NDP’s production of Bye Bye Birdie surely put a happy face on everyone in the audience.  The performance was a smashing record that topped all the charts, breaking the record for attendance of a single night at NDP.  This colorful show follows teen superstar, Conrad Birdie’s last attempt to save his career after being drafted.  His manager, Albert Peterson and his assistant Rosie Alvarez help Conrad regain his reputation by writing the song “One Last Kiss” and going to visit his “biggest fan” as a final act of good publicity before he leaves for war.  We see Conrad’s journey to Sweet Apple, Ohio to visit Kim McAffee and kiss her on the Ed Sullivan Show.  The show is fun for the entire family, lively and upbeat, capturing the spirit of the 1950s with an entire cast of lovable and joyful characters.

The cast was one of NDP’s best.  The entire cast worked cohesively together to create a delicately balanced and extremely successful show.  Rosie and Albert, as played by Nicoletta Minutella (’15) and Grant Epple (’16) had a true chemistry that made the entire audience fall in love with not only their relationship, but also their sassy comebacks and hilarious interactions.  Olivia Aksey (’15) and Jill Bateman (’15), also used their real life friendship to bring their characters, Ursula Merkle and Kim McAffee, the same joy and connection they have off stage.  John Endres (’17), playing Conrad Birdie, as well as the McAffee family, comprised of Maddie Seldana (’18), Jason Quackenbush (’16), and John Moses (’19), all also rocked the stage, keeping the audience on their toes with their humor and remarkable talent.  While the leads truly shined onstage, the ensemble brought the show to life throughout the entire performance.  Both the teen and adult ensemble had the audience laughing and singing to the very end.  Every person worked extremely hard to put on such a great show!

One aspect of the show that not many people get to see is the stage, sound, and lighting crews behind all of the awesome affects and movements throughout the performance.  The stage crew did a fantastic job maneuvering extremely difficult scene changes, seamlessly connecting the show.  The NDP sound crew, conducted by Jen Mince (’15) and Kaitlyn Griffin (’15), is truly phenomenal.  They handle 14 mics flawlessly, while making the actors sound amazing.  Finally, the lighting crew, headed by Meredith Egan (’16), transforms our simple stage into the many diverse locations of the show and help keep all the actors seen.  The tech crews work really hard during the show to problem solve and keep the show running smoothly.  The stage, light, and sound crews are the unsung heroes of the show and help the show to be such a success.

Overall, NDP’s production of Bye Bye Birdie was a smashing success that had everyone in the audience dying to go out and get a poodle skirt of their own!