Bye Bye Birdie

The Synopsis

Albert Peterson, a theatrical agent with a mother complex, tries to stop his finance-secretary, Rose Alvarez from leaving him by promising to dissolve his mother’s record & music company & become an English Teacher. To do this he needs a hit record from his big client, Conrad Birdie, who has been drafted. A spectacular publicity stunt is planned, with Conrad giving a goodbye kiss to a typical American teenager on the Ed Sullivan Show. Kim MacAfee of Sweetapple, Ohio is chosen & the MacAfee household is totally disrupted. Kim’s jealous boyfriend, Hugo crashes the TV show & K.O’s Conrad. In the meantime, Albert’s mother persuades him not to dissolve the company. Rose & Kim, both disillusioned with their boyfriends, decide to run away & start a new life. Rose arouses the staid members of a Shriners meeting & gets more than she bargained for while Kim practises her immature wiles on Conrad. Albert has it out with his mother & finds Kim just in time to rescue Conrad, with parents, police & Rose hot on his heels. Albert bails Conrad out of jail & smuggles him to the railway station, where Rose is to meet him. She arrives to find both Conrad & Mama off to New York while Albert has two tickets for Pumpkin Falls, Iowa, where he is to become an English Teacher at last.

The Production Team

Director – Patti Franklin

Choreographer – Annette Emerton

Musical Director – Robert Beazley

Assistant Director – Michael Lubke

Pianist – Pat Gleeson

The Cast

Peter Burgess (Albert Peterson), Noelene Jeffs (Rose Alvarez), Marjorie Simpson (Mae Peterson), Ian Fletcher (Conrad Birdie), Alan Shepherd (Mr MacAfee), Marion Palazzi (Mrs MacAfee), Marji Simpson (Kim MacAfee), Hugo Peabody (Greg Higgs), Barbara Benson (Ursula), Sue Lofthouse (Alice), Vicki Tomlinson (Deborah Sue), Timothy Jeffs (Randolph MacAfee), Wendy Dodwell (Penelope Ann), Jennie Birch (Nancy), Caryn William (Suzie), Graham Seaman (Harvey Johnson), Robert Foggin, Bruce Ogle, Ian Fletcher, John Brandt, Jo Van Leeuwen, Monica Foggin, Jennie Birch, Chris Edwards, Michael Gamble, John Brandt, Claude Mahony, Linda Aldridge, Jennifer Devlin, Gayle Dutton, Sue Gillies, Donna Gillies, Kerrie Jeffs, Michelle Williams, Peter Djordjevic, Denise Aldridge, Jim Richards, Richard Brandt.

The Mikado

The Synopsis

The Mikado has decreed that the act of flirting when “not connubially linked” is punishable by death. Horrified by this prospect, the townsfolk of Titipu appoint Ko-Ko as Lord High Executioner – he has been imprisoned for flirting & would be obliged to execute himself before beheading anyone else. Arriving at Titipu, Nanki-Poo is distressed to hear of this new appointment. He has been forced to leave his father’s court to avoid execution due to unwarranted attentions of Katisha & has come to claim Yum-Yum, Ko-Ko’s bride to-be, believing that she would now be freed of her engagement in light of his imprisonment. Yum-Yum has no desire to marry Ko-Ko but knows that he will not release her to anyone else, especially not to an itinerant musician. Heartbroken Nanki-Poo prepares to commit suicide but is prevented from doing so by Ko-Ko, who has received orders from the Mikado to execute someone within the month, & suggests that Nanki-Poo be the required victim. Nanki-Poo agrees on the condition that in the meantime he can marry Yum-Yum. A plan which receives a temporary setback at the discovery that the wife of a beheaded man must be buried alive. However, when the Mikado & Katisha approach town, Ko-Ko to avoid the Mikado’s wrath pretends that Nanki-Poo’s execution has taken place. The Mikado is furious to learn that his son has been beheaded & Ko-Ko has no choice but to persuade Nanki-Poo to come back to life, which he will only do if Ko-Ko proposes to Katisha. Ko-Ko proposes and Katisha agrees believing Nanki-Poo dead. Nanki-Poo appears before the Mikado & all is forgiven.

The Production Team

Director – Terry Lyons

Choreographer – Annette Emerton

Musical Director – Laurence Bell

Assistant Director – Marion Palazzi

Pianist – Pat Gleeson

The Cast

Warren Patterson (The Mikado Of Japan), Robert McDonough (Nanki-Poo), Neil Litchfield (Ko-Ko), Robert Neill (Poo-Bah), Gordon Clark (Pish-Tush), Gwenda Horrocks (Yum-Yum), Kate Palethorpe (Pitti-Sing), Wendy Dowdell (Peep-Bo), Fay Salmon (Katisha), Louise Armstrong, Patricia Boogaert, Mary Christopher, Gail Denham, Monica Foggin, Lorraine Grant, Jenny Horrocks, Janet Kay, Elizabeth Lee, Jenny Leitch, Alia Naughton, Rosanne Popple, Patricia Rafter, Jane Sartori, Robert Foggin, David Ivins, Geoffrey Lee, Claude Mahony, Sam McMurtry, Bradley Power, Glen Salmon, Fred Waski.

The New Moon

The Synopsis

Robert Misson, a French Nobleman, has become a revolutionary and is acting as a bondservant in the house of M. Beaunoir in New Orleans. Vicomte Ribaud seeks to arrest him as an enemy of King Louis XVI. Robert delays his escape to farewell the proud and haughty Marianne Beaunoir. Later, he seizes Ribaud in a tavern and changes clothes before locking him up. Robert asks for recruits to go with him to the Isle of Pines to start a new life. Before setting out, he attends a masked ball and wins a kiss from Marianne in a lottery rigged by his friend Alexander, whose long lost wife Clotilde turns up to confront his fiancé Julie. Ribaud escapes and Robert is arrested and shipped to Paris on the “New Moon”. Marianne becomes betrothed to Captain Duval to be near Robert. Also on board are brides to be, bound for Martinigue – Alexander, Clotilde, and Julie. Pirates attack the ship, Robert is released to fight, and takes command while cowardly Duval is locked up. The Pirates turn out to be the recruits for the Isle of Pines, where they all go after setting Duval and Ribaud adrift. A law is passed that all women must take a husband, so Marianne marries Robert. Ribaud plots to betray the colony to French ships, but they bring news of revolution. Ribaud refuses to renounce his title and is arrested, Leaving Robert and Marianne to live happily together.

The Production Team

Director – Bob Neill and Patricia Rafter

Choreographer – Joanne Beresford

Musical Director – Robert Beazley

Rehearsal Pianist – Pat Gleeson

The Cast

Elizabeth Tollhurst (Marianne Beaunoir), Will Amer (Robert Misson), Joy Bishop (Julie), Allan Ingles (Alexander), Marion Palazzi (Clotilde Lombaste), Peter Burgess (Vicomte Ribaud), Michael Lubke (Captain Duval), Rick Burston (Besac), John Brandt (M. Beaunoir), Robert Boyd (Philippe L’Entendu), Joanne Beresford, Mary Christopher, Wendy Dowdell, Michelle Eason, Monica Foggin, Lorraine Grant, Cathy Hall, Jenny Leitch, Kate Palthorpe, Rhonda Randall, Jane Santori, Lynn Schofield, John Brandt, Jim Devlin, Robert Foggin, Greg Higgs, David Ivans, Geoff Lee, Claude Mahony, Bruce Ogle, Graham Seaman, Alan Shepherd, Fred Waski, Brian Wellsmore, Jim Richards, Neil King, Fred Brown