Image from www.roundabouttheatre.org

Rating: 4 out of 5 masks

A teen idol musical set in the 60s gets its first revival.

Bye Bye Birdie tells the story of the ultimate teen idol, Conrad Birdie, being drafted to the Vietnam War but not before one final goodbye to his fans and the lucky girl who gets to give him his last kiss.  That last part was planned by his agent and songwriter Albert Peterson and his secretary/girlfriend Rose Alvarez.

I was distracted throughout the show by the downstage track that went between stage left and right.  I understand that in this age of technology there is no or at least little need for stagehands to move scenery and/or large stage props, but the fact that I could actually see the track almost distracted me from the entire show.  The only theory I could come up to explain its visibility is that it seems to be the main track.  I hope they find some way to make it look like the rest of the stage before it opens.

I liked the bright bold colors used in the sets.  The McAfee’s living room and kitchen set looked very realistic, almost like a time warp.  I liked how they had actual sets for scenes that took place at the train station and the school playground.

I thought that the kids were the best part of the show, especially Allie Trimm who played Kim McAfee, the girl that got picked to kiss Conrad.  I was excited to see Trimm, who was in the musical 13 as Patrice.  The musical number “One Boy” was my favorite number in the entire show because the girls sounded so perfect it almost didn’t seem real.  I believed the teen girls who went crazy for their teen idol, from screaming in his presence to serenading him.  “The Telephone Hour”, featuring all of the kids was one of my favorite performance numbers.  You could tell that a great deal of practice that went into coordinating something that could turn out disastrous if not done right.

Image from ?

I thought Bill Irwin as Kim’s dad was the best part of the show in terms of humor.  He was really taking his role as far as he could without making it stereotypical.  Almost everytime he was onstage, I couldn’t stop myself from laughing so hard.  I’m going to make an early prediction that he’ll get a Tony nomination for this part.

I thought that John Stamos and Gina Gershon were ok.  It didn’t occur to me until the end of the show that they were sort of the main characters/storyline, which was a little confusing since the show is called Bye Bye Birdie.

Image from ?

I thought Nolan Gerard Funk was sort of ok as Conrad Birdie.  He was certainly convincing when performing in front of the crowd of teenagers.  Personally I think that if the producers were going to cast the role of a teen idol, they would go for a modern teen idol such as Zac Efron.  It would certainly give kids a reason to see the show, other than at their respective schools.

I was bothered by the end of the show.  I won’t give anything away, but there were two main plot points that weren’t wrapped up.  Also, as I said before, the fact that the Conrad Birdie storyline was secondary to the Albert Peterson/Rose Alvarez storyline almost didn’t make sense.

I would recommend this show to anyone who’s a fan of the show in general, if only to relive the musical numbers.  It would be a perfect show for families as the parents get to remember what it was like to be teenagers and their kids will get to connect with their parents when it comes to worshipping teen idols.

Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes w/intermission

Closing Dec. 28

What’s That Smell?: The Music of Jacob Sterling

Closing Dec. 30

The Radio City Christmas Spectacular

Closing Jan 4

Grease

Young Frankenstein

Boeing Boeing

Saturn Returns

Liza’s at the Palace…

Slava’s Snowshow

13

White Christmas

Rock of Ages (transferring to Broadway)

Hairspray

Closing Jan 11

All My Sons

Gypsy

Home

Spamalot

Streamers

Closing Jan 18

Spring Awakening

Information collected from Broadway.com

Image from www.nytix.com

Rating: 5 out of 5 masks

It’s a high school musical for those who love or hate High School Musical.

Image from backstage.blogs.com

13 tells the story of Evan, who is uprooted from New York City to a small town in Indiana after his parents’ divorce.  What bothers Evan most about the move is that he’ll have to have his bar mitzvah in a town where he’s unknown.  To remedy that, he tries to get in with the “in crowd” to assure attendees to his party.  Unfortunately for Evan, that would mean alienating the two friends he made prior to the start of the school year which leads him to make a choice.

I went in thinking “Oh, great a high school musical copy” but gave it a chance when I found out via the internet that the show had improved since its previews.  I was glad I went and found myself immersed in the story and songs, which were my absolute favorite part of the show.  The songs were so original and you almost forget that they were written by an adult for kids (which could go either way).  I liked how each one was different and the choreography matched the music.

The show is performed entirely by children who are 13 (although if you’re a good judge of age, not all the kids seem that age), especially the band that plays throughout the show.  I thought they were all talented, especially the actresses portraying Patrice and Lucy.  I thought the character of Evan was ok.  I understood his despair at having to move and really like his expositions as the musical went along.  I really enjoyed the rock concert-like end of the show, where all the performers showed off what they could do, in case those skills weren’t featured in the show.

This show is appropriate for everyone, especially teenagers and their parents.  It would make a perfect family night where after the show the kids and parents can talk and compare their lives.  It would be perfect for  tweens because the show offers up lessons without being preachy about being yourself no matter what.

Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes (no intermission)