Movies - Bye Bye Birdie

Home > Listing Index > Movies > Bye Bye Birdie

	Movies - Bye Bye Birdie

Bye Bye Birdie was a Broadway musical satire on American society written by Michael Stewart (book), Lee Adams (lyrics), and Charles Strouse (music). It was first performed in the Martin Beck Theatre on April 14, 1960, directed by Gower Champion.

Story

The fictional story takes place in 1960, centering around Conrad Birdie, a hip-thrusting rock and roll superstar akin to Elvis Presley; Conrad's agent and songwriter, Albert Peterson; and Albert's secretary and love, Rose Alvarez (Rose Grant in some versions). Albert finds himself in trouble when Conrad is drafted into the army, so he and Rose come up with a last-ditch publicity stunt to premier Peterson's song: Before he is sent to the army, Conrad will sing Peterson's new song, and give one lucky girl a kiss on The Ed Sullivan Show.

The lucky girl is chosen randomly from Conrad's national fan club, and it happens to be Kim MacAfee. Rose, Conrad, and Albert set off to her house in Sweet Apple, Ohio to prepare for the event. However, things don't go quite as planned; Kim's father becomes dumbfounded at the prospect of being on The Ed Sullivan Show, Kim's boyfriend becomes disastrously jealous of Conrad, and Conrad himself becomes tired of the show business life and tries to teach the kids how to party!

Films

Bye Bye Birdie was first adapted to film in 1963. It starred Dick Van Dyke as Albert Peterson, Janet Leigh as Rose Alvarez, Paul Lynde as Mr. MacAfee and Ann-Margret as Kim MacAfee. Ed Sullivan makes a substantial guest appearance. The flow of the story differs from the musical. The film is credited with making Ann-Margret a superstar during the mid-1960s, leading to her appearing with the real Elvis Presley in Viva Las Vegas
. Despite the show's box office success upon release, some critics claim it made average use of the talents of Dick Van Dyke and Janet Leigh. Some praise the movie as a classic example of 60's camp, others claim average production values, partial rewriting of the script, changes in the musical score, and average choreography in some songs leaving what some called a different story but with the same title. Van Dyke does a superb job in the feature duet song with Janet Leigh, "Put On A Happy Face". Neither Van Dyke nor Lynde cared much for the changes in the movie, as both had starred in the Broadway play.

A new adaptation for television was made in 1995. It starred Jason Alexander of Seinfeld
fame in the role of Albert Peterson and former Miss America Vanessa Williams as Rose Alvarez. Actress Tyne Daly who played Amy's mother in Judging Amy played the extravagant and over-bearing mother of Albert, Mae Peterson. Veteran Broadway actor Marc Kudisch played Conrad Birdie. Eighties pop sensation Chynna Phillips played Kim MacAfee, and George Wendt played her father, Harry MacAfee. While this version remained mostly true to the original play, several songs were added.

Songs

Bye Bye Birdie features several notable songs.

not included in some scripts

Original Cast

Trivia

The name Conrad Birdie was a play off of the name Conway Twitty.

Rikki Lee Travolta, who headlined a 1997 stage tour, was so convincing as the Elvis-inspired Conrad Birdie that the National Association of Amateur Elvis Impersonators voted to make him an honorary member.

The location of "Sweet Apple, Ohio" was inspired by lyricist Lee Adams hometown of Mansfield, Ohio.

Paul Lynde, who played Harry MacAfee, was born and raised in Mount Vernon, Ohio, just south of Mansfield.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Bye Bye Birdie ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Bye Bye Birdie; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.