Bye, Bye Birdie

Presented in Partnership with Higley Center for the Performing Arts

Conrad Birdie, the biggest singing sensation of the 1960's, has been drafted! But before he ships out, his manager signs him up for one last publicity stunt: Conrad will kiss one randomly chosen member of his teenage fan club goodbye on a live broadcast of The Ed Sullivan Show. Kim MacAfee of Sweet Apple, Ohio, has little idea how much her life is about to change when she becomes the lucky girl chosen! Inspired by the hysteria surrounding Elvis Presley's induction into the Army, this fun-loving musical comedy presents a hilarious look at bygone days.

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Event Calendar

OCTOBER 2011

Artists

Mary-Jo Okawa - Director

Mary-Jo is the founder and Artistic Producing Director of Copperstar Repertory Co., a premiere theatre company in the East Valley. She is an award winning performing arts educator and professional director, choreographer and performer for over 25 years. Mary-Jo has successfully taught private voice, acting and singing for 10 years and is well known for her teaching in theatre, dance and vocal music throughout the East Valley. As an accomplished performer, Mary-Jo has performed throughout the United States, Asia and Southeast Asia. She is proud to have entertained our troops in the USO. Credits include: Hello Dolly! (Denver), A Funny Thing Happened ont the Way to the Forum (Atlantic City), Camelot (Walnut Street Theatre, PA), Baby, Joseph… and The Pirates of Penzance (Utah Musical Theatre), Seven Brides… (Indianapolis). http://mjokawa.com

Sam Henderson - Music Director

Sam is a recent graduate of the Lyric Opera Theatre’s Masters of Music in Music Directing program at Arizona State University where he now serves as a Faculty Associate and Music Director. In addition, Sam is the resident music director for Copperstar Repertory Company in Gilbert, AZ. Prior to coming to Arizona, he taught high school band in the Dallas/Ft. Worth (Texas!) area for 7 years after earning a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Baylor University.
Sam has music directed/conducted productions of SEUSSICAL, ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, LES MISERABLES, FOOTLOOSE, and LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. With Lyric Opera Theatre, he was the music director/conductor for THE 25th ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE, THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW (for which he received an ariZoni Award for outstanding musical direction), and THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS.
Most recently, Sam co-created the original cabaret, THE LAZY “B” CABARET with colleague Lauren Margison. This specially commissioned work was presented in honor of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor at the annual benefit for The O’Connor House in Phoenix.
Upcoming productions include BYE, BYE, BIRDIE, and ANNIE with Copperstar, and YOU’RE A GOOD MAN CHARLIE BROWN and CABARET at with Lyric Opera Theatre.

Alan_Palmer - Choreography

Alan is an award-winning director/choreographer based in Los Angeles whose credits include the 50th Anniversary production of Oklahoma! for Broadway-Grand Opera, the West Coast premiere of the musical It’s a Wonderful Life, the original production of Inaccurate Information at the Hudson Theatre (L.A. Garland Award for Best Director), the new version of Nunsense A-Men at Open Stage West and tours of Forever Plaid, An Evening of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Godspell (Applause Award, Best Director). He’s written several musical revues, including the musical “rockumentary” Rock on Broadway and the award-winning Songs the Girls Sang (ADA Award, Best Choreography; Ovation Award nomination for Book). As a performer, Alan won an LA Weekly Award after finishing a 6 month run of Lovelace, a rock opera by Charlotte Caffey and Anna Waronker created by Jeffery Bowman, playing the role of Gerard Damiano. His New York credits include The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber with Michael Crawford at Radio City and the Off-Broadway shows Fabulous Divas of Broadway, Bernie’s Bar Mitzvah and Making Waves. Regionally, he’s appeared as Freddie in Pirates of Penzance, Danny in Grease, Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Anthony in and Sweeney Todd. Film and television credits include Hot Springs Hotel and Compromising Situations (both for Showtime), and he is known to TV audiences as Corcus on “The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.”

Cast info coming soon!

Want to Audition for Copperstar's 2011-2012 Season?

Attend our Audition Workshop on August 13. Youth (9am to 1pm) and Adults (2pm-6pm) at the Higley Center for the Performing Arts. CLICK HERE to to register.

To audition for Copperstar's 2011-2012 Season visit our CURRENT AUDITIONS page.

Auditions will be August 24-27 at the Higley Center.

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BYE, BYE BIRDIE is licenced by HUSD. BYE, BYE BIRDIE is produced by arrangement with, and the music and dialogue material furnished by TAMS-WITMARK MUSIC LIBRARY, INC., 560 Lexington Ave. , New York, NY 10022 Bye Bye Birdie is licensed by HUSD.