Say ‘Hello’ to original ‘Bye Bye’

Elvis has been drafted!

Big deal.

But it was in 1958 when The King traded in his blue suede shoes for Army fatigues. This was the post-war America of rock ‘n’ roll and the birth of the “teenage generation,” and one Broadway musical captured the verve and freshness of that era.

“Bye Bye Birdie,” which premiered in 1960, used the real-life drafting of Elvis as a springboard for a bouncy musical full of great songs and dance routines.

Rock ‘n’ roll star Conrad Birdie is drafted into the Army. But before he goes, his agent cooks up a publicity stunt on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in which one lucky teen — Kim MacAfee of Sweet Apple, Ohio, gets to give him a farewell kiss.

Many people know the show from the 1963 movie, a version that altered the story somewhat but kept the memorable score, which included such songs as “Put On a Happy Face,” “Kids,” “A Lot of Living’ To Do” and “One Boy.”

In fact, there are several versions of the musical out, but the director of the Driftwood Players’ production is sticking with the original.

Bryce Britten, a veteran stage director whose credits include shows for the Driftwood Players and Village Theatre, among others, has done several versions of “Bye Bye Birdie,” but this is his first with a mostly adult cast.

The show, which continues through Dec. 19 at the Wade James Theatre in downtown Edmonds, features a cast of 27, with music direction by Chris Fresolone and choreography by Joel Rene.

It’s a “happy, snappy show,” according to Britten, but there is a darker side to all that sunshine and some adult humor in the original, and Britten is enjoying the challenge of bringing that out. The musical poked fun at the mania of rock ‘n’ roll and teen culture, and about family life circa 1950s.

Not everyone here is apple-pie sweet: Conrad Birdie, the side-burned rock star, is no perfect gentlemen and the domineering Mama Peterson is the overbearing mother from hell.

Britten, an Everett resident, did some research on the original production, which was in the works for years before it made it to Broadway.

The period was a time of youth and innocence, Britten said, “when a kiss on the hand was a big deal.” But the writers were not too sure about the music. “They thought rock ‘n’ roll was just a fad.”