'Bye Bye Birdie' comes to Lehighton
Antonio Lorenzo prepares for his role as Albert Peterson during Tuesday's dress rehearsal.
The Lehighton Area High School Drama Club will present "Bye Bye Birdie" with showings on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the high school auditorium.
Set in the 1950s, "Bye Bye Birdie" tells the story of teen heartthrob and singer Conrad Birdie (Tyler Ritter) who has just been drafted into the army. Birdie's manager, Albert Peterson (Antonio Lorenzo), is experiencing hardships with his record company AlMaeLou and is desperate to write Birdie one last hit song before he goes off to war.
Rose Alvarez (Kira Williams), Albert's quick-thinking secretary, devises a plan for him to write a song titled "One Last Kiss," which he will perform on national television. Rose has randomly selected Kim MacAfee (Allison DeKorte), the president of the Conrad Birdie fan club heralding from Sweet Apple, Ohio, to be the lucky girl who receives one last kiss from Conrad Birdie at the end of the performance.
As the musical progresses, the story also follows Albert and Rosie's trying romance, made complicated by Albert's overbearing mother, Mae Peterson (Cassidy Clark).
The rest of the cast is packed with memorable characters including Kim's father and mother Harry (Thomas Phelan) and Doris (Candace Malkowicz) MacAfee, Kim's brother Randolph (Alexander Keck), her enthusiastic best friend Ursula (Channel Baez), and her jealous boyfriend Hugo Peabody (Xander Karpowicz).
The teen ensemble consists of a variety of entertaining characters played by Megan Pomposello, Eliza Asmann, Madison DeLuca, Justice Cressley, Lucy Taylor, Amy Williamson, Allison Steigerwalt, Alesandra Lentini, Cheyenne Jacobs, Brian Kesek, Parker Fairchild, Nicholas McGeehan, Tyler Cann, Xander Smith, Wyatt Clements, and Evan Solt. The adult ensemble rounds out the cast with Michael Bongiorno, Sam Amhill, Austin Folio, Cheyenne Casady, Norbyn Valle, Payge Louchart, and Miguel Gonzalez.
Two sad little girls are played by Lehighton Area Middle School students Abigail Buffington and Elizabeth Buffington.
The cast and crew include over 40 students under the direction of Jessica Schafer. The musical also features a 25-piece orchestra comprised of both students and community members under the direction of Bryan Buffington.
Lighting and sound design are under the direction of Cody Schuler and stage management by Lehighton senior Rene Ronemus.
Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students and can be purchased at the door. Seating is general admission. For further information, please contact Jessica Schafer at jschafer@lehighton.org.
