Pope County’s community theater company, Minnewaska Showstoppers, is thrilled to announce they will perform four shows of the feel-good ’50s musical “Bye Bye Birdie.” 

Directed by Oliver Rivera, the performances will run during Waterama week, July 27-30 at the Minnewaska Area High School Auditorium.  

 This will be Showstoppers first live theatrical show post-pandemic lockdown. 

The musical was a surprise hit when it opened on Broadway on April 14, 1960, it played for 607 performances and went on to win five Tony awards–including best musical–and has since become a staple of high school and community theater. 

In the original production, comedian Dick Van Dyke starred as the manager of an Elvis Presley-like teen idol named Conrad Birdie. Drafted into the Army, Birdie is set to perform a special farewell song to a token female fan on television’s immensely popular “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Selected to receive the honor is Kim MacAfee of Sweet Apple, Ohio.

Cast includes Ben Jensen as Conrad Birdie, Dakota Holder as Rosie Alvarez, Sierra Morton as Kim MacAfee, Ethan Eliason as Hugo Peabody, Ross Thorfinnson as Harvey Johnson, Katy Leppa as Mae Peterson and Parker Schmidgall as Albert Peterson.