Bye Bye Birdie revolves around rock and roll superstar Conrad Birdie and his agent, Albert Peterson, who has gone deep into debt promoting Birdie’s career. Now that Birdie has become a superstar, however, all of Albert’s work is about to pay off. At least it would have paid off if Birdie had not just been drafted. So Albert stages a publicity stunt on The Ed Sullivan Show in which Birdie will kiss one lucky girl from Sweet Apple, Ohio before leaving for the army.