About the work
Bye Bye Birdie is a musical by Charles Strouse (music), Lee Adams (lyrics), and Michael Stewart (book), premiered on Broadway in 1960. The satire on the rock-'n'-roll hysteria of the late 1950s won four Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and was Strouse's breakthrough.
Plot
The teen-idol singer Conrad Birdie—a parody of Elvis Presley—is drafted into the army. His manager Albert Peterson and his secretary Rosie devise one last publicity coup: Birdie will give a farewell kiss on television to a randomly chosen fan, the young Kim from Ohio. The stunt throws the small town of Sweet Apple into chaos, stirs the jealousy of Kim's boyfriend, and tests Albert and Rosie's relationship before everything works out happily.
Cultural significance
Bye Bye Birdie was one of the first musicals to engage humorously with the youth and pop culture of the rock-'n'-roll era, striking a chord with a generation. The number Put On a Happy Face became an evergreen, and the 1963 film with Dick Van Dyke cemented the work's reputation. It remains a favourite of school and amateur stages and a nostalgic portrait of America around 1960.