Late in the semester, many students struggle with obstacles such as managing time well or getting enough sleep. However, St. Kate’s sophomore Claire Frederick and St. Thomas sophomore Tim Stammeyer faced a different kind of challenge: being married.

Frederick and Stammeyer were happy to take on this challenge as part of their roles in St. Kate’s spring musical, “Bye Bye Birdie.” They played Mr. and Mrs. MacAfee – parents of 15-year-old Kim MacAfee who is facing the struggles of young womanhood. When Kim receives the opportunity to receive a kiss from a 1950’s teenage heart-throb, Conrad Birdie, before he goes off to war, the show erupts into a series of comical encounters and struggling romances.

Eighteen other St. Kate’s and St. Thomas students completed the cast of “Bye Bye Birdie,” which debuted on Friday, April 17. For many of the students, being a part of this experience meant a lot more than just singing and dancing.

“When we try to explain to people why we like to be actors and why we like to be on stage, a lot of their reactions are, ‘You’re crazy because you give 20 hours a week or so being this fictional person,’” Stammeyer said. “But to us, I think it’s really not only an expression of our own individuality, but it’s also kind of a life force.”

The cast began working on the show in early February, including rehearsals that lasted close to four hours, five days a week. While balancing theatre and school can be stressful, Frederick said she thinks it has helped her to develop better time-management skills.

“It gets to be a challenge when you’re trying to juggle all the different things. But I think it’s very rewarding in that sense, too, because when you go off (after college), you’re not just going to have one thing to do all the time,” Frederick said.

The cast worked with St. Kate’s theater professor Pamyla Stiehl, who served as the show’s director and choreographer. Stiehl chose “Bye Bye Birdie” as this year’s musical because she thought it would fit well with a smaller sized cast.

“I love Golden-Age musicals, and this one is so fun and so kind of sweet. But it also has a lot of music and dance – that’s kind of challenging,” Stiehl said. “I also chose it because I had worked with some of the students from ‘Schoolhouse Rock’ last year, and I knew what they were capable of.”

Since St. Thomas doesn’t have a theater program, Stiehl said she believes these shows at St. Kate’s are key to keeping theatre alive for both universities. Stiehl added that they help to establish a sense of community between the ACTC schools.

“We start and nobody knows anybody, and by the end we get a crazy community. For me, I think it is the best example of collaboration between the two schools,” Stiehl said.

Margaret Galush can be reached at galu4637@sthomas.edu.