One hardly thinks of "Bye Bye Birdie" as an overlooked gem of a show, but that's exactly what comes to mind in San Diego Musical Theatre's current production of the rockin' 1960 musical that gently pushed Broadway into that tumultuous decade. Though many are familiar with the film and TV versions, and just about every school, youth group, and community theatre from here to Sweet Apple, Ohio, has put it on at some point, "Bye Bye Birdie" has been strangely absent from professional stages in San Diego. The Welk managed a scaled down production in 2004, but neither Starlight nor Moonlight have produced it in 20 years, so it's a nice surprise indeed to welcome San Diego Musical Theatre's joyously full staging.

Natalie Nucci and Paul Clausen

Copyright©2008 Ken Jacques

The fledgling company made waves last year with their inaugural offering at the Birch North Park Theatre, "The Full Monty," then hit a brick wall with a move to their current home, the barnlike East County Performing Arts Center, and a gloomy "Guys and Dolls." While ECPAC, with its cavernous auditorium, spotty acoustics and jittery spotlights, remains a less than ideal home, director-choreographer Dan Mojica has fashioned a "Bye Bye Birdie" that bodes well for the year-old company's future.

In the roles created by Dick Van Dyke and Chita Rivera, Paul Clausen and Natalie Nucci lead the 26-member cast. Though some of the jokes in Michael Stewart's hoary book wear thin, it is a joy to see principal singing actors like these dance their way through several character-defining numbers, he in the bouncy "Put On a Happy Face" and she in the comic "Spanish Rose."

Ms. Nucci and her team of straight-laced Shriners deserve special mention for the inspired lunacy of the Shriner's Ballet (nicely staged by Mr. Mojica).

Other standouts include native San Diegan James Royce Edwards as the hip-swiveling Conrad Birdie, Jill Townsend as swooning Kim MacAfee, and the sweetly awkward Jeffrey Scott Parsons making the most of jilted Hugo Peabody's neuroses.

Jill Townsend and Jeffrey Scott Parsons

Copyright©2008 Ken Jacques

But it is Mr. Mojica's Gower Champion-inspired choreography and his large ensemble of dancers that steal the show here. The teens' "Telephone Hour" is a bubblegum explosion of frenetic movement, and the second-act "A Lot of Livin' to Do" has never looked better.

Playing Charles Strouse and Lee Adams' rock-and-roll-infused score (the first -- and biggest -- hit of their long careers, not counting Mr. Strouse's "Annie") is a 14-piece orchestra conducted by Don LeMaster.

"Coordinator" Roslyn Lehman's poodle skirts and saddle shoes add to the early-Sixties fun, but town nerd Harvey Johnson's (Caleb Goh) red Converse sneakers are a glaring anachonism -- until the late 1960s, fans of the popular footwear had but two color choices: black and white.

James Royce Edwards and Ensemble

Copyright©2008 Ken Jacques

Add Chris Beyries' sparse but effective set design (the console television set and carrot-colored fridge of the MacAfee home are nice period touches) and Jennifer Edwards' lighting doing what it can to illuminate the expansive ECPAC stage, and you've got the makings of a perfectly respectable production of a show too often overlooked by professional companies. Even the Great White Way has ignored this relentlessly happy-faced show; since its premiere almost fifty years ago, there has never been a Broadway revival. One thinks this tale of teenaged frenzy set in the days before "American Idol" might be a perfect fit for escapist audiences today.

On a final note, San Diego Musical Theatre seems ready to move yet again: it has been announced that "Dreamgirls," their final show this season, will open not at the poor neglected ECPAC, but at the downtown Lyceum instead. Let's hope the new venue proves to be a better fit for the worthy company than its experiment in East County.