Strouse: Bye Bye Birdie

Bye Bye Birdie is a stage musical with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams, based upon a book by Michael Stewart.

Originally titled Let's Go Steady, Bye Bye Birdie is set in 1958. The short story "Dream Man", authored by Bill Doyle, which appeared in the May 18, 1957, issue of the Saturday Evening Post may well have been the genesis of the eventual stageplay. The play book was also influenced by Elvis Presley's conscription into the Army in 1957. The rock star character's name, "Conrad Birdie", is word play on the name of Conway Twitty. Twitty later had a long career as a country music star, but in the late 1950s he was one of Presley's rock 'n' roll rivals.

The original 1960-1961 Broadway production was a Tony Award-winning success. It spawned a London production and several major revivals, a sequel, a 1963 film, and a 1995 television production. The show also became a popular choice for high school and college productions due to its variable cast size and large proportion of ensemble numbers.