially for this one. What, you'd rather be doing Legally Blonde, because let me tell you in twenty years that will be looked on exactly like you're looking on Bye Bye Birdie. In forty years people your age will be looking at any musical you love that's of the moment and saying "this doesn't resonate with me" and they won't be having a good time in the show. Well, what resonates with you is not the show's problem, it's your problem and the problem of your fellow cast mates and rather sadly typical. Go have a good time. Albert is a wonderful comedic musical comedy role and there are great ways a good director can have fun with his chauvinism and Rosie's reaction to it. Back then it was fresh and fun. Today it's nostalgia.

There were things prior to the year of your birth that are fun and are still fun. I did a production of Li'l Abner at a college a couple of years ago - I go back occasionally to direct at my alma mater with a mix of pros and students. The students were all just like you're being - "this doesn't resonate" "I don't know the cartoon" - I shut all that crap down at rehearsal one, and by rehearsal two they were in the world of the show and loving every minute of it - and because we had some really top pros in it we got reviewed by everyone and it was all raves because the show is FUNNY and still pertinent today, just like Bye Bye Birdie if you do it well.

I recommend watching the Ed Sullivan show clips - Van Dyke doing Put on a Happy Face on Broadway is there, plus Ed Sullivan, and the Shriner's Ballet with Chita is on YouTube as well, from a cable special.

I used to feel Bye Bye Birdie was a dusty old chestnut too... but then I saw a fantastic production! Rose and Albert could both REALLY dance. Not just all the steps but they could use choreograph as an extension of their character in the moment. This made all the dance interludes not just show stoppers, but essential to the show.

Additionally, there's so many main characters that need strong personalities. You can't really just put anyone in these parts. You need folks with great comedic abilities and strong characters. This production had that... and they were smart to play to actors strengths. They didn't change anything, per se... but they let the actors excel at what they excel at. I sometimes think folks forget many musicals were built around personalities. So... even if you get some really great singer/actors... the show is DOA.

Anyway... this production really changed my opinion. I left with a great deal of admiration for Bye Bye Birdie. It seemed fresh and new without any noticeable script or score changes. The leads could really dance... and the director gave the actors room to breathe.

Conrad and Kim have a few "Me Too" type moments that could be directed more purposely.

Keep it in the period it was written about. It really is a period piece. The trap is that it was written to be contemporary in 1960, and satirizes what was considered to be the passing phase of rock and roll. Rock and Roll didn't pass, though. In fact, it became a much bigger source of pop culture than Broadway within a few short years. Place it firmly in the era just before that happened and you should not have a problem.

In fact, you might find yourself showered with assets. The score is a gem! It covers a lot of stylistic ground, and there is ample opportunity for energetic and/or sexy choreography. Albert, Rose, Mae and Harry are terrific characters. I personally think the film's revised book is awful (not the fault of A-M or anyone else in the cast), but it does do one thing right in bumping up the characters of both Kim and Hugo. Cast these roles well, with the period in mind (Shelley Fabares and Rick Nelson types?), and with a strong ensemble the book should play well. (And, if possible, try to include the title song. Silly as the movie is, that song is as good as any song in the original score.)

Have fun with it!

Updated On: 3/19/18 at 07:37 AM

i just finished doing this show a couple weeks ago! i loved it. it definitely had its better parts and it’s weaker ones. we had a great choreographer, so luckily that wasn’t the issue. our albert and rosie were pretty good too. for songs like honestly sincere, or albert in happy face, they set the tone and energy level for the whole song depending on how they did. just keep that in mind! just my two cents. i think birdie is a fun show if it’s done well. when i was getting ready to audition i watched a lot of different productions— they really run the gamut from great to horrifically bad. (but that’s most shows), and i think the leads really can lead a show astray or keep it on track.

Updated On: 3/19/18 at 03:05 PM

The film gets several things right in addition to what's wrong. The already mentioned Honestly Sincere is brilliant in the film. All of Paul Lynde and the family is brilliant in the film. The Telephone Hours is fun in the film (I went to high school with many of the kids who were in that number and the Honestly Sincere number), and Ed Sullivan is absolutely hilarious as it's done in the film. But it botches many other things. Ann-Margret is a treasure - but it's a pretty different Kim than the play, but oh Lord that title song, which, BTW, was an afterthought and done after filming completed.

When I was producing the revival cast album of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas with Ann-Margret, I went into the booth between takes and said, "Do you know what you did to the male teenage population in 1963?" She laughed so loud - she was fantastic to work with.

I've had a varied career from Broadway to TV and film. I've done the Radio City show and voice overs. Just about everything. And yet my husband says the best thing I ever did was "Bye Bye Birdie: In Concert with an All Male Cast" in the village back in 1998. I played Kim MacAfee and it was pretty fun. I've never gotten so many laughs. Something sweet about a man singing "How Lovely To Be A Woman" and "One Boy."Just 10 men playing all the parts in a shortened but fully staged production. He says of every thing I've ever done, it was the one thing that truly worked. We didn't make fun of the show. We did it for real. I wish it that it had it a longer life as not enough people got to see it.