Eventually, Birdie ends up going to Sweet Apple, Ohio and is supposed to kiss the head of the local fan club, Kim MacAfee. However, complications occur when she is pinned by her boyfriend, Hugo Peabody.
The story is obviously based off of Elvis Presley who was drafted into the army. Antonio Dre does a great job of capturing the Elvis-like Conrad Birdie with many personal vices. Heather Foreman and William (Sam) Stanfield are perfectly cast as Kim MacAfee and Hugo Peabody. They are entertaining as their characters and captured them and the emotions of teenagers who are in love, upset with each other, and then in love again very well.
Cameron Scallan shows off his acting skills as the no-nonsense business man and song writer Albert J. Peterson, who always succumbs to the pressure of his mother, Mae, played by Ashley Dickerson. Dickerson is hilarious in her portrayal of Mae Peterson and definitely deserves all of the laughs she gets when she enters the sage.
The entire fan club is great, but Rebecca Harris truly stood out as Ursula Merkle. As for the MacAfee family, the other standouts were Jordan Gribble as Harry MacAfee and Cole Becton as Randolph MacAfee. Cole did an awesome job of portraying a boy whose voice is changing because he is going through puberty. There honestly wasn't a single actor that could have been considered miscast in this play. The costumes by Heather Partin were also wonderful and captured the 1960s.
Being that this was opening night, the performance was amazing. There were only minor little hiccups like a few notes missed at the beginnings of one or two songs, a tiny bit of problems with changing out a small piece of the set, and some things that happened with the stage that were unavoidable and had to be fixed immediately in order for the show to continue.
Other actors include Taylor Novak (Rose Alvarez), Calista Netherland (Helen), Amber Netherland (Mrs. Doris MacAfee), Huy Dang (Mayor, Maude), Monica Mere (Edna [the mayor's wife], traveler), Leslie Harless (Mrs. Merkle, Mrs. Johnson, Reporter), Madyson Mitchell (Nancy, Deborah Sue), Stacy Solak (Gloria Rasputin), Aimee Mayeux (Phyllis, Alice, Teen Chorus), Kirsten Bush (Penelope, Telephone Hour, Dancer), and Kane Todd (Policeman, Harvey Johnson).
Other dancers and members of the teen chorus are Alice Fang, Fiona Heffernan, Sarah Klump, James Klump, Brianna Newman, Laurel Vittetoe, and Karly Marcantel (who also served as a choreographer along with Heather Partin). Crew members include Randy Partin (director), Dan Sadler (music director), Jonathon Richards (lighting designer), Carson Turgeon (lighting operator), Daniel Castille (sound operator), Hunter Becton (stage crew), Justin Liptak (stage crew), and Kevin Driscoll (hair and makeup).
The show runs eight more times. Buying tickets to this show would be a perfect gift for anybody that loves theatre or Elvis Presley. You can see the show at the following times and dates:
- Sunday, April 14, 2019, 2pm
- Thursday, April 18, 2019, 7:30pm
- Friday, April 19, 2019, 7:30pm
- Saturday, April 20, 2019, 7:30pm
- Thursday, April 25, 2019, 7:30pm
- Friday, April 26, 2019, 7:30pm
- Saturday, April 27, 2019, 7:30pm
- Sunday, April 28, 2019, 7:30pm
Tickets can be bought by visiting The Lake Charles Little Theater Vendini Page for Bye Bye Birdie.
Lake Charles Little Theater is located at 813 Enterprise Blvd, Lake Charles, LA, 70601 and can be contacted by telephone at 337-433-7988.
