Welcome to morganton.com. Skip directly to: our Keyword Search, Section Navigation, Content.

Morganton.com - Morganton - The News Herald

HomeNewsEntertainmentSportsLifestylesOpinionCommunityWeather Online Tools Jobs | Real Estate | Shopping | Classified

The crowds keep coming

By Bill Wilson | The News Herald

Published: February 23, 2009

Continuing just for a few lines from where we left off two weeks ago — the crowds keep coming to CoMMA, and the national Broadway tour of "Oliver!" last weekend was no exception.
An audience of nearly 800 packed our city's performing arts center for two hours of magic musical theatre. The staging and talent coupled with the Charles Dickens classic presented all that we have come to expect of a MainStage Morganton performance.
The trend continues Sunday as Travis Cottrell, joined by local combined choirs, plays to an SRO audience. Fewer than a dozen tickets remain available. Our thanks to Kyle Canady and company for bringing Cottrell to the Morganton stage.
Irish and Celtic music are traditional and perennial favorites for just about any audience in the Appalachian and Blue Ridge ranges. Afterall, it's in our blood. The Boys of the Lough will be in concert at CoMMA on Feb. 27. Curtain time is 7:30 p.m.
The first of the full-time professional Celtic bands to arise on the international scene, The Boys of the Lough now occupy a unique position of respect in the world of traditional music. They have completed more than 70 tours of the United States with performances and recordings that spread over more than five decades.
The Boys' warm and vital performances have won them friends from the village halls of their homelands to international concert and festival stages, establishing a precedent followed by many.
Their concerts, recordings, and compositions were crucial in bringing about the current explosion of interest in all facets of Celtic music. One cannot succeed in presenting the performing arts without the positive development of friendships and relationships. Our good colleagues at Windwood Theatricals have offered, and we have accepted, the April 15 performance of "Bye Bye Birdie." And there's more good news — by Windwood's generosity, the ticket price for this wonderful 60s rock and roll/Elvis-style musical is being offered at prices close to those we would have paid in the 1960s. "Bye Bye Birdie" is one of the most captivating musical shows of our time.
It is a satire done with the fondest affection, and tells the story of a rock and roll singer who is about to be inducted into the army. "An English Teacher," "What Did I Ever See in Him?" "Put on a Happy Face," "One Boy," "A Lot of Livin' to Do," "Kids," "Rosie" and "Spanish Rose" are musical theatre classics. This is the tops in imagination and good old fashion fun.
The show played on Broadway for 607 performances and for 268 performances in London at Her Majesty's Theatre, capturing four Tony awards for musical, eirector, choreography and supporting or featured actor as well as The Outer Critics Circle Award for Musicals. And just in case you don't know or perhaps forgot — "Bye Bye Birdie" tells the story of a rock and roll singer who is about to be inducted into the army. The singer, Conrad Birdie, an Elvis type, sports the pompadour and thick sideburns, wearing gaudy gold costumes and speaking in a rugged voice.
Agent Albert Peterson is a very pleasant, mild mannered young man whose faithful secretary Rosie Alvarez keeps him and Birdie moving forward in the world. Rosie concocts one final national publicity plan before Conrad's induction. Conrad will bid a typical American teen-age girl goodbye with an all-American kiss. Kim MacAfee in Sweet Apple, Ohio, wins the honor.
The arrival of Birdie in Sweet Apple causes people of all ages to swoon. Birdie says that his success is due to the fact that he is honestly sincere when he sings, and the quiet little town goes into a spin. It is decided that Birdie will give his one last kiss on the Ed Sullivan show. Kim's father, who laments the whole uproar, tries to break into the act and behaves like a ham on the TV show.
Without giving away the entire plot, know that "Bye Bye Birdie" is satire done with the fondest affection. It gives an insight into the everyday life that is very much part of us all. It is the tops in imagination and frivolity; a show that will be enjoyed by the cast as much.
Tickets are available now at CoMMA or by contacting board members of the Burke Council on Alcoholism and Chemical Dependency, co-sponsors of the performance and will be offering 200 VIP seats. Your support of their efforts is another win-win for our community.

Bill Wilson is the director of CoMMA.