ABOUT BYE BYE BIRDIE<\/strong><\/p>\nhe worst possible thing has happened! Conrad Birdie, the biggest singing sensation of the 1960\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s has been drafted! Teenie-boppers all over the country are crying and fainting at the thought! Before he heads off to the army, his manager has cooked up the ultimate publicity stunt: Conrad will kiss one randomly chosen member of his fan club goodbye on a live broadcast of The Ed Sullivan Show after singing his latest hit \u00e2\u20ac\u0153One Last Kiss\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. Little does Kim MacAfee of Sweet Apple, Ohio know that her life is about to change forever when she will be the lucky girl chosen to receive the nationally-televised kiss.<\/p>\n
Thus begins the story of Bye, Bye Birdie. A hilarious look back at the bygone decade where easy listening pop music was being overtaken by rock and roll. It is no accident that Bye, Bye Birdie is following on the heels of Forever Plaid at the Round Barn Theatre. In terms of musical progression, Birdie picks up where Plaid leaves off. Step aside Perry Como and Bing Crosby. Elvis Presley and the Beatles are about to leave their footprints in the concrete of popular music, much to the chagrin of parents all across America. They think rock and roll signals the downfall of society and will be the ruination of teenagers everywhere. Kim MacAfee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s parents are no different. Her father, Harry, makes it perfectly clear that his daughter will absolutely, positively NOT get involved with the project. That is, until Birdie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s manager, Albert Peterson, mentions the two magic words that change Harry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mind forever: Ed Sullivan.<\/p>\n
Both Forever Plaid and Bye, Bye Birdie employ the one constant force between these two types of music: The Ed Sullivan Show. From 1948 until 1971, Ed Sullivan used his variety show to bring emerging musical trends to the forefront while also showcasing the tried and true favorites of his viewing audience. His uncanny ability to locate and showcase new talent kept him on the air for 23 years and the prime topic of conversation every Monday morning at the water cooler as well as homeroom. He cultivated his broad audience by bringing featuring artists like Itzhak Perlman and Rudolf Nureyev alongside Buster Keaton, Bob Hope and Henny Youngman. Kate Smith, Beverly Sills and Mahalia Jackson sang on his show, but so did Elvis, The Bealtes and The Rolling Stones. He exposed a generation of viewers to everything that American culture had to offer in the fields of art and entertainment. The likes of his show had never been seen before or since and will likely never be seen again. It is no wonder that Harry MacAfee was instantly changed and the mere mention of being on The Ed Sullivan Show.<\/p>\n
Bye Bye Birdie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s creative team, Charles Strouse (composer), Lee Adams (lyricist) and Michael Stewart (librettist), make no effort to hide the fact the story parodies Elvis Presley\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rise to fame and his eventual stint in the Army. However, the name Conrad Birdie is actually a play-off of Conway Twitty, who, at the time the show was written, was a rock and roller, not yet a country singer. Imitation, as they say is the sincerest form of flattery, and it is all in good fun. When the show opened on Broadway in 1960, it was a send-up of what was current popular culture, but because of its timeless themes, it is just as popular today as a fun look at days gone by. The original cast included Dick Van Dyke, Chita Rivera and Paul Lynde, all of whom went on to star in the film version of the show. Charles Nelson Reilly was in the ensemble and was the standby for Dick Van Dyke.<\/p>\n
Scenes and Musical Numbers<\/strong><\/p>\nAct I
\nOverture \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Teen Chorus
\nScene 1
\nOffice of Almaelou Music, New York
\nAn English Teacher – Rosie
\nScene 2
\nSweet Apple, Ohio
\nThe Telephone Hour \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Teen Chorus
\nScene 3
\nMacafee Home, Sweet Apple
\nHow Lovely to be a Woman- Kim
\nScene 4
\nPennsylvania Station, New York
\nPut on a Happy Face – Albert
\nA Healthy, Normal, American Boy \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Albert, Rosie, Company
\nScene 5
\nRailroad Station, Sweet Apple
\nOne Boy \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Kim, Rosie
\nScene 6
\nCourthouse Steps
\nHonestly Sincere \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Conrad, Company
\nScene 7
\nMacafee Home
\nHymn for a Sunday Evening (Ed Sullivan) \u00e2\u20ac\u201c The Macafees, Company
\nScene 8
\nStage and Backstage Office, Central Movie Theatre, Sweet Apple
\nScene 9
\nStage Central Movie Theatre, Sweet Apple
\nOne Last Kiss- Conrad<\/p>\n
Act II
\nScene 1
\nMacafee Home
\nWhat Did I Ever See in Him- Rosie, Kim
\nScene 2
\nStreet Outside Macafee Home
\nA Lot Of Livin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 To Do \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Conrad, Teen Chorus
\nKids \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Mr. and Mrs. Macafee
\nScene 3
\nMaude\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Roadside Retreat
\nBaby, Talk to Me \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Albert, Male Quartet
\nScene 4
\nBack Door, Maude\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Roadside Retreat
\nScene 5
\nIce House
\nAn English Teacher Reprise \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Rosie
\nSpanish Rose – Rosie
\nScene 6
\nSweet Apple Railroad Station
\nRosie \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Albert, Rosie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bye Bye Birdie plot overview and logo reference graphics. “We Love You Conrad, Oh Yes We Do….” – never in the history of Western music has a pen turned such sublime lyrics. High Resolution Logo – Click for Full Size BYE BYE BIRDIE GRAPHICS ABOUT BYE BYE BIRDIE he worst possible thing has happened! Conrad […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3C0LX-rK","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1720"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1720\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conradaskland.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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