noting that the score had "a few sprightly melodies". In his book Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops, theater historian Ken Mandelbaum wrote that the show "may rank as the worst Broadway musical ever to be created by top-level professionals," with, among other things, a "tasteless and ridiculous" book and a score that contained "grotesque gospel and punk numbers" and "retreads of songs from the original [Bye Bye Birdie]." Similarly, theater historian Ethan Mordden described it as "the worst musical ever written by people you'd heard of", writing that its book "recalled the excesses of brainless twenties musicals", and that "very little" of the score was "even slightly listenable." References External links Internet Broadway Database listing Bring Back Birdie plot synopsis and production information at guidetomusicaltheatre.com Bring Back Birdie at Musicals101, Flops on CD: A to C 1981 musicals Broadway musicals Original musicals Musicals by Charles Strouse Musicals by Michael Stewart (playwright) Sequel plays