Say hello to ‘Bye Bye Birdie’

TOM TITUS

Theatergoers of a certain age will recall a time when military

service for males in their early 20s was not an option. Those who

chose not to enlist by the time they were about 22 would find in

their mailbox a letter from Uncle Sam that opened with the salutation

“Greetings.�

Even the rich and famous were not exempt from the Selective

Service, better known as the draft. Back in the late 1950s, the Army

reached out to America’s most popular entertainer, Elvis Presley, who

dutifully served his two years in uniform.

This event served as the inspiration for a new stage musical that

opened in April 1960 titled “Bye Bye Birdie,� the first big hit for

songwriters Charles Strouse and Lee Adams, librettist Michael Stewart

and director Gower Champion. Local audiences can catch a revival of

the show next weekend at the Huntington Beach Playhouse.

The plot revolves around rock ‘n’ roll superstar Conrad Birdie

(the thinly disguised Elvis) and his agent, Albert Peterson (played

on stage and screen by Dick Van Dyke). Albert has gone deep into debt

promoting Birdie’s career, and now that Birdie has become a

superstar, all of Albert’s work is about to pay off. At least it

would have paid off if Birdie had not just been drafted.

To make matters worse, Rosie, Albert’s longtime secretary and love

interest, decides to resign. She has waited eight years for Albert to

give up the music business, become an English teacher and settle down

with her in a nice apartment somewhere, and she will wait no more.

To get enough cash to pay off the debts Albert has incurred

promoting Birdie’s career, Rosie comes up with a plan. They will

stage a publicity stunt on “The Ed Sullivan Show� in which one lucky

girl, whose name will be chosen from the official Conrad Birdie Fan

Club, will give Birdie his last kiss as a civilian on national

television. The publicity from this stunt will promote Birdie’s

latest hit, “One Last Kiss,� which will be such a success that Albert

will easily make back the money he has lost, and he and Rosie can

settle down comfortably in their new life together.

Albert writes the song, and the lucky girl chosen to give Birdie

his last kiss is 15-year-old Kim MacAfee (a rosy-cheeked Ann-Margret

on film prior to her real-life association with Elvis) of Sweet

Apple, Ohio. And when the publicity machine -- and Birdie himself --

descends on this middle American town, the fun really begins.

At the playhouse, Michael Lopez is directing and choreographing

the latest incarnation of “Bye Bye Birdie,� which opens next Friday

and plays through Feb. 6.

The show features such numbers as “Kids,� “Put on a Happy Face�

and the youth anthem “We Love You, Conrad.� The title song was added

for the screen version and proved a big hit for the aforementioned

Ann-Margret.

“Bye Bye Birdie� will be staged in the Library Theater of the

Huntington Beach Central Library, 7771 Talbert Ave., Huntington

Beach. Call (714) 375-0696 for more information and reservations.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Independent.