Photo Coverage Exclusive: Put On A 'Perez' Face! Hilton Visits Broadway's BYE BYE BIRDIE
By: Peter James Zielinski Oct. 18, 2009
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Bye Bye Birdie celebrated Opening Night, yesterday evening, Thursday, October 15th at the new Henry Miller's Theatre (124 West 43rd Street). Bye Bye Birdie stars John Stamos, Gina Gershon, Bill Irwin & Nolan Gerard Funk with Jayne Houdyshell, Dee Hoty, Matt Doyle, Jake Evan Schwencke and Alllie Trimm.
BroadwayWorld.com's cameras were there as "Queen of All Media" and frequent theater blogger Perez Hilton stopped by backstage after catching the performance last night!
Cubano and Miami Native Perez Hilton is the Internet's most notorious gossip columnist. The LA Times calls Perez, "like US Weekly, the Star, the Enquirer and Life & Style all rolled into one sweet yet snarky, sagacious yet salacious gay man." Perez was named the #1 Web celebrity for 2007 by Forbes Magazine and as one of the 15 most influential Hispanics in the US by People in Espanol. Since launching in 2004, PerezHilton.com has become one of the leading go-to sites for celebrity news. In February 2008, eMarketer identified perezhilton.com as one of the top 5 websites for college aged women, beating out MySpace! The UK's prestigious Observer newspaper named perezhilton.com (#6) one of the 50 most powerful blogs. In May 2008, Perez kicked off a daily nationally syndicated radio show in 7 of the top 10 markets in North America. Perez has also become a celebrity in his own right. In 2007 he premiered his own show, "What Perez Sez" on VH1. He has appeared on television (ABC, CNN, "E! News," "Dateline, NBC," MTV, Vh1, and Much Music); and has been featured in the L.A. Times, The Wall Street Journal, Paper Magazine, CBS News, Us Weekly, InTouch Weekly and many more. Recently Master P. launched his mobile website at m.perezhilton.com, now his gossip gangsters can be updated anywhere they go.
Bye Bye Birdie is directed and choreographed by Robert Longbottom with a book by Michael Stewart, music by Charles Strouse and lyrics byLee Adams.
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."
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"!
Additional cast members include Catherine Blades, Deanna Cipolla,Paula Leggett Chase, Riley Costello, John Treacy Egan, Colleen Fitzpatrick, Todd Gearhart, Patty Goble, Suzanne Grodner, Robert Hager, Nina Hennessey, Natalie Hill, Julia Knitel, Jess Le Protto, David McDonald, JC Montgomery, Jillian Mueller, Paul Pilcz, Daniel Quadrino,Emma Rowley, Tim Shew, Kevin Shotwell, Allison Strong, Bethany Ann Tesarck, Jim Walton, Brynn Williams, Branch Woodman.
The brand new 1,055-seat Henry Miller's Theatre, which is located inside the new 55-story Bank of America Tower, is New York City's first fully environmentally "green" and LEED-Rated theatre. Tickets are available online at www.byebyebirdieonbroadway.com or by phone at (212)239-6200. Ticket prices range from $86.50 - $136.50.
Photos by Peter James Zielinski
Bye Bye Birdie at Henry Miller's Theatre
John Stamos, Perez Hilton, and Matt Doyle
John Stamos, Perez Hilton, and Matt Doyle
John Stamos with Gary Dell'Abate, his wife Mary, and their sons Jackson and Lucas
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