Wednesday, September 14, 2016


PERFORMANCE NOW THEATRE COMPANY: 9/9 – 9/25

It’s always a treat to see the classics of the American Musical Theatre revived and onstage again. The most recent example of this is the Performance Now Theatre production of the musical, “Bye Bye Birdie.”
     This musical presents us with the story of Conrad Birdie, a rock and roll singer and matinee idol who’s been drafted into the army. More than that, it’s about the hysteria of the thousands of loyal members in the Conrad Birdie Fan Club when they hear the tragic news.
     Those of us old enough to know the show from its beginning realize that the rock star in question was modeled upon the King of them all, Elvis (the Pelvis) Presley. Beyond that the show is a satire on the United States of America in 1958.
     “Bye Bye Birdie” has music by Charles Strouse, Lyrics by Lee Adams and a book by Mike Stewart.
     “Birdie” garnered four Tonys at the 1961 Awards Presentation. Besides getting the Tony Award for Best Musical, Gower Champion received two: Best Direction of a Musical and Best Choreography. Dick Van Dyke got Best Actor in a Musical.

Some of the great old tunes you may recall are: “Put on a Happy Face,” “Kids”-(“I don’t know what’s wrong with these kids today!”) and “Hymn for a Sunday Evening” when the family waxes rhapsodic about getting to be on The Ed Sullivan Show.
     This enthusiastic and youthful production features Denver favorite, Carla  Kaiser Kotrc in the hilarious role of Mae Peterson, Alanna Vaughn as sexy Rose Alvarez, Katherine Jackson as Kim Macafee and Kalond Irlanda (last seen as Jack in Candlelight Dinner Playhouse’s “Into the Woods”) as Hugo Peabody.Marlowe's Musings

Performances are held at The Lakewood Cultural Center,470 S. Alison Parkway in Lakewood, CO, 80226.
 performancenow.org or 303-987-7845



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