PUT ON A HAPPY FACE—Director Allan Hunt gives notes to cast members at a recent rehearsal. Allan Hunt had to deal with a generation gap as he set up a scene from Oak Park High School’s production of “Bye Bye Birdie.” Director Hunt was trying to explain to his young charges what a coffeehouse was like in the 1950s.

“This was a place where beatniks recited poetry. There was lots of smoke, and it was dark inside,” he said, standing in front of a lifesize cardboard cutout of Elvis Presley in a U.S. Army uniform.

Hunt’s rapt audience consisted of four Conrad Birdies and two Kim McAfees. The students are rotating roles in the four performances of the classic musical that begin tonight at the OPHS Pavilion.

The coffeehouse was only one problem Hunt faced in translating what high school would have been like 50 years ago in the fictional town of Sweetwater, Ohio, where “Bye Bye Birdie” takes place. In giving directions to his cast, Hunt also had to explain ’50s and ’60s icons like Ed Sullivan, expressions like “get the monkey off your back” and products like Murad cigarettes.

Fortunately, the eager students caught on quickly. They are having fun portraying the characters from this popular spoof of the circumstances surrounding Elvis Presley’s induction into the army in 1958.

The show’s sunny score features such favorites as “Put on a Happy Face,” “Kids” and “A Lot of Livin’ to Do.”

Set designer Don Enoch constructed a huge turntable, complete with the famous Sun Records rooster logo, that rotates and rolls downstage as the actors perform on it, plus color-coordinated telephone booths matching 1959 Ford and Chevy models.

Originally a topical satire, “Bye Bye Birdie” has since become a period piece, popular with high school theater companies because it is one of the few Broadway musicals where teenagers get to play characters their own age.

“Actually, I’m several years older than Kim,” observed senior Sarah Sklar, one of the stars of Thursday night’s opening. Sarah is perceptive about the era and is learning about the differences between teens in 1960, when the show takes place, and her own experiences at Oak Park.

“ Relationships were a lot more formal then than they are now,” she noted. About the cultural references that dominate the story, Sarah said, “I don’t get a lot of them, but I try to learn so I can play my part better.”

As for the hysteria heaped on Birdie, the egocentric, preening rock star modeled after Presley, Sarah said, “We just pretend he’s John Mayer. It’s all about celebrity worship. Birdie doesn’t change, but Kim and her friends realize what he’s all about by the end of the show. My character is about being 15 and inexperienced yet trying to appear experienced.”

At tonight’s opening, Birdie is being played by Ryan Mandell, who is looking forward to performing in Birdie’s iconic gold jumpsuit.

“Conrad is supposed to be Elvis but blown up bigger,” Ryan said. “He’s arrogant and a male diva. Everything is exaggerated. By the end of the show, the girls in the town realize that he’s not actually God. It was a simpler time back then, but in a way, it’s not so different from today.”

In researching his role, Ryan watched videos of Elvis on YouTube and Jesse Pearson’s performance as Birdie in the 1962 motion picture version.

Hunt pointed out that the show is as much fun for his audience as for the cast because many of the students’ parents performed in “Bye Bye Birdie” during their high school days.

“It is a nostalgic piece on several levels. It’s kind of a reunion they are having with their own past,” he said.

The cast and crew are looking forward to many “happy faces” in the audience during the show’s three-day run.

“Bye Bye Birdie” plays Jan. 13 to 15 at Oak Park High School, 899 N. Kanan Road in Oak Park. Showtimes are 7 p.m. with a Saturday matinee at 2 p.m.