“Buddy -The Buddy Holly Story “

[rating=5] Every so often, a theater company finds the perfect actor to do that one play that they have thought about, but were afraid to take on. I think this is the case where American Blues Theater Company is concerned and the creative teams desire to bring back “Buddy- The Buddy Holly Story”. This is a play that I have seen over the years, perhaps as many as a half- dozen times, and while they all had solid musical talents, none brought out Buddy as he needed to be . That is until tonight! ABT’s powerful version of Alan Janes’ story about the legendary Holly and his rise to fame is portrayed by newcomer to their company, Zachary Stevenson, who as it turns out may have been “born to play this role”. ( he has done over ten productions)

“Buddy” is a play with music and about music as it tells the epic rise to fame of this young man who looked more like a grocery clerk than a Rock N’ Roll Star! Featuring songs like his legendary “That’ll Be The Day” and  “Peggy Sue”, as well as Big Bopper’s (Vasily Deris brings down the house with his portrayal of this man among men) Chantilly Lace” and Richie Valens ( solid performance by  Cisco Lopez) “La Bamba” and a great deal more, this is a true story from start to finish, including the end, known as  ” The Day The Music Died”!

Buddy Holly was one of the most important figures in the birth of Rock N’ Roll and even has been credited with the unusual line-up of instruments- two guitars, bass and drums that are used in the genre. All the biggies followed suit, knowing that what he created worked! The song list in the show, some in part, others the entire number are enough of a reason to buy a ticket: “Flower of My Heart”, “Ready Teddy”, “That’s All Right”, “That’ll Be The Day”, “Maybe Baby”, “Looking For Someone To Love”, “Rave On”, “Shout”, “Peggy Sue” and “Peggy Sue Got Married”, “Why Do Fools”, “Raining In My Hear”, “Johnny B Goode” and much more.

In the show, we learn of the way that Buddy crossed the color line which back in the 1950’s was unreal. People listening to his music, Buddy Holly and The Crickets, assumed that they were Black performers so when they showed up at The Apollo to do some numbers, the other performers were shocked and afraid that a riot would follow. It didn’t. In fact, they were embraced so that one might say it was the start of Rock N’ Roll becoming “color blind”. This is a solid production where every actor on the stage plays an instrument, or two, or even more. In fact, the only drawback to the production is that the stage is a bit smaller than I would have liked it to be, but the cleverly designed set (Sarah E. Ross) and the sharp direction by Lili-Anne Brown, made it all work. Jared Gooding’s lighting and Rick Sims’ sound along with the great costumes (Samantha C. Jones) and props (Kevin Rolfs) made the technical aspects move smoothly. The choreography by Jon Martinez, on the small stage was special and the musical direction by Michael Mahler, sheer perfection!

The cast was strong and highly talented. Most of them were not even alive when all of this took place, but to them this historical music and its creator are a worthy story that will live on for generations ( if told this way). Angela Alise, Chuckie Benson, Liz Chidester, Ian Paul Custer ( who adds some great comic touches with his multi character performance), Alex Goodrich, Derek Hasenstab ( who portrays the man, Norman Petty, who took a chance on an unknown), Molly Hernandez ( as his wife Maria Elena), Daniel Riley, Lauren Vogel, the aforementioned Michael Mahler, Cisco Lopez, Vasily Deris and the Crickets, Kieran McCabe as Jerry, on the drums and Shaun Whitley, Joe on the bass. A great cast with great energy.

“Buddy- The Buddy Holly Story” will continue at Stage 773 located at 1225 West Belmont Avenue through May 26th ( I would hope a few extensions are possible, so all of Chicago can witness this production) with performances as follows:

Thursdays  7:30 p.m.

Fridays  7:30 p.m.

Saturdays  3 p.m. (except 5/19) and 7:30 p.m.

Sundays  2:30 p.m.

The play runs two hours with one intermission

Tickets range from $19- $49 and can be purchased by visiting the box office, calling 773-327-5252 or online at www.AmericanBluesTheater.com

Parking is valet, on the street ( metered and not, but watch zones) and CTA makes it real easy.

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Buddy- The Buddy Holly Story”