Tom Moffatt Productions
Casey Marshall plays teen idol Conrad Birdie in the national
touring production of "Bye Bye Birdie," coming to the
Blaisdell Concert Hall next week.
Flying High
In real life, Conrad Birdie
By Tim Ryan
doesn't have to wave good-bye
to his love
Star-BulletinSometimes life does better than simply imitate art. In the 1960s musical "Bye Bye Birdie," rock idol Conrad Birdie tries to hook up with 15-year-old Kim, but fails. In real life, however, Casey Marshall, who portrays Birdie in the production opening here next week, has captured Krista Pigott, who plays the innocent teen-ager.
"Guess I'm a luckier than Conrad Birdie," says Marshall, 29, during a conference call with Pigott from Maui, where they are visiting her parents.
A month after being hired for the musical last September, the on-stage romance had become a real-life one. But who was Marshall really after: the sweet, naive 15-year-old Kim, or the adult Krista.
"Whoa," said Marshall, laughing. "Am I allowed to take the fifth on that one?
"C'mon," Pigott, 26, chimed in. "I want to hear the answer to this."
The award-winning musical, which stars actor and '50s icon Troy Donahue, brings back the days when teen-agers swooned over rock 'n' roll stars.
Donahue portrays Hugo MacAfee, father of the Kim, the teen chosen to receive a farewell kiss from Birdie, a sort of B-list Elvis.
"The hardest thing about my character is that everyone expects to see Elvis on stage when it's not exactly Elvis because there's lots of things Birdie does that Elvis would never have done in public," Marshall said.
Pigott, who graduated from Baldwin High School in 1990, moved to Maui at age 4. Her love of performing was an offshoot of relocating to Hawaii.
"My parents were worried about me adjusting so they enrolled me in hula, and my brother in theater," said Pigott, who now lives in New York. "But every time I went to a performance I would get up and dance in the audience. They decided it would be a good idea for me to be in shows, too."
Pigott danced with the Halau O Keola Alii O Ke Kai under Lola Balubar and one year won Miss Keiki Hula at the Queen Liliuokalani competition. At 5 she performed in "Babes in Toyland."
Marshall, who was raised in Southern California, also started performing at an early age.
"My icon as a kid was Johnny Carson," Marshall said. "When my mom would go shopping I would pretend I was interviewing the mannequins."
While Pigott graduated from the Boston Conservatory with a degree in musical theater, Marshall started performing while in college.
Damn Yankees
By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Sylvia Higgins is the devil's vixen, trying to tempt Zachary
Dylan Robbins with the song "Whatever Lola Wants,"
in the Diamond Head Theatre production of
"Damn Yankees." The play opens tonight.He has toured Taiwan singing the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber and other Broadway greats, and has performed in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," "See How They Run," and "Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat."
Pigott's resume includes Disney's "Hercules" in New York City, "Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?" and a national tour of "Tommy."
"Bye Bye Birdie" was a particularly tough challenge for Pigott because "everyone knows how Ann-Margaret did it first."
"But I love the innocence and energy of being a 15-year-old on stage and I try to add my own ingredients to the character."
The undying popularity of the musical for more than 30 years isn't surprising because "everyone seems to love the '50s, '60s and '70s," Marshall said.
"Everything is retro and everything is cool. The 50s are innocent and totally not threatening."
And when you talk '50s icons, it's Elvis and Troy Donahue.
"We have both of them," Marshall said.
Neither Marshall nor Pigott knew much about Donahue, who starred in a Hawaii television series, "Hawaiian Eye," and several films, including "A Summer Place" and "Imitation of Life."
"My mom used to talk about him, but I didn't have a face to put with it," Marshall said. "When I started getting into musical theater I found that his name is mentioned in 'Chorus Line' and 'Grease.'"
Donahue is one of the gang on the tour, he said.
"The more you do in this business ... you learn very quickly the stars usually are not one of you and they make it known," Marshall said. "But Troy does it exactly the opposite ...if you don't include him he's hurt."
Bye Bye Birdie
Show times: 7:30 p.m. May 13-14, 8 p.m. May 15-16, 2 p.m. May 16
