Bye Bye Birdie: Who are the Leads?

By: Miles Largoza

On February 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, Redwood’s musical theater will be performing its annual musical at the LJ Williams Theater. This year’s musical is a romantic comedy from the 1960s called Bye Bye Birdie.

Raul Arredondo, ’23 is the male lead of the story, playing the character “Conrad Birdie”. Arredondo acts as the “Elvis” of this musical. Arredondo says that “All the girls want to be with him, and he loves the attention”.

The role means a lot to Arredondo, he says that “all the hard work and time [he] put in for the audition process has [him] excited”. Arredondo has spent a lot of time on stage, performing in middle school musicals, and he also performed as “Travis” in last year’s Footloose.

The musical’s female lead is played by Hailey Rasmussen ’23. Rasmussen plays “Kim Macafee”, a 15-year-old girl, from the small town of Sweet Apple, Ohio. She is one of Conrad’s many fangirls, and one of the many who are fighting to receive Conrad’s final kiss. Rasmussen says that she is “beyond excited” to have this role in the musical. Rasmussen has performed for many years, acting in Tulare County Office of Education productions from 3rd grade, all the way up to her freshman year.

Luciano Noguera ’24, and Natalie Nelson ’24 play “Kim Macafee’s” parents “Mr. Macafee” and “Mrs. Macafee”, respectively. Noguera’s role is to essentially be a father in the musical, a guide and comedic backing for “Kim Macafee. Noguera has also spent some time on the stage, acting in TCOE’s production of Bye Bye Birdie as well as Redwood’s Shrek Junior a couple of years ago. Noguera says that his role “means a ton” and that he’s “wanted to play this since [his] last time doing Bye Bye Birdie“.

Nelson’s role as “Mrs. Macafee” is to create conflict in the story. Nelson says that “her role is to act as a force to keep the lead girl back and create conflict”. Nelson says that “Mrs. Macafee” is the role she wanted, and that she was very excited to see the cast list. Nelson has performed in TCOE musicals before, as well as Redwoods Shrek Junior and Footloose.

Miles Largoza

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Miles Largoza '23, is a journalist for the Redwood Gigantea. He enjoys the performing arts. Outside the Gigantea he can be found gaming and taking photos.