Four members of one West Windsor family are directly involved in the upcoming production of “Bye Bye Birdie” opening at Kelsey Theater on Friday, July 13. Chris Szemis is the assistant stage manager and her husband, Ed, is in his first singing role. Their son, Kevin, is co-lighting director; and another son, Stephen, is in the teen ensemble. The family has lived in West Windsor since 1995.
They all became interested in theater when the middle son, David, was 11 and decided that he wanted to be an actor. “He had no singing, acting, or dance experience — but played the piano and trumpet and could read music,” says Chris, his mother. She began looking in the papers for audition notices for local shows. Kelsey Theater had an audition notice for “`Twas the Night Before Christmas,” the annual Christmas show, and David was cast in the ensemble. His next part was as Little Jake, Annie Oakley’s brother in Yardley Players’ “Annie Get Your Gun.” The show was rehearsed at Mercer County College facilities and the performances were held at Washington Crossing State Park in the Open Air Theater.
“Parents of performers were required to work at several shows,” says Chris, who worked backstage, and Ed transported set pieces to Washington Crossing in his truck.
Chris is a communication systems engineer at Lockheed Martin in Newtown, Pennsylvania. Although she became involved as stage crew, she is now a member of the Yardley Players board of directors, and has stage managed several shows, including the recent “The Wizard of Oz” at Kelsey. She is the assistant stage manager of “Bye Bye Birdie.”
Ed got involved with theater through helping with set construction and painting. He has also been part of the stage crew, run lights, played in the pit orchestra, and even appeared on stage in small ensemble roles. The part of Mr. Johnson is his largest — and first singing role. His day job is a programmer and systems analyst with Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Pennington. He also plays keyboard for In the Cut, a rhythm and blues band.
David continued to audition for shows with other theater companies performing at Kelsey Theater. He also studied acting, dancing, and singing at the Tomato Patch Performing Arts Summer Workshop. David continued performing throughout his years at Notre Dame High School as a member of the Madrigal Choir, concert and jazz bands, and performed in the school dramas, comedies, and musicals. A 2011 graduate of Notre Dame, he is now a rising sophomore at New York University studying marketing at the Stern School of Business, with a concentration in entertainment, media, and technology.
Kevin became involved at Kelsey after working on lighting and other backstage work at Notre Dame High School. He was the spot light operator, assistant lighting director, and lighting director for several Yardley Players shows. He also attended Tomato Patch Visual Arts Summer Workshop and worked one summer as a counselor for the video production class. Kevin, now 21, graduated from Notre Dame in 2009, and is a rising senior at Emerson College in Boston. He is studying studio television and will be in Los Angeles on an internship during his spring semester. He is the co-lighting director on “Bye Bye Birdie.”
His younger brother, Stephen, now 14, started performing in Kelsey shows at the age of eight. Some of his roles include Flick in Pennington Player’s production of “A Christmas Story;” Sidney Sawyer in Maurer Productions OnStage’s version of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” and Pinocchio in Yardley Players’ production of “Pinocchio.” He studies voice, acting, and dance at the DestinyArts School for performing and visual arts. He graduated from St. Gregory the Great and will attend Notre Dame High School in the fall where he will sing in the Madrigal Choir and play tenor saxophone in the jazz band. He is part of the teen ensemble in “Bye Bye Birdie.”
Poodle skirts and leather jackets are the cool fashions in the rock and roll musical, “Bye Bye Birdie.” Inspired by the media frenzy that surrounded Elvis Presley when he was drafted into the army in 1957, the musical is the story of Conrad Birdie, a rock and roll star. Birdie’s agent is convinced he can make his fortune and marry the girl of his dreams if he gets him on “The Ed Sullivan Show” to make his farewell television performance and kiss his biggest fan before he goes to war.
Other area actors include Peter Alexander of West Windsor in the role of Harry MacAffe. Ensemble cast members include Adam Nicolai of Plainsboro and Alexandra Caldwell of West Windsor. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays, July 13, 14, 20, and 21, at 8 p.m.; and Sundays, July 15 and 22 at 2 p.m. A reception with the cast and crew follows the opening night performance on July 13.
— Lynn Miller
Bye Bye Birdie, Kelsey Theater, Mercer County Community College, 1200 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor. Musical about rock and roll by the Yardley Players. $18. 609-570-3333. www.kelseyatmccc.org.
