Tolland High Drama Club Students Prepare to Present 'Bye Bye Birdie'

Bye Bye Birdie has been described as one of the most captivating musical shows of our time, telling the story of a rock and roll singer who is about to be inducted into the army. For months students have been working to bring this satire to the stage.

Under the direction of Pat Micari, along with Megan Kirwin as orchestra director and Linda Tracy as choral director, theater lovers will soon get to enjoy the fruits of everyone's hard work. 'Put on a Happy Face,' 'A Lot of Livin' to Do,' and 'Spanish Rose' are but a few of the musical theatre classics audience members will have the pleasure of hearing as the show hits the stage Friday and Saturday night, March 9 and 10.

“We have a cast of about 30 actors. The orchestra, crew and technical crew (lighting, sound, hanging of backdrops, curtains, etc.) are all made up of students, so about 70 students in all participate,” said Micari. “Tickets and the playbill printing is done at Tolland High School also by students.”

“This show has a young cast with many freshmen and sophomores in it and students who had never done theater previously,” Micari continued. “We selected the show because it had a lot of chorus scenes, and it had a lot of songs that would be fun for the students to sing. We thought they would be able to relate to the show because many of the characters are teenagers.” 

Although rehearsals began on January 3 and will continue until March 9, Micari noted that organizers have been respectful of the students’ weekends and evenings, never holding rehearsals at those times. Instead, a Monday through Thursday afternoon schedule of rehearsals has been adopted. “We don't want students to get overtired or to begin to neglect their school work,” explained Micari.

Bye Bye Birdie is the fifth production that Kirwin and Micari have done together and the third for the pair and Tracy.  

“It's been a fun show for us to do, and we are looking forward to presenting it.”

Tickets are $10 for general admission, $8 for seniors and students and can be purchased at the door.