Bye Bye Birdie Screening at the Academy

Just five years after Elvis Presley was drafted into the army, the satirical Bye Bye Birdie had already been written, staged on Broadway, and turned into a film.  When singing sensation Conrad Birdie (Jesse Pearson) is drafted, songwriter Albert Peterson (Dick Van Dyke) and his girlfriend, Rosie DeLeon (Janet Leigh), arrange for Birdie to sing one of Peterson's songs in a farewell performance on The Ed Sullivan Show. To heighten the drama, the rock 'n' roll star is to give a goodbye kiss to a lucky young lady (Ann-Margret) from Sweet Apple, Ohio - much to the dismay of her steady beau (Bobby Rydell) and parents (Paul Lynde and Mary LaRoche). George Sidney directed this fun and vibrant adaptation of the successful Broadway musical comedy. The film earned Oscar nominations for both Music and Sound, and features a range of songs from the youthful "A Lot of Livin' to Do" to the parental perspective of "Kids." The event will be hosted by film critic, Stephen Farber, and Ann-Margret and Bobby Rydell are also scheduled to appear in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater on Wednesday, April 27, at 7:30 p.m.  Tickets are $5/person for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID.