"Bye Bye Birdie"

July 22, 2010 — The Weathervane Theatre in Whitefield, New Hampshire, at 110 miles is the longest drive of any of the summer theatres I attend. Often when I go up there I add a few more miles by shooting up to Lancaster to dine at the Lancaster Motor Inn, but on this trip I found they were temporarily closed while their kitchen was being renovated. So I drove back to Whitefield and stopped at Grandma's Kitchen, an unpretentious but popular local spot serving basic but very good food.

"Bye Bye Birdie" was being performed on this night at the Weathervane. It was a real audience-pleaser, with a stellar cast and great singing voices. The dance numbers were good but not as high-spirited as sometimes seen at the Weathervane. There were several great comic roles, well-played and hilarious. Well-performed as they were, the songs in "Bye Bye Birdie" are not among my favorites, and for that reason I wouldn't put this musical high on my list of favorites. But the performances, as I said, where first-rate. If you like the music, you'll cheer this show.