Bye Bye Birdie
Bye Bye Birdie
By Michael Stewart
Music by Lee Adams and Charles Strouse
Directed by Kerry A. Giese
Musical Direction by David Foust
Choreography by Rachel Harris
Starring Ben Ludwig and Christie Duffer
Theater at The J, Maitland, FL
Once upon a time, teenage girls fell in love with heartthrob young men with marginal singing skills but amazing hair. Actually, that’s never not been true, but in the early days of TV it became a national crisis. Conrad Birdie (Blake Heinrick) is just one such young man, and like many other young men he received a draft notice. While his charisma is low and his vocals low energy, his agent Albert Peterson (Ludwig) has made him a rising star. Now it’s time for Conrad to follow in Elvis’s footsteps. In a stroke of marketing genius Albert writes “One Last Kiss” and comes up with a scheme to get publicity before the boy goes off to boot camp. It involves invading a small Ohio town and getting him to kiss underage Kim (Kelsey Kline) on national TV. Ah, those were simpler times. Albert’s secretary and right hand woman Rose (Alvarez) just wants him to get a regular job and marry her. She’s constantly belittled and betrayed but she sticks to him because, hey – it’s what a girl does. The Ohio idea sounded good on paper, but Kim now dates nerdy Hugo (Jordan Barnett) and he doesn’t like the idea of any kisses unless they come from him. Rose is too Spanish for Ohio, Hugo’s hormones are at a fighting level, and Albert seems too wishy washy to be Colonel Parker. But the songs are good.
The one actual hit in this show Albert’s “Put on a Happy Face;” he uses it to cheer up a despondent Rose. He’s sincere enough but it’s not quite as upbeat as other, more secular recording make it. Albert is tall and gangly, and always seems too nice to be a record producer. Rose is a much sharper character; her roll recalls the Ideal Housewife of another era, yet her Spanish background avoids the stereotypes of that direction. Kim is young a sweet and projects well; her “How to be a Lovely Woman” brings her front and center. Luckily we see a duet between the girls in “One Boy;” here they both express a longing for the emotionally distant men they both desire. While Barnett’s Hugo bumbles about, when it’s time to stand up for his woman his teenage gawkiness makes it completely believable. The only weak role here is the rising Conrad Bridie. His voice is weak, he seems to be distracted, and I get the idea army life might suit him well. Albert’s overtly Jewish mother Mea (Sara Jones) stormed the stage in a mink coat accented with sarcasm; after a spell with her I could see Albert joining the Army as well.
Live music is always nice. Tonight we hear four musicians on piano, two key boards and a bass. It sounded great but I could never tell if the bass player was actually doing anything. He moved his fingers but I never heard notes as he intently studied the score looking for something he could do to help. Set designer Jamie DeHay made good use of the J’s odd stage. Two arches pained in bright 1970’s stripes gave the actors multiple planes to work from, and lighting and sound were all effective. It’s a fun show full of energy and while a few quirks and misses stand out this is an excellent production well worth visiting.
For more information on Theatre At The J, please visit > https://orlandojcc.org/arts-culture/
