Bye Bye Birdie

When people ask me if I miss performing, I admit that I do, but that I don't miss the memorizing lines and the stage anxiety that even the most seasoned performers still deal with on a nightly basis. Freshman year of high school got me hooked after landing the role of Conrad Birdie in Bye Bye Birdie. It was a role I really wanted, and I was up against some tough competition, including many seniors who didn't talk to me after the casting had been done. The whole HS auditioning and casting experience was fun but also very awkward. The cast list would go up, there would always be a certain time and word would spread very quickly. "Did you see who got this part?" and "I saw Patty crying in the bathroom" could be heard down the hallways. Why do I bring all this up? Because I went to see Bye Bye Birdie on Broadway last night. Familiar faces filled the stage but the talent, the talent forgot to show up. Honestly, this is probably one of the least talented Broadway performances I have ever seen. John Stamos and Gina Gershon are so weak, at one point I forgot I was seeing a show on broadway. I've seen high school leads better than these two. Bill Irwin stood out in this cast with his comedic interpretation of Mr. Macafee. In many shows they will make older people play kids but in this show they used kids, a lot of kids. Conrad Birdie was pretty good but lacked a certain stage presence perhaps because he's a little 20 something year old.

I leave you with these: