Sixty-six Garber High School students and one fifth grader bring the Tony Award winning musical "Bye, Bye Birdie" to the stage of Pat Ankney Auditorium.

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Catch 'Bye, Bye Birdie' at Garber High School

March 14, 2016
By: Pati LaLonde

Take a step back in time - a time when rock and roll was king, and people used rotary dial phones.

Yup, 66 Garber High School students and one-fifth grader are prepared to take a trip back to the 1960s to meet the one and only Conrad Birdie and his throng of screaming girls.

The Tony Award-winning "Bye, Bye Birdie" kicks off Wednesday (March 16) with a free dress rehearsal performance for senior citizens, followed by shows at 7;30 p.m. March 17-19, and 2:30 p.m. March 20 in the Pat Ankney Auditorium at Garber High School, 213 Pine St., Essexville. Tickets are $10, with students $8 on March 20 only.

The plot - rock star Conrad Birdie has received his draft notice, and his agent, Albert Peterson, decides to stage one last publicity stunt before Birdie heads overseas.

The students are also enjoying the 28 songs, especially "Kids."

"They get a kick out of singing about themselves from a 1963 perspective," said John VanDenBoom, director."The girls are digging the dances and the poodle skirt thing. They are digging the whole Ed Sullivan Show kind of thing. But there are some things in there they don?t understand.?

The kids are also getting a big kick out of "The Telephone Hour."

"That's a big number," said VanDenBoom. "We had to rent vintage telephones from New Jersey."