Dave Sikula, a good friend of this site, sends the following about the late Donald O'Connor…
Just a note about Mr. O'Connor. I don't know if you saw Bring Back Birdie in its blessedly-brief run, but I was lucky enough to be at the first preview, when the actor's nightmare came true, and everything that could go wrong did. It was a horrifying spectacle, and I wouldn't trade the memory of that night for the world. (My favorite part, among many, was a punk number by a band called Filth. For 1981 Broadway, it was pretty hardcore punk. The number ended and was met with about ten people, out of a full house applauding, and one guy booing loudly. Ah, good times.)
Anyway, O'Connor's big number in the show was called "Middle-Aged Blues." In it, he lamented getting older, since he didn't feel all that much older. At one point in the number, he goes over to the proscenium and looks it up and down, feels it, and looks for all the world like he's going to try the run up the wall from Singin' in the Rain. The crowd, desperate for any entertainment by this point, goes bananas. O'Connor backs away, and goes on with the song. He sings the next verse and does the same thing; over to the proscenium, looks it over, sizes up the possibilities. Crowd goes even wilder.
Finally, he reaches what is obviously the climax of the song, starts over to the proscenium…and walks off stage. End of number.
That encapsulates Bring Back Birdie (along with the number about jogging, and Chita Rivera's big number than consisted of a guy pushing her around on a push broom) better than anything.
Never saw Bring Back Birdie, the short-lived sequel to Bye Bye, Birdie. I do recall a friend of mine calling me from a pay phone in the lobby during intermission of one performance. He said, "It's another one of those shows that is about one-fifth as entertaining as if they'd just let the stars do their nightclub acts." He felt that way about the revival of Hellzapoppin' with Jerry Lewis and a few others that don't come to mind at the moment.