Bye Bye Jockey Hollow ... Hello Masuk

Young New England Repertory Theater actors were rehearsing their lines, singing and practicing dance numbers for this weekend's production of "Bye Bye Birdie" Tuesday when the dimmer pack inside the Jockey Hollow Auditorium blew.

David Halliwell, who is directing the summer theater show with his wife Susan, said it is an important part of the lighting system.

"To get it repaired is going to take a lot more than two days and our show is Friday," he said.

Everything has been moved to the Masuk High School auditorium, where the cast practiced Wednesday afternoon.

"It will be just as good, if not better — just in a different venue," Halliwell said. "The kids are happy because it gives them a chance to perform on a bigger stage and to use more professional equipment. It's a bigger venue with more seats to sell."

Tickets cost $15 for adults and $12 for children and seniors. Shows are scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, July 28, 29 and 30 at 8 p.m., a half hour later than originally scheduled. To buy tickets in advance, call Dawn Horton at (203) 521-4645.

Tickets may also be purchased at Linda's Storytime, 447 Monroe Turnpike.

Though the cast and crew of "Bye Bye Birdie" was upbeat Wednesday, the transition of moving everything to Masuk was not totally seamless. Brooke Burling designed the set, which cannot make the trip.

"Brooke built a huge set and we can't take it over," said Karyn Wade, one of the volunteers working on the production. "It's heartbreaking because he worked on it 12 hours a day. There's a balcony at Jockey Hollow that's part of the structure."

"They're trying to move whatever they can of the set," Horton added.

Bye Bye Birdie

In the musical "Bye Bye Birdie" when one young girl wins the chance to meet and (gasp!) kiss Conrad Birdie, a heart throb singer modeled loosely after Elvis Presley and Conrad Twitty, chaos erupts in Sweet Apple, Ohio, the small, Midwestern town where she resides.

New England Repertory Theater will present its production of the popular musical. It will be director by David and Susan Halliwell.

Beginning at the original Polka Dot Playhouse at Bridgeport's Pleasure Beach, this is the Halliwells' 20th season producing local theater for teens and young adults. The couple's eldest son, Rob, a professional actor, and student at Columbia College Chicago joins the administrative team this year as assistant director for "Bye Bye Birdie."

The Monroe production also marks choreographer Judy Abbatiello's 19th year with the summer theater workshop. She is the owner of Monroe Dance Academy.