A blast from the past! Picked up this clip from my former Playshop student Mae's site and I was transported to one musical summer 3 or 4 years ago. I taught a teen musical theater class and decided to do "Bye Bye Birdie" for our showcase. I loved the film and the cast album and couldn't wait to get all that fabulous (and difficult!) music (thank you from the bottom of my heart ManMan!) and book on stage. It was to be my directorial debut and so was relieved to get quite a talented group of teens. Mae, for one, struck me as the perfect Kim MacAfee from the moment she auditioned. The other kids were just as perfect in their roles as well. Wish I had more pictures and videos! It wasn't an easy summer but I was really proud of my class, and of our show. Here's a little bit of it, a small showstopper called "A Lot of Livin' To Do"...


From the archives: Lot of Livin'