James Van Der Beek to Lead Bye Bye Birdie at the Kennedy Center

James Van Der Beek (Dawson's Creek) will head the cast of Bye Bye Birdie at the Kennedy Center, running April 23-28 under the direction of Marc Bruni.

Van Der Beek will play Albert Peterson, alongside Carly Hughes as Rose, Mallory Bechtel as Kim, Ann Harada as Mrs. MacAfee, Reg Rogers as Mr. MacAfee, Caitlin Kinnunen as Ursula, Harvey Fierstein as Mae, and Megan Sikora as Gloria Rasputin.

They will be joined by Susie Carroll, Micah Cook, David Aron Damane, Julian De Guzman, John Treacy Egan, Michael Hoey, Evan Kinnane, Liz McCartney, Nova Y. Payton, Trevor Michael Schmidt, Riza Takahashi, and Dori Waymer.

Additional casting, including the role of Conrad Birdie, will be announced shortly.

Part of the Broadway Center Stage series, Bye Bye Birdie will have choreography by Denis Jones, musical direction by Todd Ellison, scenic and projection design by Paul Tate dePoo III, lighting design by Cory Pattak, and costume design by Amy Clark.