Bye Bye Birdie: Vocal Score

by Charles Strouse (Lyricist)

Songs Put on a Happy Face * One Last Kiss * The Telephone Hour * One Boy * An English Teacher * Spanish Rose * Baby, Talk to Me * Kids * Bye Bye Birdie * A Lot of Livin' to Do * Hymn for a Sunday Evening.

164 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 1988

About the author

Charles Strouse was an American composer and lyricist best known for writing the music to the Broadway musicals Bye Bye Birdie, Applause, and Annie.

Reviews

[Sophi Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The over the top musical Bye Bye Birdie was a dynamic and well developed play. The play was presented by Edward Padula, book by Michael Stewart and lyrics by Lee Adams, this dynamic team produced an unforgettable musical. The exciting satire on American culture was set in the 60’s. The 60’s vibe definitely added colour to the play, the fixation with rock and roll, the current events such as drafting and the language used (e.g “pinning’) created the perfect atmosphere. Although the play starts in a large city, most of it is set in a small town, Sweet Apple, Ohio. The small suburban town portrays everything “the American dream” stood for at the time. Unfortunately the white picket fences were not enough to keep trouble out. The preliminary situation is that, Conrad Birdie presented as the most popular rock and roll star of history has been drafted, leaving a trail of broken hearts. One of these hearts is Albert F. Petersons, who is a complete mamas boy, but dreams to be married to the love of his life (fiance) Rosie, however he cannot offered this as he is financially struggling because of the songwriting career his mother pushed him into. Together the two desperate lovers find a solution. Birdie will have one last symbolic kiss with a lucky fan on the Ed Sullivan show and the background music will be the song titled “One Last Kiss” by Peterson. The lucky fan Kim MacAfee, is randomly selected to kiss Birdie. Unaware, she lives a blissful existence in the small town of Sweet Apple. Her primary focus is getting “pinned” by her boyfriend Hugo Peabody. The exciting news will shatter Sweet Apple’s, all American small town wholesomeness.

All characters were truly developed and relatable throughout the play.The interesting thing about this play was that the protagonists were not all the main characters. The antagonists were not all evil people, yet symbols of society. Rosie and Albert are the main characters, they seem to pull the story together and they are the only characters that are concerned with love rather than fame throughout the play. Kim and Hugo were innocent small town sweethearts, and were portrayed as being victims or byproducts of American society. The clear antagonist was Albert's mother(Mae Peterson) she was the main cause of the conflict, and her wanting her son to be in the show biz is a great representation of her character yet also significant to the theme. Another antagonist may be Birdie but he is not evil in any way, in fact he hardly has dialogue, however he serves a great role, not so much his character but the idea of him represents the obsession with fame and wealth. The character Birdie was inspired by Elvis Presley as he was drafted in 1957 and was a sensation. The character of Birdie has the same dancing , singing and clothing style as the heartthrob Elvis. Secondary characters that were vital to the play include the Mayor and his wife, Kim’s mother, father and brother who are the perfect representation of a wholesome American family. Kims overwhelming best friend Ursula is very similar to a belieber (Justin Bieber fan).

The overall theme is the obsession that our society has with fame, the happiness that is portrayed in commercials, magazines and movies but is all actually superficial happiness that is created for us to buy more. An example of this from the text would be when Birdie opens a can of beer that sprays on Mr.MacAfee and he says “Thats my favorite brand”.
This is one of my favorite musicals, its vibrant, funny and conveys a real and relevant message, because even though names and music generous might come and go our society is still as obsessed as ever with the idea of fame and the link between fame and happiness is still as alive as ever. I encourage everyone to read this play! By doing so you will gain more insight on the society we are apart of. The bubbly play will enchant you with its plot twists and great dialogue/song lyrics. The best plot twist of all will be that each character will find a “happily ever after” but not in the way they anticipated. They will reach true happiness under all the superficial happiness that we all try buy in to.

[Nika · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did this show.