BYE BYE BIRDIE's Gina Gershon Featured in NY Magazine

Bye Bye Birdie's Gina Gershon was featured in New York Magazine on August 23, 2009. The article is by Emma Rosenblum and begins:

"Let's not talk about the part, 'cause I'll have a massive anxiety attack," Gina Gershon is saying, as she wolfs down a salad between rehearsals. She's kidding, sort of. The role in question is Bye Bye Birdie's Rosie, the Latina girlfriend of Albert (played by John Stamos). Rosie was created in 1960 by Chita Rivera, as stellar a Broadway lead as any, and her shadow can't be helping with that anxiety issue. "If one more person says, ‘Oh, my God, how do you do Chita Rivera?' ... The answer is, I can't. I'd have an easier time being Harvey Fierstein." Maybe she would: Wikipedia, at least, calls Gershon a gay icon. "It's just from the roles I've played," she says, chuckling. "Maybe it's the way I move. Maybe it's my boobs." Her role in Showgirls probably didn't hurt, either.

Gershon works a whole lot in movies and TV (lately with guest roles on Ugly Betty and Curb Your Enthusiasm). But she's also had a surprising number of other projects going on, and that lineup has often included stage work, even if it's not so high-profile. "There are certain people who only know my rock-and-roll stuff, and there are other people who think I only do this dark, weird stuff, then there are people who know me from comedy. I did a children's book with my brother, and kids are like, ‘You're an actress?' I think I confuse people a lot. But I'm just doing whatever's most interesting."

Click here to read the full article:
http://nymag.com/guides/fallpreview/2009/theater/58513/

Bye Bye Birdie is the inaugural production of the new Henry Miller's Theatre, which is located in the new Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park. Performances begin September 10th and the official opening is October 15th, 2009.

Roundabout Theatre Company presents the first new Broadway production of Bye Bye Birdie as the inaugural production of the new Henry Miller's Theatre (124 West 43rd Street). Bye Bye Birdie will star John Stamos (Albert Peterson), Gina Gershon (Rose Alvarez) & Bill Irwin (Mr. Harry MacAfee) with Jayne Houdyshell (Mrs. Mae Peterson) & Dee Hoty (Mrs. MacAfee).

The cast will also feature Matt Doyle (Hugo Peabody), Jake Evan Schwencke (Randolph MacAfee), Allie Trimm (Kim MacAfee) and as "Conrad Birdie" Nolan Funk. Robert Longbottom will direct and choreograph Bye Bye Birdie with a book by Michael Stewart, music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams.

In Bye Bye Birdie, the exuberant rock n' roll musical comedy, it's 1960 and hip-swingin' teen idol superstar Conrad Birdie (Funk) has been drafted into the army. Birdie's manager Albert (Stamos) and his secretary Rosie (Gershon) have cooked up a plan to send him off with a swell new song and one last kiss from a lucky teenage fan... on "The Ed Sullivan Show"!

Bye Bye Birdie received the 1961 Tony Award® for Best Musical and features such beloved songs as "Put on A Happy Face," "Kids," "Spanish Rose," "The Telephone Hour" and "A Lot of Livin' To Do."

For more information, visit www.byebyebirdieonbroadway.com.