"Birdie" Cast Welcomes A Talent

'Birdie' cast welcomes a talent

Burns Park Players happily allow outsider and actor Justin Miller

BY ROGER LELIEVRE
News Arts Writer

What could have been a tragedy has turned instead into probable triumph for Ann Arbor’s Burns Park Players, whose staging of the 1950s musical “Bye Bye Birdie” opens Friday.

When the actor playing key character Conrad Birdie had to leave the show due to day-job commitments two weeks before opening night, Mike Mosallam, the show’s director, was left with a gaping hole in his lineup. Fortunately, Mosallam’s best friend, fellow University of Michigan Theater Department grad Justin Miller (class of 2001), volunteered to step into the part.

“He’s a great, great talent, with an incredible voice and an amazing presence,” said Mosallam. “He’s doing it as a favor to me.”

Miller is between shows after a stint in the national touring company of “Kiss Me Kate.” Although Burns Park Players’ bylaws say participants have to live in the Burns Park area, “they also say that in times of need we can make exceptions,” Mosallam said.

“Bye Bye Birdie” is set around an Elvis-type rock star’s final days of freedom before being drafted into the U.S. Army. Albert, his manager-songwriter, and Rosie, Albert’s longtime girlfriend, come up with a scheme to immortalize the rock star before he leaves - kiss a sweet, innocent small-town girl on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” The lucky girl turns out to be Kim MacAfee from Sweet Apple, Ohio, age 15.

All goes as planned, until Albert’s overbearing mother shows up, Kim’s boyfriend Hugo gets jealous, and Birdie himself reveals his true colors. The show serves as a commentary on the late 1950s, with an emphasis on the widening gap between parents and teens, men and women, and rock ‘n’ roll legends like Elvis Presley who made the world swoon.

The Charles Strouse-Lee Adams musical’s score includes the familiar number “Kids,” (which asks the musical question “what’s the matter with kids today?”), “Put on a Happy Face” and “A Lot of Livin’ To Do.”

Other cast members include Jane Glass, Ann Herman, Jeffrey Post, Lizzie Randolph, Eva Rosenwald and Frank Worden. Longtime Burns Park-er Susan Hurwitz produces, with music director Eric Lofstrom and choreographers Garrett Miller and Jenni Barber.

“This is Eva and Jeffrey’s first time on stage with the Burns Park Players... They play Rosie and Albert...they’re just new, wonderful energy added to the cast,” Mosallam said. “Eva grew up in Burns Park and went to Burns Park Elementary. Jeffrey just moved to town last year; he worked backstage, and this year decided to move his talents on stage. Lucky for us - he’s just incredible.

“This is Frank’s second year, Jane has been doing it forever, Ann Herman has been doing it for a while.”

The adult cast numbers 45, with another 12-13 teenagers and about 80 Burns Park Elementary School first- through fifth-graders. “It’s a big cast,” Mosallam acknowledged, “but you will never know until the curtain call.”

Anyone who has seen a past Burns Park Players show knows a few changes might be in store to accommodate the needs of the group, and this production is no exception.

“We’ve done the expected and usual Burns Park tweaking of the show - we’ve added the title song for an all-cast finale, we’ve added a very special overture that includes first-third graders at Burns Park doing a medley of ’50s TV theme songs like ‘I love Lucy,’ ‘Leave it to Beaver’ and ‘The Mickey Mouse Club.’ ”

“Birdie” will be a nostalgia-tinged show in more ways than one. This will be Mosallam’s last show with the group.

“This is my fourth and final year with the Players,” he said. “It’s like a second home to me at Burns Park. I started with my senior year in college directing ‘Damn Yankees.’ I moved to New York City after graduation; after Sept. 11 (2001) I moved a back home. They had an opening for director so I did ‘Annie’ and I stayed to do ‘The Music Man’ last year.

“I am moving where the winds take me,” he said, acknowledging that might be back to New York or to the West Coast.

As always, the annual show is a fund-raiser for Tappan Middle School and Burns Park Elementary. Since 1992, the group has donated more than $100,000 to a variety of school district projects. Despite unusually large casts and its limitation to neighborhood residents, the Burns Park Players’ annual production has developed a reputation for
excellence.

PHOTO BY JOHN SCHULTZ

The Burns Park Players' cast of "Bye Bye Birdie" includes Ari Tolman, left, and Lizzie Randolph.
 

PREVIEW

'Bye Bye Birdie'

Who: Burns Park Players.

What: Neighborhood theater group known for high-quality shows offers this 1950s musical about an Elvis-type rock star's final days at home before being drafted into the Army.

Where: Tappan Middle School Auditorium, 2251 E. Stadium Blvd.

When: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 6-7,12-13; 4 p.m. Feb. 14.

How much: $10 (patron tickets, $25).

Information: (734) 994-8706.