Bye, Bye Birdie Scene Too Risque for Broadway

Revival will be even more PC than high school productions
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 24, 2009 8:49 AM CDT
Bye, Bye Birdie Scene Too Risque for Broadway
Cast members of the Broadway musical "Bye Bye Birdie" from left, Paul Lynde, Gretchen Wyler, Kay Medford, and Gene Rayburn at the Shubert Theatre in New York, in this April 14, 1961 file photo.   (AP Photo)

High school drama clubs have been putting on Bye Bye Birdie for nearly 50 years—apparently they didn’t realize they've been staging a certain scene so risque it makes Broadway blush. The upcoming Broadway revival will cut a dance sequence featuring Rose cavorting on and around a table with a group of fez-adorned men. Why? “It seemed a little too gang rape-y,” says Gina Gershon, who stars as Rose. (More Gina Gershon stories.)

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