Cast of Bye Bye Birdie Receives Blue Star Nominations

The sets have been taken apart; the costumes returned or put away in storage. The cast of SM East’s winter musical Bye Bye Birdie had all but forgotten the songs when they learned that they had received three Blue Star Award nominations from Starlight’s Blue Star program. East was nominated for Oustanding Actress in a Lead Role for junior Lily Kaufmann’s portrayal of Rosie, Outstanding Featured Actress for sophomore Maddie Robert’s work with the character Ursula Merkle and an Outsanding Ensemble award for the cast as a whole.

“I found out while I was in the middle of writing an essay and then I couldn’t focus!” said Kaufmann. “My heart is still pounding and I feel so honored!”

Brian Cappello, the director of this year’s musical and drama teacher at East, felt proud of the individual nominations but could not contain his excitement about the ensemble recognition.

“I am really happy for everybody. It is really great that they recognized everyone’s effort as an ensemble,” Cappello said. “And that includes leads, extras, everyone which is fantastic.”

East is distinguished as one of very few schools to receive multiple nominations. The nominees will be invited to attend the Blue Star Award ceremony on Thursday, May 24th.