The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents the Broadway Center Stage production of Bye Bye Birdie starring two-time Tony Award® winner Christian Borle (Some Like It Hot, Something Rotten!) as Albert Peterson, Krysta Rodriguez (Into the Woods, Spring Awakening) as Rosie Alvarez, and Tony Award® nominee Ephraim Sykes (Ain’t Too Proud, NBC’s Hairspray Live!) as Conrad Birdie. They are joined by SAG Award winner Caroline Aaron (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) as Mae Peterson, Ashlyn Maddox (Parade) as Kim MacAfee, Tony Award® nominee Richard Kind (The Big Knife, The Producers) as Harry MacAfee, and Tony Award® nominee Jennifer Laura Thompson (Dear Evan Hansen, Nice Work If You Can Get It) as Doris MacAfee.
The cast also includes Allison Blackwell, Sarah Chiu, Jackera Davis as Ursula Merkle, Victor de Paula Rocha, Miguel Gil as Hugo Peabody, Jalen Michael Jones, Evan Kinnane, Henry Kirk as Randolph MacAfee, Kevin Ligon, Kelly LoMonte, Luke Kolbe Mannikus, Kevin McAllister, Linda Mugleston, Megan Sikora as Gloria Rasputin, Maria Cristina Posada Slye, Renell Taylor, and Dori Waymer.
This new production, dedicated to the memory of original Bye Bye Birdie star and 2002 Kennedy Center Honoree Chita Rivera, is directed by Marc Bruni (Beautiful; the Kennedy Center’s Guys and Dolls, The Music Man, and How to Succeed…), with choreography by Denis Jones (Tootsie, the Kennedy Center’s Guys and Dolls) and music direction by John Bell (Spamalot, Into the Woods).
In this ebullient winner of four Tony Awards®, teen idol Conrad Birdie is drafted into the Army, but before he leaves, he’ll perform a new song on The Ed Sullivan Show and give one last kiss to a lucky fan. Bye Bye Birdie features a hilarious script by Tony Award® winner Michael Stewart (Hello, Dolly!) and a score with more pop than a pack of bubble gum by Tony Award®–winning composer Charles Strouse (Annie) and Tony Award®–winning lyricist Lee Adams (Applause).
I knew early on that I wanted to take my place among the stars. One day, my mother saw me reading The Washington Post at a very young age. Who would have known that it would be the building blocks of my journey? Since that day, I dedicated my life to learn all that is learnable. I read everything from encyclopedias, to books, to dictionaries, to magazines. I’m also an avid consumer of television, with my favorite genre being game shows. If you’ve seen me on Who Wants to be a Millionaire or Wheel of Fortune, then you know that this interest has served me well!
My unique style of reporting began back in junior high school, when I started to chronicle the events that shaped my life. Whether it was the annual family vacation or the local science fiction convention, I shot numerous pictures and recorded my thoughts so I could truly appreciate the history. During my senior year at Friendly High, I wrote what was to be my first masterpiece, “Advanced Space Academy – A One Week Journey.” I sent the eleven-page article back to the U.S. Space Camp staff. The article was highly praised for being “one of the best written articles in the history of U.S. Space Camp.” From then on, I knew what I wanted to do for rest of my life — to be a reporter.
Since then, I have trained in Broadcast Journalism at Bowie State University (2008) in Bowie, MD earning a B.S. in Communications. I gained experience in news production and editing through field experiences with Bowie Community Media Corporation, Prince George’s Community Television, and Bowie State University Television. I also wrote scripts for a variety of quiz shows for over five years.
As a lifelong movie buff, I now see close to 100 films every year. I took this love of movies to the next step when I became a co-host for Eclipse Magazine TV in the fall of 2005. While at EMTV, I interviewed celebrities, worked red carpets, and attended a wide variety of movie screenings. In January 2009, I took a leap of faith and started my own entertainment news magazine, The Rogers Revue. Shortly afterward, my life-long journey of studying the silver screen and writing about what I learned finally earned me a place in the Washington Area Film Critics Association.
All of this has led me here, giving you the latest entertainment news for the DMV and the entire nation, and I am truly excited for whatever will come next.
