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WCI RedPlayers Present: Bye Bye Birdie

Wednesday, 13 December 2023 06:53

By Marcie Culbert @marcieculbert

Submitted photo

The WCI RedPlayers will bring the story of Bye Bye Birdie to life on stage at Knox Presbyterian Church.

WOODSTOCK - The next WCI RedPlayers production will take you back to the time of poodle skirts and rock-and-roll.

Bye Bye Birdie is set in the 1950s and it was influenced by Elvis Presley's conscription into the Army.

Conrad Birdie is the rockstar in this show and he is also conscripted into the Army. Desi van Beek Paterson is going to bring the character of Albert to life on stage.

"Albert is the manager of Conrad Birdie. He's trying to get the money to pay his guarantee to get him out of the Army the whole time, but he really wants to become an English teacher."

Kaiden Martin plays the role of Rose Alvarez, Albert's assistant and love interest. She says this show has been close to a year in the making.

"Auditions are in February or March, so a year almost ahead. If you get a major singing part, you will meet with Mr. (Chuck) Baxter in during the summer."

The entire cast and crew started daily rehearsals in September. Staging Director David DeJonge says there are a lot of people involved in this production.

"Well there are 50 or so kids just in the cast alone and we have another 20 on the crew. Between the teachers involved, our choreographer, and other adult helpers we have around 100 people involved in this show."

When you also consider the live orchestra, DeJonge says that number goes up to about 125 people.

Bye Bye Birdie will make its debut at Knox Presbyterian Church at 7:00 p.m. tonight with other showings scheduled for the next three days. Tickets are $25 each and they can be purchased online here in advance.

The show is at Knox Presbyterian Church due to renovations in the WCI auditorium.

David DeJonge, Desi van Beek Paterson, and Kaiden Martin stopped by the Heart FM studio to chat with Dan and Marcie on Tuesday December 12th. You can listen to the full interview below:

(Submitted photo)

(Submitted photo)

(Submitted photo)

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