Bye-bye, 'Pirates of Penzance'

April 6, 2006

Dear Julie,

Nearly 40 years ago, DC and I played in the pit orchestra when Central High School mounted its first musical. "Bye Bye Birdie" is about an Elvis-style rock 'n' roll star who's drafted into the Army Elvis-style and goes to a small town to kiss a girl in one last publicity stunt before his hair comes off.

Vicki Boren and Barbara Nunnelly shared the female lead. As Conrad Birdie, Steve Hileman rode into the auditorium on a motorcycle. Judy Williams, the young director, somehow kept this first-ever musical from going to rock 'n' roll hell.

The rest of the cast has been lost in the mental mists but not the excitement of being part of a production like that, the early spring nights in the thrall of being 17.

Something about the experience -- maybe the hard work, maybe the bonding, maybe the thrill of being applauded -- imprints you. But not right away. Appreciation takes time.

Last weekend, DC and I went to Central High School's production of "The Pirates of Penzance." Friends and acquaintances were there whose children were in the cast. They looked proud. They should have been.

We knew the female lead has a wonderful voice but were amazed that this bunch of high school kids could pull off a comic operetta. The orchestra played powerfully and sensitively. Sarah Goeke and John Kipper, the leads, charmed us every one. So did the rest of the cast. Aliveness ran through the show like a fuse.

Some standing ovations seem forced. Not this one. The director, Cindy Bradshaw, had plenty of very good help and made everyone work together beautifully.

Notre Dame Regional High School, Central High's cross-town rival, has even a stronger tradition of spring musicals. There grade-school students look up to the students in the high school musical as stars. This year they're looking up to the "Damn Yankees."

Vicki Boren taught high school music and directed musicals in St. Louis. Barbara Nunnelly Adler lives in New York City and directs an arts alliance for Scholastic, the children's publishing company. I don't know about the course Steve Hileman pursued, but playing Conrad Birdie must have been a good start. The last I heard from Judy Williams-Johnson, she was teaching golf in Europe.

Soon Sarah Goeke will be off to the Kansas City Conservatory of Music for Vocal Performance, John Kipper off to the Naval Academy, and their classmates off to explore the future. Cindy Bradshaw will catch her breath before doing this all over again in two years.

Whether "Bye Bye Birdie" was any good doesn't seem to matter. Twenty or 30 or 40 years from now, people who played in the pit orchestra or built scenery or appeared on stage in "The Pirates of Penzance" will return to Central High School to see their children or grandchildren perform in a musical. The feelings of the days and nights they spent making magic will still be part of them and they will see the spell passed from one generation to the next.

Love, Sam

Sam Blackwell is managing editor of the Southeast Missourian.