Saying hello to 'Bye Bye Birdie'; Actor brings big screen charisma to the people

It's a long stretch from teen-age heart-throb of the 1950s silver screen to cavorting in a Broadway musical, but Troy Donahue has made the transition, seemingly with ease and satisfaction.

Donahue, 61, plays the part of the harried father, Harry MacAfee, in the national touring company production of "Bye Bye Birdie," scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. curtain at Pullman's Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum April 19.

"The tour is going great and it's a wonderful life experience," Donahue said.

Donahue is remembered by many for his leading roles on television's "Surfside Six" and "Hawaiian Eye" (opposite Connie Stevens), and for his film work including "Imitation of Life" with Lana Turner, and "A Summer Place" co-starring Sandra Dee and Dorothy McGuire.

A veteran of over 40 Hollywood films, Donahue's other major screen credits include "Parrish" with Karl Malden, "Susan Slade" with Bert Convy and Lloyd Nolan, and "Rome Adventure," with Suzanne Pleshette. In recent years he starred in "Grandview U.S.A.," with Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Jason Leigh, and in John Waters' comedy classic "Cry Baby," with William Dafoe, Johnny Depp and Ricki Lake.

"'Parrish' may be a better movie, but 'A Summer Place' remains my sentimental favorite," Donahue said.

Donahue was born to show business parents -- his mother an aspiring actress and his father directing plays in New York. His father gave up the theater to head Paramount Newsreels, then took charge of the motion picture department of General Motors.

Donahue's father died when he was 14, and he left home to attend the New York Military Academy on an athletic scholarship. Despite his skills in basketball, football and track, he was fascinated with all things theatrical, and went on to produce, direct and act in school plays. In casting those shows, Donahue often gave a part to one of the music students -- a tuba player -- who many years later returned the gesture. That young musician, Francis Ford Coppola, prominently featured Donahue in a film he directed, "Godfather: Part Two."

How does Donahue feel about going on tour with "Bye Bye Birdie" -- surrounded by a cast whose ages range from 10 to 25?

"I've had many opportunities to do theater in the past, both at resident companies and on tour, but the time wasn't right," Donahue says. "Today, that's changed. 'Birdie' gives me an opportunity to connect with my friends and fans across the country. But mostly, I'm doing this tour because I love people, and this gives me a chance to reach out to them, and I hope affect them in some positive way."

In a telephone interview Saturday from a Howard Johnson motel in Sioux Falls, S.D., Donahue talked about his life with the touring company.

"I knew nothing about singing or dancing," he said. "The majority of the cast members are kids, but they have supported me, taught me a lot and thereby paid me the utmost compliment. I'm having a fling."

But Donahue didn't leave everything to chance. He worked with a singing coach for a couple of months, but spurned the offer of help from his girlfriend Zheng Cao, a woman he describes as "one of the best mezzo-sopranos around."

"She (Cao) just finished 'Madame Butterfly' in San Francisco," Donahue said. "But I wanted to do 'Birdie' on my own."

Donahue and Cao, born in Shanghai, have been together six years. He has two grown children -- a son and a daughter -- and three grandchildren.

"I'm close to family," he said. "My sister, who lives in Omaha, is coming in for the show tonight."

As he talks, it is obvious Donahue relishes his role in "Bye Bye Birdie," the show that takes audiences back to a time when rock and roll was considered to be an "evil" influence, Ed Sullivan was king of television, and Elvis Presley was just beginning to make his mark. The show deals with results from a publicity stunt involving an aspiring singing star and a typical American teenage girl from Sweet Apple, Ohio.

"I think Elvis is alive and well," Donahue said. "'Birdie' is a story about the differences between generations and also tells us not to takes ourselves so seriously."

In reflecting on his career, Donahue feels he achieved stardom too early.

"I was 19 when I made 'A Summer Place'," he said. "I was a man boy E a callow youth. This was a time when the anti-hero was in and popular, so scripts of substance were being written for them. The casting people felt my stuff was too lightweight and I was identified with that. It didn't pan out the way I hoped it would at the time."

Donahue, who waged a battle with drugs and alcohol, says he "got sober" 16 years ago.

"I've been satisfied since, happy with my family life and within my own being," he said.

Still living in Hollywood during the dark years, Donahue says he "went on to the realities of life."

"I didn't want to miss the 60's," he said. "I had a wonderful time doing all those things but it became too destructive. In the beginning (of my career) I had a problem with alcohol. It worked for me, but it began to devour me. I didn't drink to have fun or party, but to function. Quitting was the best thing that ever happened to me."

The screen actor, who has spent over four decades in the business, sees vast changes in the industry.

"You have so many more venues today -- television, cable, film -- all kinds of things," he noted. "There is a whole lot more work out there and you have to be a lot smarter now. You don't have a studio system to incorporate all your needs the way so many of us did."

But actors during earlier years paid the price.

"You sold your soul to Jack Warner," he said. "Now, everybody is sort of a freelancer and you have to know the show business part of it."

While there are some "great films out there today," Donahue views all the technology as the worst change in the industry.

"It (technology) is the central part of films rather than plot and direction," he lamented. "That's unfortunate."

But quality films like "Good Will Hunting," gives high-tech movies like "Titanic" a run for their money, he added. "'Titanic' is typical Hollywood."

The same is true for live theater.

"Musicals are great, but there needs to be more drama or light comedy theater," he said. "However, it doesn't seem to work that way."

Donahue returned to the stage on Valentine's Day in 1997 to co-star with Beverly Garland in the smash hit play, "Love Letters," for the Sacramento Theatre Company.

Although has passion for acting remains unabated, Donahue is interested in passing on the knowledge he's gained over the years. One of his present projects is a "hands-on" course he conducts on Holland American Cruises. First he chairs a seminar on the structure and content of major films; then he has his students choose scenes from various features, reblock them, and put them on tape.

"It's a very rewarding experience for everyone concerned, including me," he says. "I often learn as much or more than my students."

As for "Bye Bye Birdie," Donahue is delighted with the audience mix which he described as parents bringing children and grandchildren -- enjoying a play they may be seeing for the second or third time.

"Life is an interesting trip," he said.