THE American comic musical Bye Bye Birdie was originally directed by Fred Astaire no less. Now the duty falls to Robert Readman, whose production for Shipton Theatre Club runs at Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, from February 20 to 24 at 7.30pm nightly.

His hair newly fashioned into an even crop after his memorable sacrifice of shaving the crown last month to play the balding Pickwick for Rowntree Musical Theatre, Readman is switching his attention from Dickensian days to the year 1960, when Bye Bye Birdie made its Broadway debut: the first show to feature compositions by Charles Strouse, later to enjoy success with Annie.

For Bye Bye Birdie - the story of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back but with a twist - director Readman is working with a cast of Dan Hield, in the lead role of New York songwriter and rock'n'roll manager Albert Peterson; Mandy Oxley as the girl, Albert's long-time secretary Rose Alvarez; Martin Lettin, in his Shipton debut as the Army-bound young rock'n'roller Conrad Birdie; Brenda Riley, as Albert's mother, the Jewish mother to beat all Jewish mothers, and 15-year-old Alicia Roberts as Conrad Birdie Fan Club member Kim Macafee from Sweet Apple, Ohio. Teenagers from York, Pocklington, Stamford Bridge and Malton are participating too.

Bye Bye Birdie may be rarely performed by comparison with Annie but nevertheless it produced three smash-hit musical numbers, Put On A Happy Face, Kids and A Lot Of Livin' To Do (a song associated most strongly with Sammy Davis Jr).

Tickets for Shipton Theatre Club's production are on sale at £5 for the first night, then £7, concessions £6, for the rest of the run. Box office: 01904 623568.