There’s a reason why Hot August Nights registrations sell out each year and remakes of classic TV shows and movies keep rolling out. Nostalgia is a cozy, warm blanket, a balm for the soul in a period of unrest and uncertainty. All this is to say that Sierra School of Performing Arts’ current production, Bye Bye Birdie, is the time machine offering all the nostalgic warm fuzzies, easy summer vibes and laughs you didn’t know you needed this month.
This classic musical set in 1962 was inspired by Elvis Presley’s real-life draft into the U.S. Army in 1957. It centers on the news that teen idol Conrad Birdie (played by Jimmy Magluilo) has been drafted and will soon be sent overseas. The show opens as Conrad’s music producer, Albert Peterson (Thomas Thompson) of Al-Mae-Lou Music, gets the news. There’s more bad news: His secretary and longtime romantic interest, Rosie Alvarez (Tiffany Cornejo), has decided to leave Al-Mae-Lou and find a romantic partner who isn’t a sellout and can finally commit to her. It turns out Albert once had dreams of being an English teacher, but fear of his own demanding mother, Mae (Evonne Kezios), has made him hesitant to leave the family business or reveal his true feelings for Rose, who is Latina, whom Mae repeatedly disparages.
Rose’s imminent departure lights a fire under Albert—he wants to come clean with his mother, deal with Conrad Birdie’s draft and embark on the future he and Rose dream of … but where to start? Rose concocts a plan: Get Conrad to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show, perform a new song and kiss one lucky girl from his fan club as a goodbye to his fans. Once Al-Mae-Lou’s biggest client rides off into the sunset, with his fans’ blessing, Albert can come clean with his mother, settle down with Rose and wash his hands of the music business for good.
The fortunate fan chosen to give Conrad his send-off kiss is 15-year-old Kim McAfee (Hannah Glum). But in Kim’s hometown of Sweet Apple, Ohio, news just surfaced that Kim’s boyfriend, Hugo Peabody (Bryce Hurley), recently gave her his pin. While Kim, not long ago, would have given her eye teeth to kiss Conrad Birdie, she’s uncertain, now that she’s going steady with Hugo, whether it’s a good idea. Now that she’s reached the oh-so-mature age of 15, she thinks it’s time to put away childish things like celebrity crushes and behave like an independent woman.
Meanwhile, Mae has gotten wind of the publicity plan and shows up in Sweet Apple to express her displeasure over Albert’s relationship with Rosie. When Rosie senses him caving to his mother’s demands, she presents him with an ultimatum: It’s either Rosie or his mother.
As for Kim, her uncertainty about that kiss evaporates when Hugo decides to play the boyfriend card and forbid the kiss. Her independent streak rears its head, and she asserts her right to do as she likes. Once Conrad gets to town, she decides to follow Rosie’s lead and start calling the romantic shots by running away with the star, who has decided to sneak off for his own last night of freedom. Chaos ensues as Rosie’s stubbornness leads her to trouble, Kim’s impetuousness creates panic at home, and Conrad’s recklessness signals disaster for his career and Al-Mae-Lou’s future.
SSPA’s annual summer performances at the Hawkins Amphitheater at Bartley Ranch always feature high production values, and Bye Bye Birdie is no different—in fact, it was the company’s first production at Bartley Ranch back in 2013. The show features strong direction by Janet Lazarus and a delightful cast. Kezios’ performance as Mae is the highlight of the show; she’s an absolute riot as Albert’s stereotypically passive-aggressive mom. Finding Glum to play Kim was a lucky break—she strikes a beautiful balance as a girl on the precipice of womanhood and all the quandaries that presents. And for sheer comic relief, Dylan Téa’s shrieking, excited portrayal of Ursula Merkle, the head of Conrad’s fan club, is pure gold.
Excellent choreography and musical accompaniment by a live band add a professional touch, not to mention period costumes and curated sets that evoke pure ’50s and ’60s teen nostalgia. The show, like all of SSPA’s productions, is family friendly, with a fun musical score and jokes that will appeal to the kids in the audience as well as the Boomers.
The plot, admittedly, contains some outdated notions. My own 15-year-old daughter sat next to me during the media preview performance and got a good laugh out of 15-year-old Kim when she sang of being pinned and going steady: “How lovely to be a woman/And change from boys to men,/And go to a fancy night club,/And stay out after 10!” And Mae’s repeated criticisms of Rose’s ethnicity, as true to the period as they may be, can be uncomfortable for modern audiences to hear. Fortunately, as director Lazarus pointed out before the show, a glossary of unfamiliar terms from the time period is provided along with the digital program, and the show’s themes—the extremes of fandom; a young person’s desire to fly the coop and break free of parental control—still resonate today.
Bye Bye Birdie, presented by Sierra School of Performing Arts, is onstage through Saturday, Aug. 24 at the Hawkins Amphitheater at Bartley Ranch, 6000 Bartley Ranch Rd., in Reno. Tickets are $18-65.