You know you live in a small town when a beloved community member gets resounding applause just for walking on stage.
That was the case last Sunday when Linda Mack, former Fort Lewis College music professor and longtime director of the Durango Choral Society, appeared in the DART production of “Bye Bye Birdie.”
“Just about the whole Choral Society is here,” Rhonda Muckerman, associate director said at intermission. “The singers came to cheer on their leader.”
Mack appears as Mrs. Mae Peterson, the bossy and oft-martyred mother of Albert, manager of rock ’n’ roll mega star Conrad Birdie. Although Mae is a secondary character, she advances a double-plot structure and even tries to seduce the rock star.
If you go
WHAT: “Bye Bye Birdie: A musical Comedy,” music by Charles Strouse, libretto by Lee Adams, book by Michael Stewart, directed by Jenny Fitts Reynolds.
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday.
WHERE: Durango Arts Repertory Theatre, 802 East Second Ave.
ADMISSION: $15 and $25.
MORE INFORMATION: Call 259-2606 or email info@durangoarts.org.
NOTE: Running time two and a half hours. Open seating.
At its heart, “Birdie” is an old-fashioned musical comedy. Set in 1958, shortly after Elvis Presley was drafted into the Army in real life, the story centers on that publicity dream plus a frustrated romance. The secondary plot line involves Conrad Birdie’s manager, Albert (convincingly played by Conor Sheehan as a befuddled businessman, son and reluctant lover) and his secretary-sweetheart Rosie Alvarez (a smart, sassy and beguiling Jade Sophia). Their romance has lingered for eight years. Media star Conrad Birdie (a simultaneously smarmy, goofy and charming Holden Grace) agrees on a publicity stunt to travel to Sweet Apple, Ohio, to kiss one lucky girl before he leaves for military service.
Director Jenny Fitts Reynolds is ably assisted by Stage Manager Jamie Pickering. Together, they have miraculously sorted out a busy musical with a cast seemingly of thousands (reality check – about 30), multiple locations, including train stations, a restaurant and a suburban American home. Songs spring into action with elaborate choreography.
The original Broadway “Birdie” opened in 1960 and was directed by master choreographer Gower Champion. DART’s choreographer Lilia Reynolds, assisted by Gillian Reynolds and Katelyn Bowie, deserves credit for designing dance sequences to evolve naturally and blossom into complex company numbers.
Credit Samme Newcomer and Isabelle Selah for costumes that support a ’50s vibe – pastel twirl skirts, bobby socks, sneakers and the occasional suit and tie. Kudos also for Jason Lythgoe and his set crew for simplifying every location. Norman Carnaby and his crew control lighting with precision, and Logan Roybal orchestrates sound design. Managed by Petra Lyon and Benjamin Mattson, recorded musical accompaniment supports singers and dancers throughout.
The show runs two and a half hours with one intermission and a very long, 90-minute first act. Some audience members left Sunday, possibly thinking the show was over. Some trimming might have been in order. The Dream Ballet, a figment of Rosie’s dark frustration with Albert, is an example. It sticks out and isn’t always included in some productions. That said, Fitts Reynolds never lets the energy flag and keeps things moving. Droves of teenage girls rush on and off stage swiftly and Conrad Birdie finally goes off to war.
Composer Strouse and lyricist Adams wisely resolved all dilemmas with a comic touch and a somewhat unexpected, quiet resolution. DART’s production is a joyful reminder that community theater can deploy ordinary neighbors and Durango’s version of famous personalities in some Broadway high jinks.
In 2023, “Bye Bye Birdie” celebrates its 63rd birthday. By now, the old-fashioned story-layering, intergenerational and small town-big-city conflicts, plus celebrity worship is solidly in the American canon.
Inspired by Elvis Presley’s draft into the U.S. Army in 1958, the musical was sure to be a hit. America’s obsession with the famous blossomed into the 1960 Broadway opening of Charles Strouse and Lee Adams production with a Presley look-alike in the character Corad Birdie. Directed by dancer-director Gower Champion and starring Dick VanDyke and Chita Rivera, the show set out to be the first Broadway rock ’n’ roll musical. Only two songs fit that description: “Honestly Sincere” and “One Last Kiss.” The rest are an anthem, which opens the show, straight ballads, a march, a rhumba and a tango, to name a few other styles.
In 1963, the film version featured a fully mature Ann-Margret as a sexy, swooning teenager. Then Birdie disappeared for a time until 1981 when a misbegotten sequel, “Bring Back Birdie,” didn’t succeed. A decade later, the 1991 road-show gave “Birdie” new life starring Tommy Tune and Ann Reinking. In 2004, a concert version appeared with little impact. Then in 2009, the 50th anniversary version opened at the Roundabout Theater with John Stamos and Gina Gershon in the central love story.
“Birdie” has remained in the canon mostly because American high schools have embraced it. The huge cast is dominated by stereotypical teenagers and adults, from a platitudinous mayor to a frustrated school principal and breathless, love-sick students. A simple romance between a nerdy, mother-dominated manager and his secretary adds another generational layer. The Elvis-inspired Conrad Birdie bumps, swivels and croons a comic-book persona at the center of the mayhem.
Jason Lythgoe, director of the Durango Arts Repertory Theatre claims credit for selecting “Birdie” for the 2023 summer production. Before last Sunday’s performance, he said he knew he could fill the big cast with people from the high school, the college and the community. And so, he has. “Birdie” 2023 continues through Sept. 3.
Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
