The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announces the highly anticipated Broadway Center Stage production of Bye Bye Birdie starring two-time Tony Award winner Christian Borle (Some Like It Hot, Something Rotten!) as Albert Peterson, Krysta Rodriguez (Into the Woods, Spring Awakening) as Rosie Alvarez, and Tony Award nominee Ephraim Sykes (Ain’t Too Proud, NBC’s Hairspray Live!) as Conrad Birdie. The production — to run June 7 to 15 in the Eisenhower Theater — will be directed by Marc Bruni (Beautiful, the Kennedy Center’s Guys and Dolls, The Music Man, and How to Succeed…), with choreography by Denis Jones (Tootsie, The Kennedy Center’s Guys and Dolls). Tickets for Bye Bye Birdie go on sale to Kennedy Center members on February 21 and to the public on February 22 via the Kennedy Center website or by calling 202-467-4600. Additional casting will be announced at a later date.
“After a four-year postponement from March 2020, what a thrill it is to finally be producing the joyous Bye Bye Birdie for Broadway Center Stage! With Marc Bruni and Denis Jones—who did such great work with our Guys and Dolls in 2022—alongside this starry Broadway cast, the show could not be in better hands,” said Jeffrey Finn, Broadway Center Stage Artistic Director and Kennedy Center Vice President and Executive Producer of Theater.
In this ebullient winner of four Tony Awards, teen idol Conrad Birdie is drafted into the Army, but before he leaves, he’ll perform a new song on The Ed Sullivan Show and give one last kiss to a lucky fan. Bye Bye Birdie features a hilarious script by Tony Award winner Michael Stewart (Hello, Dolly!) and a score with more pop than a pack of bubble gum by Tony Award–winning composer Charles Strouse (Annie) and Tony Award–winning lyricist Lee Adams (Applause).
Bye Bye Birdie will feature the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra.
The Broadway Center Stage series, now in its fifth season, has been acclaimed by the Washington Post as “a raging success at the Kennedy Center reflecting a Broadway sheen.” Its hit production of Monty Python’s SPAMALOT is currently playing on Broadway at The St. James Theater.
Christian Borle is a two-time Tony Award-winning actor/director. Borle won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical as Shakespeare in Something Rotten (Drama Desk Award) and Best Featured Actor in a Play as Black Stache in Peter and the Starcatcher (Drama Desk nom.). Additional Broadway credits: Footloose, Jesus Christ Superstar, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Amour, Spamalot (Drama Desk nom.), Mary Poppins, Legally Blonde (Tony and Drama Desk noms.), Falsettos (Tony nom.), and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He most recently starred as Joe/Josephine in Broadway’s Some Like it Hot (Tony nom.). He also starred as Orin Scrivello in Little Shop of Horrors, for which he received the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical. On TV, Borle has appeared in Masters Of Sex, Gilmore Girls, Elementary, Younger, Lifesaver, NBC’s Peter Pan Live, and NBC’s The Sound of Music Live. Borle played a recurring role on The Good Wife and received across-the-board praise as Tom on Smash. Borle also appeared in Michael Mann’s feature Blackhat opposite Chris Hemsworth and Viola Davis, and The Bounty Hunter with Jennifer Aniston. Directing: Popcorn Falls (Davenport Theater), Footloose (The MUNY). Playwriting: additional material for Some Like It Hot, Hammered: A Thor & Loki Play (go to marvelspotlightplays.com).
Krysta Rodriguez starred as Cinderella in the Broadway revival of Into the Woods and opposite Jeremy Pope and Paul Bettany in The Collaboration for MTC. Other Broadway credits include Spring Awakening (Deaf West Revival + OBC), First Date, The Addams Family, In the Heights, A Chorus Line, Good Vibrations. On television, Rodriguez starred in Netflix’s Halston as Liza Minnelli and is known for her work in Smash (NBC), Daybreak (Netflix), Trial & Error (NBC), Quantico (ABC), Younger (Paramount+), The Mysteries of Laura (NBC), Gossip Girl (CW) and opposite RuPaul in How the Bitch Stole Christmas. Rodriguez starred as Megara in the world premiere of Disney’s Hercules (Public Works at the Delacorte Theater) as well as in Theresa Rebeck’s Seared (MCC; Outer Critics Circle honoree), West Side Story (Anita; The Kennedy Center), A Chorus Line (Diana; Hollywood Bowl), and What We’re Up Against (The Women’s Project).
Ephraim Sykes was nominated for a Tony, Outer Critics Circle, and Drama League Awards for his performance as David Ruffin in Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations. Other Broadway credits include Hamilton, Motown The Musical, Newsies, Memphis, and The Little Mermaid. Off-Broadway, Sykes co-starred in Black No More (The New Group, Audelco Award winner) and Rent (New World Stages). On-screen, Sykes was seen in Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit as well as the HBO series Vinyl, Luke Cage (Marvel/Netflix), Crisis in Six Scenes (Amazon), Russian Doll (Netflix), and in the NBC live broadcast of Hairspray Live! opposite Ariana Grande.
