A Note From the Director
Welcome to Hoods Middle School’s 2014 production of Bye Bye Birdie! I am proud to say that these kids have gone beyond my expectations. As a director I could not be more proud or more excited to share this production with our audience and show off the incredible talent which has exceeded my expectations.
I would like to send out a personal thank you to our Keynote members who led the parents to put in volunteer hours to help us bring this production to life. Without them we would not have the costumes the makeup or even the stage. Not to mention the rights to for the show or anything really. They are the real stars of the show tonight.
Throughout this rehearsal process I have tried bringing the kids mind sets back into the era of the nineteen-fifties. From The Ed Sullivan Show to rotary phones. From rock’n’roll legend Elvis Presley to poodle skirts. My fondest memory was trying to explain to them how the 50's version of FaceBook was calling each other on telephones until all the lines were in use; thus the telephone hour in scene two of our show.
Our story tonight tells of a rock'n'roll hero named Conrad Birdie, based loosely off of Elvis Presley himself, and the reaction of teenage America when he was drafted into the cold, dark army. His manager, Albert Peterson, with the help of his Spanish secretary, Rosie, devise a plot to make Conrad Birdie the hottest soldier since Joan of Arc. A girl chosen at random will be on The Ed Sullivan Show with Conrad Birdie so he can bestow upon her his one last kiss. The girl chosen for the honor is a small town Ohio girl named Kim McAfee.
I welcome you, the audience, to please enjoy the musical comedy this evening, as many hands went into making it. Please enjoy the night of entertainment.
John Rodgers
