STAGE REVIEW : Westminster’s ‘Birdie’ Just a Bit Too Laid Back

When “Bye Bye Birdie” opened on Broadway in 1960, it grabbed a part of contemporary culture by the tail--the worship of rock idols, especially Elvis, and the oiling of the public relations machine were effectively lampooned.

Now, satirizing pop stars may seem like a cliche and the manipulation of the media is old news. So what’s left? There’s always “Bye Bye Birdie’s” sheer goofiness, that cartoonish spirit that can still amuse.

But you’d better play it fast, loose and almost out-of-control. Anything less and it’s like, “Uh, is it time to go home yet?”

Director Marc LeBlanc and most of his cast just don’t let it frolic enough at the Westminster Community Theatre. This Michael Stewart-Lee Adams-Charles Strouse musical needs more of a goosing, but the approach in Westminster is too tame and slowly paced.

Take Terry Vila’s handling of Conrad Birdie, the Elvis-styled rocker who visits Sweet Apple, Ohio, on a publicity hunt. Vila is so laid back, he’s almost blase. He’s so cool, he’s frozen.

Birdie is suppose to be a caricature of stupendous proportions, meaning his self-infatuation borders on indecency, with all the preening mannerisms in high relief. In Westminster, we don’t even get a Presley lip curl.

We need, at the least, a measure of youthful indignation. Birdie doesn’t respect anybody and he certainly doesn’t like jumping through hoops, even when it’s good for his wallet. Vila does, however, show some juiciness (he should even be more insinuating, though) after he realizes that Kim (Alagna Sue Hamilton), the teen queen picked to kiss him on the Ed Sullivan show, is cute enough to have potential beyond a photo opportunity.

On the plus side, David Frederick Fogg’s Albert Peterson is a decent characterization. Fogg’s voice is the production’s best, and he enjoys playing around with Albert’s confusion over whether to further Birdie’s career as his manager or fall in love with adoring secretary Rose.

As Rose, Nina De Rosa Gardner brings spunk to her scenes, which helps to generate a few sparks when she and Fogg share the stage.

‘BYE BYE BIRDIE’

A Westminster Community Theatre production of the Michael Stewart-Lee Adams-Charles Strouse musical. Directed by Marc LeBlanc. With David Frederick Fogg, Nina De Rosa Gardner, Alagna Sue Hamilton, Edward J. Steneck, Ginger Richardson, David Chessen, Melissa Tutor, Joe Ray Ibanez, Lynne Tavernetti, Terry Vila, JoLynn Jones, Greg Z. Newcomb, Theresa Beck, Barbara Sorenson, Mark Junca, Aaron Abrams, Kevin Miller, Lonn Richardson, Joyce Downs, Laurie LeBlanc, Jenny Porter, Tara Holmes, Stephanie Haymond, Megan Endicott, Tom O’Malley, Heather Wierman, Diane Martinez, Jennifer Grundman, Ryan Calmelat, Joe Hollinshead, Leif Sorenson, Noelle Carpenter, Sandy Kaley, Autumn Sorenson, Windy Sorenson, Ingred Stumpfhauser, Megan Wallach and Jonette Wentzel. Choreography by JoLynn Jones. Costumes by Roz Abrams. Sets by Marc LeBlanc. Sound by Craig Hinkle.