bye bye birdie
Ross Eide plays Army-bound rock star Conrad Birdie in "Bye Bye Birdie." (Photo: Scott Breitbarth / Ovation! Performing Arts Northwest)
This article was originally published on Kitsap Sun on Dec. 23, 2019
BAINBRIDGE ISLAND — Scott Breitbarth has known Myriah Riedel for a long time.
And Riedel has worked with Ovation! Performing Arts Northwest for a long time.
But that’s not the main reason Breitbarth tabbed Riedel to be his assistant director for the Ovation! Performing Arts Northwest production of “Bye Bye Birdie.”
“I’m the yeller,” said Riedel, who’s been an onstage mainstay for the Bainbridge company for more than a decade. “We did the full framework, and then Scott could pay more attention to how things were coming together while I was the one yelling at people, getting everyone in the right places.”
Joking — and yelling — aside, Riedel’s long history with Ovation! does give Breitbarth, whose first work for the company was as choreographer for last year’s “Masquerade: The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber,” a necessary leg up in the continuity department.