Page 235 - YB1967

Bye Bye "Tradition" "Well, this is horrendous! What is a director supposed to say when a show is bad?" Wen, John Balderson, director of the 1966 Junior Class Fol- lies, "Bye Bye Birdie", summed it up with those words. If "Birdie could only sing-if Dotty just had the routines worked out-if anybody had acted before-if nothing! If we had waited to work out all the "if's", Birdie would never have gotten to Sweet Apple! If we were daring enough to break the "established tradition" of Follies satire on WMC, then we were just crazy enough to put to- gether a great show. In spite of Nancy's having to work with monotones and Sinatras, Joyce's having to remember everybody's lines, and John's having to cuss alot, the final week rolled around. With a minimum number of flunk outs and nervous breakdowns, the show picked up. Maybe it was Conrad's gold suit, or the pink courthouse, but whatever, it was a class at Western Maryland College working together without worrying about what Greek letters anybody else wore. "Well, we've got a show on our hands, even with the Shriner's dance cut!" Then the final chorus of "A Lotta Livin'" faded into the on-stage dressing rooms. The makeup came off and left the same familiar faces. Some of us settled back into our respective ruts, but others kept the enthusiasm created in those months. The Senior Class now is the combi- nation of both. "OJ course, I use the touch system-whenever possible!" "Mr. Birdie, what are you doing?" 231