Du Quoin Actors to Perform in Pyramid's ‘Bye Bye Birdie'
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Originally titled Let's Go Steady, "Bye Bye Birdie" is the satire on American society set in 1958.
"Bye Bye Birdie" will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, June 27-29 on stage at the Rend Lake College theatre in Ina, and a number of Du Quoin actors will be part of the cast.
Tickets are $12 and can be re-served by calling 618-521-1794.
The performances celebrate 36 years of the Pyramid Players theatre troupe. One of the Pyramid Players' founders is former Du Quoin speech and theatre coach Alan Kimball.
The story was inspired by the phenomenon of popular singer Elvis Presley and his draft notice into the Army in 1957. The rock star character's name, "Conrad Birdie," is word play on the name of Conway Twitty. Twitty is best remembered today for his long career as a country music star, but in the late 1950s, he was one of Presley's rock 'n' roll rivals.
Members of the cast from Du Quoin are Sydney Heumann, who plays Gloria Rasputin; Anthony Pierce who plays Richie and Ian Carver, Addison Carver and McKinley Carver who play children and a teenager in the cast. Working backstage will be Alan Pierce, Riley Carver and Cameron Spencer from our area. Jon Montgomery is a member of the orchestra.
The lead of Conrad Birdie will be performed by Kyle Upchurch of Benton.
The original run of the production was a huge success, winning a Tony Award and spawning several major revivals, a sequel, a 1963 film and a 1995 television production.