Put on a Happy Face! James Van Der Beek, Carly Hughes & More to Lead Bye Bye Birdie at the Kennedy Center

A slew of stage-and-screen stars have been selected to lead the Kennedy Center's upcoming staging of the 1960 Tony-winning musical comedy Bye Bye Birdie. The previously announced Washington, D.C. production will run from April 23-28.

Heading the cast will be James Van Der Beek (Dawson's Creek) as Albert Peterson, Carly Hughes (Pippin) as Rosie, Mallory Bechtel (Dear Evan Hansen) as Kim MacAfee, Ann Harada (Emojiland) as Mrs. MacAfee, Tony nominee Reg Rogers (Tootsie) as Mr. MacAfee, Tony nominee Caitlin Kinnunen (The Prom) as Ursula and Megan Sikora (Holiday Inn) as Gloria Rasputin. Four-time Tony winner Harvey Fierstein (Hairspray) will play Albert’s mother, Mae Peterson.

The ensemble will include Susie Carroll, Micah Cook, David Aron Damane, Julian De Guzman, John Treacy Egan, Michael Hoey, Evan Kinnane, Liz McCartney, Nova Y. Payton, Trevor Michael Schmidt, Riza Takahashi and Dori Waymer. Additional casting, including the role of Conrad Birdie, will be announced shortly.

Bye Bye Birdie is set as teen idol Conrad Birdie is drafted into the army, but before he leaves, he'll perform a new song on The Ed Sullivan Show and give one last kiss to a lucky fan. The musical features a script by Tony winner Michael Stewart and a score by Tony winners Charles Strouse and Lee Adams.

The Kennedy Center production will feature direction by Marc Bruni, choreography by two-time Tony nominee Denis Jones and music direction by Todd Ellison.