The Alden-Conger School will present &uot;Bye Bye Birdie,&uot; a musical comedy, at the Alden-Conger High School gym at 7 p.m. Friday, March 21, and Saturday, March 22. There will also be a matinee at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 23.

Tickets are $5 for adults and $4 for students. They are available at the Alden-Conger High School office, at Andersen Hallmark stores in Albert Lea, and from cast members. Tickets will also be available at the door.

According to Director Dana Ford, the students asked to do a musical. &uot;This is only the third musical we’ve done since I’ve been here,&uot; he said. &uot;But this is exciting. The kids really came together.&uot;

They started rehearsals during the second week of January. &uot;The kids are so involved it was hard to schedule rehearsals,&uot; the director said. &uot;It was also difficult to find a time to present it. With spring sports starting, we had a very narrow window to work with.&uot;

The plot of &uot;Bye Bye Birdie&uot; revolves around rock’n’roll superstar Conrad Birdie and his agent, Albert Peterson. Albert has gone deep into debt promoting Birdie’s career. Now that Birdie has become a superstar, however, all of Albert’s work is about to pay off. At least it would have paid off if Birdie had not just been drafted. To make matters worse, Rosie, Albert’s long-time secretary and love interest decides to resign. She has waited eight years for Albert to give up the music business, become an English teacher, and settle down with her in a nice apartment somewhere.

Desperate not to lose Rosie, Albert promises to quit the music business as soon as he can get enough cash to pay off the debts he has incurred. Rosie then comes up with a plan. They will stage a publicity stunt on &uot;The Ed Sullivan Show&uot; in which one lucky girl, whose name will be chosen from the official Conrad Birdie Fan Club, will give Birdie his last kiss as a civilian on national television. They will use the publicity from this stunt to promote Birdie’s latest hit, &uot;One Last Kiss.&uot; Albert agrees and immediately sets out to write the song. The lucky girl chosen to give Birdie his last kiss is Kim MacAfee of Sweet Apple, Ohio …. age 15.

Next, the audience is introduced to the teen-agers of Sweet Apple, chattering endlessly on the telephone. Kim has just resigned as president of the Conrad Birdie Fan Club because Hugo Peabody has asked her to go steady and given her his pin. Then she learns that she has been chosen to give Birdie his last kiss. Hugo is not at all happy. Soon, Conrad arrives in Sweet Apple, and the town welcomes him with open arms. He is lodged at the MacAfee household. Mr. MacAfee, who is dispossessed of his bedroom, is furious until he learns that the entire family will appear on &uot;The Ed Sullivan Show.&uot;

It’s a very fun play, Ford said, with about 70 students and 20 adults involved. A pit band is comprised of both students and adults.

The cast includes Ben Faugstad as Albert Peterson, Jessica Modderman as Rose Alvarez, Megan Jensen as Helen, Jen Bute as Ursula Merkle, Kenzie Johnson as Kim Macafee, Melissa Wessling as Mrs. Doris Macafee, Tim Bruzelius as Mr. Harry Macafee, Elizabeth Bloedel as Mrs. Mae Peterson, Will Petersen as Conrad Birdie, Greg Opseth as Hugo Peabody, Kayla Koenen as the police officer, Bridget King as a reporter, Mallory Larson as a reporter/train station worker, Ryan Bangert as the mayor and Ed Sullivan’s voice, Steph Lackey as the mayor’s wife, Tana Reindal as Mrs. Merkle, Derek Drescher as Randolf Macafee, Justine Johnson as Nancy, Sonja Peterson as Gloria Rasputin, Hayley Jensen as a traveler, Adam Whelan as guitar man/Freddie, Becca Bryson as Alice, Megan Peterson as Margie, Tasha Lackey as Deborah Sue, Eric Bryson as various voices, Nicole Bute as stage hand character, Brett Penning as Maude, Holly Babcock and Katie Schultz as sad girls, Maddy Ruble as teen girl, Melissa Ausen as train person, Ben Back as Lee, Deanna Bruzelius as Suzie, Gena Ferre as Penelope, Bradly Ferre as Karl, and Nick Larson as photographer. Tyler Ignaszewski, Pat Ignaszewski, Matt Bremseth, Mitchell Kleinschrodt, Clint Sauke, Jake Martin and Trent Nelson play boyfriends. Men are Barry Back, Jon Jahnke, Keith Bruzelius and Kevin Opseth.

The crew includes Heather Petersen as stage director and student director, Dana Ford as director, Nikki Phillips as vocal director, Jeannine Wills as costumer, Clint Phillips as set designer and construction, Barry Back and Mike Jensen on set construction, Candy Johnson on hair, Kyle Ignaszewski as sound technician, and Krista Mathiason and Erin Bremseth on lights. Other crew members are Tim Bruzelius, Heather Petersen, Nicole Bute, Nick Erlandson, Katie Kruger, Joey Larson, Megan Miller, Alison Thomas, Sarah Watney, Daniel Opseth, Haley Johnson and Jessie Bolinger.

The pit band includes Jared Dawson on bass, Nigel Masters on percussion, Meg Soli on clarinet, Laura Virgil on piano, Kendra Mathiason on saxophone, Clint Phillips on guitar, Stephanie Hallman on keyboard, Katie Jensen on saxophone and clarinet, Marti Yokiel on trumpet, Joe Braund on trumpet, Brenda Wichmann on trombone and Janice Bolinger on flute. Andrea Whitcomb is the director and pit band director.

&uot;There will also be some audience participation,&uot; Ford said. &uot;If you don’t walk away feeling a sense of joy, you will have missed something.&uot;