It was 46 years ago this August that my family saw “Bye Bye Birdie” at Lake Tahoe. The movie was a smash hit that summer, and I remember liking it a lot.

Two weeks ago today, my wife Nancy checked out “Bye Bye Birdie” from the library. A week later we would be watching our daughter Anna and bunch of kids we know perform in the stage version of the musical at West Albany High School.

The movie put Nancy to sleep, and I dosed off several times. It seemed really dated. This didn’t bode well for the production at West, we thought.

Not so. The West production is marvelous. The kids have given new life to the old musical.

The movie centered around Ann-Margret, who played the teenager Kim MacAfee. In 1963, Ann-Margret was 22, and most of the “teens” in the movie looked like they were in their mid-20s.

The West production works because teens play teens and those playing the adult roles pull them off well.

Kaylie Ann Chytraus, an outstanding singer, dancer and actress, is dazzling in the lead role of Rose Alvarez (played by Janet Leigh in the movie). Cody Newman is much better than his movie counterpart (Jesse Pearson) as Conrad Birdie, the Elvis-like character who is about to be inducted into the Army. Newman also lets out the best belch I’ve ever heard in any production.

This was the second time I’ve enjoyed a high school production of a musical more than the adult versions. The first time was two years ago with South Albany’s delightful production of “Little Shop of Horrors.” (By the way, Corvallis High and Crescent Valley team up for “Little Shop of Horrors” this weekend at CHS.

If you want some good laughs, you can still see “Bye Bye Birdie” at 7 tonight and 1 and 7 p.m. Saturday, May 9, at West Albany.