Theater review | 'Bye Bye Birdie' soars at Manatee Performing Arts Center

You don't a chance to see "Bye Bye Birdie" very much these days, and there are some good reasons for that. It's so old-fashioned that you could call it corny, it's silly and it has as many really bad songs as really great ones. To stage it well requires finding a whole lot of young performers who can sing, dance and act. It also has a bit of a bad reputation because the movie version wasn't very good (the movie is very different from the stage musical), and because it's often staged by high schools and middle schools, which means a lot of parents have seen not-so-great productions.

People who see the current Manatee Players production of 56-year-old musical will come away with a new appreciations for it. The colorful and energetic staging, marked by uncountable stellar performances, is charming and more enjoyable than we have reason to expect.

Composer Charles Strouse and lyricist Lee Adams were Broadway unknowns when "Birdie" premiered in 1960, and they impressed audiences with a number of cleverly crafted songs with witty lyrics. "A Lot of Livin' to Do," Put on a Happy Face," and "Kids" became staples of the era, and "The Telephone Hour" and "Hymn for a Sunday Evening" gained lives outside of the musical itself. (Strouse and Adams went on to write "Annie" and a lot of minor hits.)

The story line that drives the show has to do with an Elvis-esque teen idol named Conrad Birdie, who gets drafted at the height of his popularity. To get one last hit out of Birdie before he goes into the military, his manager comes up with a plan for Birdie to kiss a fan on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and sing his latest single, "One Last Kiss." Birdie and his entourage come to a tiny Ohio town to meet the lucky fan.

But the story line that's really central is that of Birdie's timid manager, who has a carried on a long lukewarm love affair with his secretary.

Michael DeMocko's really appealing in the role of Albert, the manager, but it's women in this production who impress the most. Lindsay Yarbrough is sultry as Rose, Albert's secretary who's running out of patience with him, and Miranda Wolf is the sweetly naive Miranda, the fan who will be on the receiving end of Birdie's last kiss. Both Yarbrough and Wolf have voices that are so strong and clear they're almost startling, and Yarbrough's sensuous dancing in the "Shriner's Ballet" (which is more commonly called the "How to Kill a Man" ballet) is a highlight of the production. The choreography by Cory Boyas, who also directed, is gorgeous in that scene and lively and natural in the rest of the show.

Betty Robinson, in a non-singing role as Albert's obnoxiously overbearing mother, gets most of the show's big laughs, and seems to be having a great time getting them.

There are no bad performances, and the ensemble work is impressive, especially given the youth of the cast.

The Candyland-colored sets by Caleb Carrier, complemented by the lights by Patrick Bedell and the costumes by Becky Evans, are both the era and the characters, and the five-piece pit orchestra conducted by G. Frank Meekins sounds solid.

"Birdie" is a fun show, but not a great one. The energy of the first act seems to dissipate at intermission, and act two is dull. (That's a problem with the writing, not the production or the performances.) Young people and even some middle-aged people, will probably miss a lot of the jokes and references that are so tied to the era.

But there's more than enough wit, vitality and catchy music to make it the "Birdie" experience a treat.

Details: Through April 3, Stone Hall at the Manatee Performing Arts Center, 502 Third Ave. W., Bradenton. Show times: 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $27-$37. Information: 941-748-5875, manateeperformingartscenter.com. Marty Clear, features writer/columnist, can be reached at 941-708-7919.

This story was originally published April 1, 2016 at 6:27 PM with the headline "Theater review | 'Bye Bye Birdie' soars at Manatee Performing Arts Center ."