On Friday the 26th, I went to the opening night of Bye Bye Birdie and the performance left me pleasantly surprised. As I sat down in the auditorium waiting for the musical to start, I had low expectations as one would for a high school play. By the end I realized how wrong I was, the immense amount of talent that I witnessed. It was evident how much hard work was put into this musical and I feel that it really showed. I was entertained throughout the entire show, never once wondering when it would be ending.

I had never heard about Bye Bye Birdie prior to this show and I thought that the DHS theater did a phenomenal job with telling the story. The cast was energetic throughout the whole show which really helped engage my attention. Saskia Hunter had me laughing hysterically with her hilarious portrayal of Albert Peterson’s mother. I was blown away with how talented of an actress she is and she was one of my favorite characters in the show because every time she went on stage, I knew I was about to laugh. I was very drawn in to each and every character because they all had such an interesting role in the story as a whole.

I also really enjoyed the main character, Albert Peterson, who was played by Josh Thomas. The character was scattered and all over the place which made him really funny to watch. I thought that Josh Thomas did an amazing job and I was so impressed with his acting skills.

The theater department did a good job of making the set look like they had stepped back into the 1950s, from the phones they used to the costumes that the characters wore. It gave me a lot of insight about what things were like during that time; especially when it came to gender roles. This was shown specifically when Rose Alvarez, played by Jessica Blevins, was struggling to get the credit she deserved for the hard work that she put into her job. I am really glad that the theatre department picked this musical to perform because I really liked the storyline.

Since it was opening night there were a few kinks with the sound on the microphones, which is typical as that type of thing is unpredictable. Besides that there is not a single negative thing that I could say about this performance. One of the main reasons I went was because my history teacher was offering extra credit. Though after seeing Bye Bye Birdie I can definitely say that I will be attending future DHS theatre productions. I felt that it was a few hours of my Friday night well spent and I would gladly see it again.