Bye Bye Birdie

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alan g Great musical. Best of the bunch. Much better than the remake Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/26/24 Full Review Keith N Watched this only because our school is doing a play, and I'm glad I watched it because it's a classic Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/31/23 Full Review craig p Nobody hotter than Ann Margaret in the 1960's, but a very light weight musical. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 12/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Really good with a very young Ann Margaret in it highly Recommend it, James Welch, Henderson, Arkansas October 16, 2023 Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/16/23 Full Review Mike P This is a good, if slightly overblown version of the hit Broadway show. (And Kim/Ann-Margaret overshadows everything in this version; where that wasn't true in the original...). But the plot; which feels like reheated Happy Days; is fun and entertaining enough; and I love the music. (Including standards "Kids"; "Put on a Happy Face"; and "I've Got A lot of Living Left to Do.") I guess Dick Van Dyke told all his friends NOT to see the movie; that they had bastardized it and mangled it from it's solid Broadway origins, and was now just The Ann Margaret Story.... But THIS story, as is, has Conrad Birdie; (who is essentially Elvis); going off to the army; and then his manager/agent arranges some big publicity event where one teenage girl is chosen to give him a big send off; a big goodbye kiss; to be recorded and viewed by every tv station in America... And that girl winds up being Captain of the Conrad Birdie fan club; Kim McAfee. Problem is, Kim has a boyfriend... And so this big event winds up opening a whole can of worms for everyone involved... So that's the well-known story here. It's all based on the real media event that was Elvis joining the army... I especially liked the choreography here; it's wonderfully innovative; and opens up the story nicely... The director uses creative directing choices; including even animation; to open the story up; in a very freestyle, liberating way... Particularly the wonderful opening number "Goin' Steady" which has all 200 teenagers in town playing a crazy game of phone tag; passing the news that Kim and Hugo are getting pinned... (Setting up Hugo's conflict with Birdie later on in the show, ofcourse). I also loved "Put on A Happy Face"; and "I've Got A lot of Livin' Left to Do"; which is a showstopper... And it reminded me of the very similar "Before The Parade Passes By" from Hello Dolly. The cast is great; except for Janet Leigh who is miscast. (She's no Spanish Rosa! They should have stuck with Chita Rivera; the original...Or maybe Rita Moreno)... One big question... Why didn't they chose Elvis to play Conrad? Conrad is BASED on Elvis! And Elvis and the Colonel were already developing all these corny film projects for him; i.e. Viva Las Viegas. This part was taylor made for him... I mean it WAS him! It makes no sense to me that Elvis didn't do this part! But anyway... This movie reminds of what Grease was trying to be...This is what Grease was imitating; essentially... I mean this and Grease would make a good double feature! so...VERDICT: 👍 Thumbs up. Fun 50s/Early 60s musical Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/21/23 Full Review Liam D A very fun musical with some very smart commentary of the time Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Bye Bye Birdie

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