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Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story
At
The Mercury Theater
(Mercury Theater Website)
3745 N. Southport
Chicago, Illinois 60613
773.325.1700
(Play Runs January 19, 2007 to March 11, 2007)
Executive Producers for the Mercury Theater:
Michael Cullen, Sheila Henaghan
Double/Shot Productions
Buddy Holly Chicago
By Arrangement with Alan James for Theatre Partners
By
Alan James and Rob Bettison
Originally Directed: Rob Bettison
Director/Choreographer: Janel Louer
Associate Director/General Manager: Tara Sullivan
Music Supervisor: Josh Solomon
Costume Design: Elizabeth Powell Shaffer
Lighting Design: Jason Epperson
Scenic Design: Bob Knuth
Set Construction: Becker Studios
Sound Design: Robert Gilmartin
Production Stage Manager: Mark Johnson
Prop Design: AJ Tarzian
Graphics: Kevin Reed
Lobby Design: Allison Harvey, Julia Black
Casting: Silver Casting
Public Relations: Michelle Wilmoth, Nick Harkin
Production Vision Originally Conceived
At Village Players Theatre, Oak Park, IL
Susan Weinrebe
February 3, 2007
Assisted by program notes.
If one wants to be the stuff of teen legend, here’s the formula. Be discovered young. Create a new sound in music. Generate enough energy and self-confidence to power the city of Chicago. Die tragically. Die young.
In a nutshell, that was the biography of rock immortal, the late but not forgotten, Buddy Holly. Saturday, February 3, at the Mercury Theater, on the 48th anniversary of his death, the rising star of teen music again lived in the memorial to his music and life, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story.
The Mercury is a compact theater. Stage action is close to the audience so the thrill of being near the power source, “Buddy,” permeated the room. This was one of those times when seeing or actually being hit by the sweat of the actors replicated the thrill of the original performance.
In real life, Buddy must have been a handful, one of those boys so full of life and activity that he was in constant motion. His so-called “excited” style of performing featured lots of body movement, a Chuck Berryish backwards hop, and every indication the music was charging through him out toward the audience. He blended country western roots with rhythm and blues and created his own style for a new rock and roll sound. He was also one of those can-do people, who heard, “Go!” instead of, “No.” And go man go is what he did!
He made Billboard magazine’s “Top 40 Songs” eight times, and five of those songs went to the “Top 20.” One of those, “That’ll Be the Day”, was the top hit of 1957. He was on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and ultimately was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
When he and his group, the Crickets, were booked into the all-black Apollo Theater in Harlem, they turned boos into cheers with their playing and became a smash. Romantically, Buddy was just as dynamic. Just five hours after meeting his publisher’s receptionist, he proposed and married her two weeks later. Within six months she was expecting their first child, when he boarded a small plane and died in the crash.
For creating a teenage legend, hardly another ending could have been more satisfying. To have an idol, at the height of his powers, die so suddenly and tragically, along with the pilot and two other young and popular performers, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper, well, this was material for all time. Immortalized in Don McLean’s “American Pie,” their deaths will forever be paired with the phrase, “…the day the music died.”
James Turano as the Big Bopper was a scene stealer with his insinuating line, “Baby, you know what I like,” as he came down into the audience and sang the Bopper’s big hit, “Chantilly Lace.” For a big man, he was amazingly light and nimble on his feet, as he slickly worked the floor.
Before taking on the part of Ritchie Valens, Desmin Borges must have gone in for a lube job on his hips. Swiveling to the frenetically Latin sound of his hit, “La Bamba,” Borges whipped the audience into a froth.
The girl singers at the Apollo Theater, Julia Black, Dawn Bless, Karen Marie Richardson, and Krystal Metcalfe presaged the glamour girl groups with their gowns, glitter, coifed hair, big voices, and bigger attitudes. The audience probably would have liked to see them in a show of their own!
Most of all, though, Josh Solomon channeled the look, sound, and energy of Buddy Holly. Outward accoutrements, like his hairstyle, heavy black glasses, and clothing, created the appearance of the singer. However, Josh truly emanated the Holly aura through his toed-in singing stance, question-mark posture and frenetic movements that burst forth during his thrilling guitar playing and singing. Hints of the Beach Boys, Beatles, Everly Brothers, and many others could be referenced back to Buddy in the rhythm, stutter strumming, chording, harmonies, and vocalizing in song after song. As Josh worked up a lather with “Peggy Sue,” and “That’ll Be the Day” (reportedly a line borrowed from John Wayne in The Searchers), and scores more, it was an easy leap of wishfulness to feel that Buddy Holly had somehow returned. Then Josh broke my heart with the melting selection, “True Love Ways,” a song that perfectly distilled teenage longing and romance.
And so, Buddy Holly rests with the immortals of music. Never forgotten, but especially remembered on the anniversary of his death, his 22nd year, Buddy remains the perfect teen idol.
Buddy Holly at the Apollo
Photo courtesy of Janna Giacoppa
The Finale
Photo courtesy of Janna Giacoppa
Lobby Display
Photo courtesy of Susan Weinrebe
Mercury Theater
Photo courtesy of Susan Weinrebe
Cast & Memorabilia
Photo courtesy of Susan Weinrebe
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