Most of the cast in the Army Community Theatre revival of "Bye Bye Birdie" would have to interview their grandmothers to understand why girls screamed when Elvis Presley twitched his hips and sobbed when he received his draft notice in 1957.

And some of the show's laugh lines will pass unnoticed — like the one that links Ingrid Bergman romantically with Italian dictator Benito Mussolini instead of Italian film director Roberto Rossellini.

No matter. After nearly 50 years since the musical opened on Broadway, the songs by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams are still familiar and charming, even though the book by Michael Stewart has become frozen in time and more than a little creaky.

"Put On A Happy Face," "A Lot of Livin' To Do" and "One Boy" are still top-tier numbers, and the show boasts several punchy secondary songs like "How Lovely to Be a Woman," "One Last Kiss" and "Kids" that still have plenty of mileage left in them.

But despite the robust song card, strong chorus, and interesting Mondrian stage set of back lines and primary colors, the production is a ragged one.

Directed by Scott Rogers, with musical direction by Keith Griffin and choreography by Katherine Jones, the show only manages to come together at odd moments and spends much of the evening trying unsuccessfully to connect the right dots.

The sound is poorly balanced, with drums and trumpets dominating the orchestra and body mikes that fail to pick up all the singers all of the time. Light cues are slow and the staging is often hesitant, as though lacking sufficient rehearsal.

Joey Calderone has the central role of Conrad Birdie, a bad-boy blend of Presley and Conway Twitty, a popular '50s singer who crossed over from country to pop and rock 'n' roll. The part is a successful delayed tease, as the character appears in several scenes before he is allowed to sing.

But when Calderone finally lets loose with "Honestly Sincere," he sets the young girls swooning with only his self-absorbed sneering tones and none of the risque, gyrating hip thrusting that required Presley's appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show to be captured on camera only from the waist up.

James Santos and Shanan Colvin are in good voice as the mismatched romantic leads, Albert and Rosie, but their characters are straight-jacketed by 1950s stereotypes and fail to fully emerge in this production.

Ann Ogilvie keeps Albert's mother restricted to a walking cliche, but David Vega shows some real character sparks as Harry MacAfee and shines while musically lamenting "What's the matter with kids today?"

Costumes have the right mix of crinolines and poodle skirts, but no one would be disappointed if the dream sequence pantomime was cut from the show entirely.

The 1950's satire works best when played straight, letting the naivete of the period expose itself without forcing it. Simply play the people and not the message.

"Bye Bye Birdie" was last produced by ACT in 1991. It may have needed a longer rest.

Joseph T. Rozmiarek has been reviewing theater performances in Hawai'i since 1973.