This past weekend, Franklin & Marshall’s Players presented their spring musical. The production this year was Bye Bye Birdie, directed by junior Rachael Herman. There were four showings, beginning Thursday night and continuing Friday and Saturday, with a special afternoon showing during the day on Saturday.
I went to see the Saturday afternoon showing and it was phenomenal. When Bye Bye Birdie first debuted in the 60’s, it was an instant hit. Today, people still find hilarity in the humor and many of the tunes catchy. In various ways, it satirizes the still modern theme of young girls swooning over teen idols, which was quite entertaining during the show. The musical also deals with the numerous relationship issues between two of the leads, Albert Peterson and Rosie Alvarez. There are many obstacles they must overcome, one of which is Albert’s mother’s prejudice toward Rosie.
The players did an outstanding job in presenting this musical. A shout-out to some of the leads: James Morogiello ‘18, Laurel Haitoff ‘15, Clare Fitzgerald ‘17, Jesse Murphy ’18, and Jake Benedict ’15. They were all fantastic in their roles and I thoroughly enjoyed having the opportunity to see the Players’ rendition of Bye Bye Birdie!