The Catskill Chronicle

Story and photos by Carol Montana

LIVINGSTON MANOR, NY (March 10, 2011) – Bye, Bye Birdie,” the timeless and classic musical comes to Livingston Manor Central School this weekend with performances on Friday and Saturday, March 11 and 12 at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, March 13 at 2:00 p.m.

Directed by Chad Miller who also handles the musical direction and pit band guitar duties, the show features plenty of young and talented students.

The well known musical from the 1960s was written by Michael Stewart, with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams, and was inspired by the popularity of Elvis Presley who was drafted into the army in 1957. The Presley character in the play is called “Conrad Birdie.”

The Tony Award-winning musical had in its original cast Dick Van Dyke, Chita Rivera, Paul Lynde and Charles Nelson Reilly to name some of the more famous actors, and was choreographed by Gower Champion. It ran for 607 performances and has spawned numerous revivals. Some of the better-known songs to come out of the show are “Put on a Happy Face,” “One Boy,” “A Lot of Living to Do,” and the famous “Kids.”

The Livingston Manor production features the talents of Inderprest Khangura as Conrad Birdie’s manager Albert Peterson, Danielle Fredenburg and Molly Stahl as his secretary (love interest) Rose Alvarez,  Brandon Smith as the title character Conrad Birdie, Annaliese Gorr and Alyssa Vilela as Kim Macafee – the teenage girl chosen to receive Birdie’s last kiss, Tyler Young as Mr. MacAfee, Rachel Barnhart and Rheanna Fiddle as Mrs. MacAfee, Jordynn Gorr as Randy MacAfee, Ami Jo Calo and Gabby Morris as Albert’s mother Mae Peterson, Conor Stripling as Kim’s boyfriend Hugo Peabody, Tara Roser and Victoria Davis as Kim’s hyperactive best friend Ursula Merkle, Frank Salvemini as the Mayor of Sweet Apple, Christina Rodriguez and Jessyca Wolcott as Gloria Rasputin, Gail Wilson as Ms. Maude, Fern Mills, Jenna Zayas and Cindy Zheng as the Teen Trio, Bryan Anderson, Jade Bivins, Wesley Gerow, Kaitlyn Hare, Jennifer Meade, Farrah Mills, Reyana Miranda, Ariella Pierpoint, Kaitlin Rau, Mikaela Stahl, Tabitha VanWagner and Britney Young as the Teen Chorus, and Brittany Fuller, Aryanna Staudt, Amanda Dube and Nina Zheng in additional adult roles.

Tickets for “Bye, Bye Birdie” are $7.00 for adults and $5.00 for students and will be available at the door. For more information, including possible additional performances scheduled due to the storm, call the Livingston Manor Central School at 845-439-4400.

To view more photos or to purchase prints from “Bye, Bye Birdie” visit The Catskill Chronicle on Zenfolio.