On April 16, the auditorium at Sachem High School North will turn into a time machine, transporting the audience back to the days of hip-twisting rock and roll singers and screaming teenage girls.
The Sachem North Drama Club will present the classic musical Bye Bye Birdie, with the help of drama directors Denise Cortez and Jonathan Chiaramonte and Sachem's own Michael Burke, choreographer extraordinaire.
Bye Bye Birdie was written as a satire of the seemingly innocent decade of the 1950s, when people still "went steady" and blushed at the sight of musicians gyrating on stage. The musical touches upon race relations between agent and songwriter Albert Peterson and his Hispanic girlfriend Rosie Alvarez, as well as the harsh realities of music super star Conrad Birdie, who is drafted to the war, a parallel to Elvis Presley.
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Rosie spawns an ingenious idea to find a girl with whom Conrad will have one last kiss before he goes away. Since Conrad is Albert's number one entertainer, he pursues the idea and they eventually find a teenage girl, Kim MacAfee, whose boyfriend Hugo Peabody is less than thrilled about the situation. Conflict ensues between Rosie and Albert's mother, who doesn't approve of the fact that she's Hispanic, and Hugo's jealousy festers until he punches Conrad in the face on live television.
Most of Sachem North's actors participate in community theater outside of school. Laura Laureano, who plays Rosie, has even been on Broadway, portraying the young princess in Shrek. Grant Lindeman, who was cast as Albert, participated in a production of Seussical the Musical Jr. for the Smithtown Center for the Performing Arts Youth Experiencing Art (YEA) Project as one of the Wickersham Brothers. Victoria Isernia, who was in Jingle Bell Jubilee in 2008 at the Airport Theater in Bohemia, plays the lucky Kim MacAfee.
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The all-star cast will perform Bye Bye Birdie's signature songs like "Going Steady," "One Boy," "Kids," "You've Gotta Be Sincere," "Happy Face" and "Spanish Rose." It is sure to be a chance for older folks to reminisce and to introduce the younger audience to this fixture in American musical theater.
Come see the Sachem North kids bring some 21st century flavor to this Tony-award winning favorite.
The debut is on Friday, April 16 at 7:30 and performances continue on Saturday, April 17 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10.
