The Return Of Bye Bye Birdie On Broadway

By Author: Al Terry
Total Articles: 787
Comment this article

Here is the journey of this musical. It first came to Broadway nearly 50 years ago; 607 performances later went to West End, UK; then had a US tour in the early 1990s, with a very short-lived Broadway sequel in between in 1981; had an Encores! production in 2004; followed by an abridged version at Kennedy Centre at Washington, DC in Oct 2008. It has now come back, from where it started half a century ago, for its revival performances. Bye Bye Birdie has returned to the stage of Broadway.

The Broadway revival of the musical started with previews at Roundabout Theatre Company's Henry Miller's Theatre on Sept 10, 2009 and opened on Oct 15, 2009. The reviews were mostly negative for this limited run revival which was initially slated to close on Jan 10, 2010. Bye Bye Birdie, however, has been extended to run up to April 25, 2010.

The Story Of The Musical

The revival of this classic show has been well accepted. After all, in its earlier avatar on Broadway it had won several Tony Awards. Out of the 7 nominations it had then received in 1961, Bye Bye Birdie won four. These were for the Best Musical, Best Featured ...
... Actor in a Musical, Best Choreography, and for the Best Direction of a Musical.

Directed and choreographed by Robert Longbottom, the revival musical includes a cast of:

John Stamos as Albert Peterson
Gina Gershon as Rosie Alvarez
Bill Irwin as Harry MacAfee
Jayne Houdyshell as Mrs. Mae Peterson
Allie Trimm as Kim MacAfee, and
Nolan Gerald Funk as Conrad Birdie

Despite the early negative reviews the musical received, the show is pure fun, and the positives far outweigh the negatives.

The story of Bye Bye Birdie is inspired by the phenomenal Elvis Presley and about his draft into the army. The character central to the plot of the musical is Conrad Birdie, the Rock 'N Roll superstar. Complications arise when his agent/manager, Albert Peterson, arranges a publicity stunt on The Ed Sullivan Show - Conrad Birdie to kiss, a la Presley, one lucky girl from Sweet Apple, Ohio, prior to being drafted into the army.

The problem arises when the boyfriend of the lucky girl Kim MacAfee (played by Allie Trimm) gets pangs of jealousy. Things eventually turn out right when Kim MacAfee and her boyfriend resolve their differences.

Tickets For The Musical

Tickets for shows on Broadway need to be booked well in advance to avoid being disappointed. This is truer if the shows are popular. You will require booking your tickets for the revival shows of popular and successful original Broadway shows early too.

Book your tickets for the show of your choice for the Bye Bye Birdie revival performances. Tickets are difficult to come by, especially as the show has been further extended.

Arrange to procure your tickets for the musical through licensed and legitimate ticket brokers of New York. They assure you of exemplary service and have your tickets delivered to your home.
Al is the webmaster for Reedstickets.net for resources on How To Get Bye Bye Birdie Tickets and entertainment site for the New York regions entertainment including news and reviews of events with Bye Bye Birdie tickets information.