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February 13, 2009
Say bye bye to winter blues
Studio 58's appealing performance is the perfect pick-me-up.
Baila Lazarus
After a week of miserable rain, chilly nights and hard work, Bye Bye Birdie was the perfect vehicle to chase away fatigue and leave a smile on my face.
This is surprising.
As readers of my reviews know, I am not a big musical fan. And though I thought this was one of those plays that I had heard about and kinda sorta maybe knew what it was about, the fact was that I had no idea what it was about, so I didn't really have high hopes. But the play was being staged at Langara's Studio 58, so I knew, at least, that I wasn't going to want to walk out at intermission.
An energetic performance, silly comedy and some great singing provided a really entertaining show.
"Birdie" is actually Conrad Birdie, an Elvis Presley-type rock 'n' roll singer, a colossal idol for screaming teenage girls in bobby socks and ponytails, who is drafted into the U.S. army in 1958. (Presley actually received his notice in 1957 and was inducted in 1958.)
Birdie follows the few days in 1958 leading up to Birdie's entry into the army. Birdie's manager, Albert (Ben Elliott), is distraught that his golden-egg goose is going, and needs a plan to make some money. Enter secretary Rosie, who's in love with Albert and wants him to leave the music business and go back to being an English teacher.
The two come up with a scheme where they can say goodbye to Birdie, while making a lot of money on his departure. Albert randomly picks a name from hundreds of Birdie fans and comes up with the president of the Conrad Birdie Fan Club in Sweet Apple, Ohio – Kim MacAfee. The plan is for Birdie to travel to Sweet Apple in order to give Kim his last kiss as a civilian before hopping a train to a private's life. Rosie suggests that Albert write a song about the kiss that will be released right afterwards into the hands of thousands of tearful devotees.
Antics follow, hearts are broken, a relationship is destroyed, several new ones are created, a mother complains and there's a lot of singing. I remember laughing a lot and smiling all the way through.
As far as the actual singing goes, it was certainly not as consistent as the energy and overall theatrical and comedic performance. Rachel Aberle (as Rosie Alvarez) rocks the house with the strongest voice and theatrical performance of the ensemble, joined by many talented singers in the rest of the group. Elliott was nowhere nearly as strong but almost makes up for it with his acting and tapping.
Ironically, the biggest disappointment was the title role – Birdie, played by Jason Clift. His voice, which often sounded hoarse, had no projection and was lost whenever competing against the music or the chorus.
Besides Aberle, the other stars of the night have to be set designer Pam Johnson and all the designers, carpenters and video projectionists who worked with her. They created a backdrop of doors and shutters and a series of lighting cues and video that really complemented – and were at times an integral part of – the performance. They were perfect for introducing the audience to the teenagers of Sweet Apple talking on the telephone from one house to another; and equally as valuable as the set for a hilarious (albeit rather long) chase between Rosie and a group of Shriners.
All in all, this is a great for-all-ages play. While it's silly and campy, this is the one place where you can hear a song like "Put on a Happy Face" and actually not want to scowl.
Bye Bye Birdie runs at Studio 58 at Langara College, 100 West 49th Ave., until Feb.22. Tickets are $15 to $25.50. Call 604-684-2787.
Baila Lazarus is a freelance writer, painter and photographer. Her work can be seen at www.orchiddesigns.net.
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