Building BIRDIE
The Rep’s planned production of Bye Bye Birdie was intended to feature the talents of local young artists, working alongside professional adults from across the country.
While The Rep’s planned production of Bye Bye Birdie was unfortunately canceled due to the pandemic, our initiative to recruit and train local teen talent began in the fall of 2019. To cast our Teen Ensemble, we hosted free audition workshops for hundreds of teens in public high schools across Pulaski County.
In collaboration with Cranford Co., we are proud to present this mini docu-series, Building BIRDIE, that highlights The Rep’s journey to seek out, educate, and celebrate local talent. While these teens didn’t get the chance to perform on stage, they were eventually able to work with Rep staff to create a music video for one of their songs from the show.
Building BIRDIE is sponsored by Gen. (Ret.) Wesley & Gert Clark, and Legacy Termite and Pest Control.

Bye Bye Birdie director David H. Bell with the local teen ensemble.
Part 3 – Building BIRDIE: “The Telephone Hour”
“The Telephone Hour”
From Bye Bye Birdie
Music by Charles Strouse
Lyrics by Lee Adams
Book by Michael Stewart
“The Telephone Hour” has been generously sponsored by our friends at Entergy.


Part 2 – Building BIRDIE: Casting
Part 1 – Building BIRDIE: In the Schools
