Lights! Camera! Action! As the cold weather raged outside, students inside were toasty warm under the stage lights of the Ruby F. Zima Auditorium. These students, performers both new and old to the acting game, were competing for a role in the spring musical, taking place on March 27, 28 and 29.

“We had a great turnout,” director Lori Thompson said, “There was a lot of excitement and enthusiasm for the musical. We had the kids auditioning read monologues from the musical ‘Godspell’ and, originally, the musical was going to be just that. However, there were a lot more girls than boys auditioning and we thought it might be better to do ‘Bye Bye Birdie’. Plus, the audience will enjoy the singing, dancing and the characters.”

“Bye Bye Birdie” is the story of music producer Albert Peterson and his long time fiance Rosie Alvarez as they prepare for rock star Conrad Birdie’s final goodbye before going into the Army. His final publicity stunt is to bestow “One Last Kiss” on Kim MacAffee while performing a song of the same title on the Ed Sullivan show. Behind the scenes, however, chaos runs loose in the form of Albert’s mother, bent on breaking him and Rosie up, Kim’s jelous high school “steady”, Hugo Peabody, and the general drama that follows celebrities wherever they go.

Despite “Bye Bye Birdie” originally being a mystery, that didn’t stop a number of students from banishing the butterflies from their stomachs and performing in front of their classmates.

“I enjoyed the auditions a lot,” sophomore Megan Pohl, a newcomer to the stage, said. “They were fun. I am looking forward to the musical and I hope I get in. I’d be satisfied with playing any part.”

But acting is only half the battle when it comes to auditioning and performing, or rather, a third. There were also auditions for singing and dancing, overseen by Karen Whittaker, the choreographer for the Ambassadors and Brad Wright, the FHS choir teacher.

“For the auditions I  taught everybody a couple of different songs, and then I heard them one at a time to see how everyone did as individuals,” Wright said. “It’s like all things some people did a little better than others, some did worse but I always try to focus on the courage that it takes just to try out.  That’s hard to do and not everyone can do that. Karen felt basically the same way I did. I think it’s going to be an awesome show.”

“Bye Bye Birdie” will premiere March 27 at 7:30 in the Ruby F. Zima auditorium and will feature shows on March 28 at 7:30 and March 29 at 3:30 and 7:30.