Saugus drama students flock to ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ auditions

SAUGUS – Around 20 members of the Saugus High School Drama Club stood in a horseshoe around drama teacher Nancy Lemoine on a recent afternoon, singing “Put on a Happy Face” while Lemoine played along on the piano.”Sing it with energy,” yelled Lemoine. “Sing forward and upbeat and bright.”The first day of auditions for “Bye Bye Birdie” gave Lemoine a chance to see what her students could bring to the stage.”Normally we’ll have all the kids sing a song and I get to hear everyone’s range,” said Lemoine. “Then I write on their sheet what their range is and that helps me know what roles they’d be good for or not.”While the play isn’t until the second week of May, Lemoine said it’s going to take some time to get everyone on the same page, since she said most students aren’t that familiar with the 52-year-old musical.Lemoine said she chose Bye Bye Birdie because she knew it was “castable,” but also because it still holds true today.”It’s about teenagers coming into maturity in a very simple time,” said Lemoine. “It’s based off of when Elvis went into the Army, how upset all the girls were. Conrad Birdie is going in the Army, so to save the music company, he’s going to kiss one girl on the Ed Sullivan show. It’s very funny.”Lemoine said she’s directed the show twice and has been in it once, so she’s familiar with the production process and is confident her group of young actors will be able to bring it to life.”The three boys here are great,” said Lemoine. “I know most of the girls and they’re all in chorus, and they all sing and act, and it’s just great.”Sophomore Steph Gaglini said she likes the old 1950s style of the movie, and is hoping to land the lead role of Rosie Alvarez.”I kind of always go out for the lead, but I always hope for the best part I can get,” said Gaglini. “It’s always fun.”Gaglini said she’s been acting since middle school, but acknowledged she still gets a little nervous come audition time.”I’ve been on stage for as long as I can remember,” said Gaglini. “I like it, but it’s always nerve-wracking though.”Junior Ryan Perry, who is going out for the part of Conrad Birdie, said he helped choose the play as a member of the Drama Club Executive Board.”I think it’s a good mix of guys and girls and a really fitting choice,” said Perry. “With the amount of people we have, it’s a big show so I thought we’d be able to accommodate a lot of people. I like the music. I’ve always wanted to try and act in this time period. There’s a lot of aspects like dancing numbers which will be nice because a lot of plays don’t have those.”Junior David Picariello said he’s going out for the part of Albert Peterson, Conrad Birdie’s manager.”His part is so unique and extraordinary,” said Picariello. “Conrad’s part is funny, but he sings kinds of weird. The play itself is really cool because there are three different story lines going on at once. It’s kind of cool how they all flow together throughout the entire thing and at the end there’s one happy closure.”The show will run on May 10 and 11 at 7:30 p.m. with a 2 p.m. matinee on the 12th. Tickets will cost $8 in advance and $10 at the door.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].