Summer Show News
The Minnewaska Showstoppers are back! Join us for our production of the beloved musical, Bye Bye Birdie this Waterama weekend at Minnewaska Area High School in Glenwood, MN!
Bye Bye Birdie tells the tale of Conrad Birdie’s very public farewell kiss. He has been drafted into the army and must take a break from showbiz. It is loosely inspired by Elvis Presley’s entry into the army in the late 1950’s. Like the sentiment of parents of Elvis fans at the time, the parents of the girls who are obsessed with Conrad are not overly approving of his attitude, singing style, and scandalous dance moves. The original Bye Bye Birdie opened on Broadway on April 14, 1960 and played 607 performances! The show starred Chita Rivera as Rose and Dick Van Dyke as Albert. It won four Tony awards in 1961, including Best Musical. We are so excited to be bringing this classic to our community!
Auditions for our 2022 summer performance wrapped up in late May and all major roles were filled, thanks to several local creatives and volunteers. We are still in need of a few adults to act as those irritated parents of the teenage girls along with a few more high school/early college aged men to hang out with Hugo Peabody and Harvey Johnson. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to be involved in community theater or dreamt of acting in front of a live audience, this is a great opportunity for you! These ensemble roles are some of the most exciting roles to take on, with fewer lines to memorize and fun scenes to play out! Call Showstoppers Board President, Mandy Recker, at (320) 424–0979 for more details or if you are interested in auditioning.
Behind the scenes, we are lucky to have a crew of muti-talented individuals that are coming together to create this theatrical performance. Oliver Rivera is a recent UMM theater graduate, who will be heading our show’s production. Sue Morton is already doing an amazing job as our vocal director. We are also thrilled to have a live pit orchestra this year under the direction of the very energetic Mike Odello of Morris. Local arts advocate, Sue Fossen, is also lending her talents to our set art. A number of lively and passionate Minnewaska Area High School students have claimed the lead roles of this show: Ben Jensen as Conrad Birdie, Dakota Holder as Rosie Alvarez, Sierra Morton as Kim MacAfee, Ethan Eliason as Hugo Peabody, and Ross Thorfinnson as Harvey Johnson. A few other names to remember are Katy Leppa as the very overbearing Mae Peterson and Parker Schmidgall as Albert Peterson.
Thank you to all who have come out of the woodwork to make our comeback a success. We so look forward to bringing the performing arts back to our beloved community next month and hope you will join us as we make our return to the stage!
Stay creative. Stay connected.
Jes Baggett, Board Member: Showstoppers Board of Directors