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.
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