| "The desperate-ecstatic writhings of a netful of mackerel": BYE BYE BIRDIE in D.C.. | |
| Posted by: portenopete 12:53 pm EDT 06/13/24 | |
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| How long has Trey Graham been the critic at the WaPo? He certainly enjoys turning a densely-composed phrase, but it did make me laugh. Watching the clip on YouTube from the current production made me go to the Wiki Cave and check how old that original 1960 cast was and nobody was over 40- Kay Medford included! I know the term "middle-aged" has a different number attached to it these days but in a show that's as delightfully featherweight as BIRDIE, isn't it advisable to cast it with peppy and light performers? (I'm imagining Charlie Stemp as Albert right now.) As Graham points out, the ensemble looks like scads of fun to watch and even though you don't hear him sing or speak in the montage, Miguel Gil as Hugo Peabody made me laugh. Conrad Birdie can be any race you want in my opinion, but to specifically make him a stand-in for Little Richard seems at odds with the story, when compositionally he is already so closely based on Elvis. Was Little Richard ever the subject of inchoate sexual mania amongst teenage girls? By the time he'd achieved fame he seemed to have settled on the outrageous madman persona that served him well for his whole career. Of course Elvis stole from him (and others) as all White artists did at the time, but despite his swivelling hips and pouty lips, he was a considerably more wholesome presence than Little Richard. (I love Ephraim Sykes and think he'd have been naturally suited to Conrad without the deliberate aesthetic nod to Little Richard.) I'd be interested in hearing from someone who's actually seen the production! |
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| Link | Washington Post review of BYE BYE BIRDIE. |
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