Bye Bye Birdie

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Bye Bye Birdie

The first Spring Musical for MCHS, Bye Bye Birdie was performed in March of 2003. Middle Creek had just opened up the previous fall, so the student population was very long on enthusiasm, but short on experience. Matt Scialdone had stepped into the breech to teach technical theater while the program was getting started. Initially, the students and faculty were disappointed - the first MCHS show was supposed to be Grease, but unexpectly, a touring production of the show was coming through town. This prevented Middle Creek from getting a performance license. Bye Bye Birdie was put forward as a substitute. Although the Baby Boomers easily remembered the movie with Ann Margaret, the show was not familiar to most Middle Creek students. Some of the references, like the veneration of Ed Sullivan, were a little hard to appreciate! It took a while, but the cast eventually warmed to the show.

Established theater departments have stack of stock platforms, costumes, and reusable materials to pull from. MCHS had nothing, and the team was not yet experienced enough to be handed a sketch and the instructions "Go make me one of these". But everyone stepped up. Theresa Crawford assembled a 'Costume Army' of dedicated adults who scrounged and sewed all of the costumes. Matt Scialdone and other adults did on the job training in stagecraft for the emerging student crew. The few set pieces went together slowly.

In parallel to the technical efforts, the actors were being introduced to the discipline of being in a high end high school production. Mike Gilliam had enlisted the services of Elizabeth Grimes-Droessler, who worked the dancers very hard and brought out talent that some didn't know they had. Also, Mr. Gilliam knew what he wanted out of the actors and didn't let up until he had gotten it. He also instilled important lessons like being quiet and disciplined backstage, respect for the work of others and the constant drive for improvement. Middle Creek actors have passed on these values down to successive generations.

Middle Creek's first show was far from perfect, but it set the initial expectations and started to build the experience base needed for future show.

Cast

Crew

Conductor Tammy Holder Costume Masters Teresa Crawford Lorrinda Janik Costumes Sandy Barnhart Annette Beyersdorf Valerie Biggers Cathy Bohannon Katherine Booker Judy Durham Barbera Grey Nikki Rick Jean Saad Choreographer Elizabeth Grimes-Droessler House Manager Johnny Gatlin Light Board Erik Minton Light Crew Nikki Hoffman Brandi McElveen Erik Minton Lighting Design Erik Minton Musical Director Tammy Holder Photography Judy Durham Roy Kleber Pit Combo Alan Booker - Bass Tammy Holder - Keyboards John Ruggero - Percussion Poster Design Wei Zhao Deborah Wiggins Program Smith & Associates Cherokee Publishing Robby Wray MCHS Graphics Department Property Masters Teresa Brantley Linda Hauser Properties Sandy Barnhart Annette Beyersdorf Valerie Biggers Judy Durham Nancy Kleber MCHS Art Classes Valorie Ray Steve Rick Alfred Williams Co. Properties Crew Lauren Bauer Amanda Picket Publicity Diedre Lenderking Richard Hauser Dave Lenderking Deborah Wiggins Stage Crew Ashley Chaput Andrew Dixon Nikki Hoffman Michelle Jackson Brandi McElveen Erik Minton Karen Moriarty Melissa Tant Jessica Weinkle Xaveira Williams Scene Shop Alan Booker Jennifer Clark Tony Clark Nikki Hoffman Kenny Janik Rodney Knight Dave Lenderking Karen Moriarty Matthew Scialdone Leigha Quinlan Melissa Tant Set Painting and Artistic Design Deborah Wiggins Art Club Andy Carlson Jen Dooley Danielle Dorr Mary Gloer Wilbert Guilford Mary Beth Holder Michelle McGrath Amanda Picket Sarah Pleasants Carrie Purvis Katie Tochstein Ticket Design Deborah Wiggins Middle Creek High School Art Dept. Ticket Sales Teresa Brantley Libby Farias

Production Staff

Conductor Tammy Holder Costume Masters Teresa Crawford Lorrinda Janik Costumes Sandy Barnhart Annette Beyersdorf Valerie Biggers Cathy Bohannon Katherine Booker Judy Durham Barbera Grey Nikki Rick Jean Saad Choreographer Elizabeth Grimes-Droessler House Manager Johnny Gatlin Light Board Erik Minton Light Crew Nikki Hoffman Brandi McElveen Erik Minton Lighting Design Erik Minton Musical Director Tammy Holder Photography Judy Durham Roy Kleber Pit Combo Alan Booker - Bass Tammy Holder - Keyboards John Ruggero - Percussion Poster Design Wei Zhao Deborah Wiggins Program Smith & Associates Cherokee Publishing Robby Wray MCHS Graphics Department Property Masters Teresa Brantley Linda Hauser Properties Sandy Barnhart Annette Beyersdorf Valerie Biggers Judy Durham Nancy Kleber MCHS Art Classes Valorie Ray Steve Rick Alfred Williams Co. Properties Crew Lauren Bauer Amanda Picket Publicity Diedre Lenderking Richard Hauser Dave Lenderking Deborah Wiggins Stage Crew Ashley Chaput Andrew Dixon Nikki Hoffman Michelle Jackson Brandi McElveen Erik Minton Karen Moriarty Melissa Tant Jessica Weinkle Xaveira Williams Scene Shop Alan Booker Jennifer Clark Tony Clark Nikki Hoffman Kenny Janik Rodney Knight Dave Lenderking Karen Moriarty Matthew Scialdone Leigha Quinlan Melissa Tant Set Painting and Artistic Design Deborah Wiggins Art Club Andy Carlson Jen Dooley Danielle Dorr Mary Gloer Wilbert Guilford Mary Beth Holder Michelle McGrath Amanda Picket Sarah Pleasants Carrie Purvis Katie Tochstein Ticket Design Deborah Wiggins Middle Creek High School Art Dept. Ticket Sales Teresa Brantley Libby Farias

Bye Bye Birdie Stories

First day of construction

I remember the first day of construction when I looked at the pile of brightly colored scaffolding that the Sun Belt rental people had dropped off. It looked like a huge pile of teenage sized Legos and despite my previous theatrical experience, it was very hard for me to image that this was going to be the set of Bye Bye Birdie. But, we just started putting the pieces together and slowly the platforms took shape....... Al

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