***** Over the years, one of the shows that we have seen a number of times is “Buddy”, Alan Janes’ musical detailing the life ( albeit a short one) and career of Buddy Holly. While in most instances, this sage has been done on a normal stage and in two acts, Amber Mak ( Director and choreographer) and her staff opted to make this a 90 minutes biography. To be honest, this was probably the best version I have ever seen. There are some plays that are better off without an intermission. The 15-20 minutes that the audience is away from the story being watched takes them out of the picture and often it takes a scene or two in the second act to get them back, and often they have forgotten one or two facts. This production truly works.
Marriott is also one of the few remaining in-the-round theaters, so the challenge for the directors is always a constant; how do we make sure the entire audience gets to enjoy the show? Mak did this with great style and grace, never excluding any portion of the audience. I will say that section 3 seems to be the special section, so when ordering your seats, you might want to ask about availability in that section.
The cast assembled for this production is amazing with Kieran McCabe taking on the role of Buddy Holly. His energy and skills are powerful and it doesn’t take long for the audience to truly feel as if we have gone back in time to the 1950’s and are witness to the start of the short-lived career of this powerful musician.
For those who are unfamiliar with the story, it is one of sadness as a wonderful artist ( songwriter/performer) on the road to being one of the worlds most famous is killed in a plane crash just a few years after he came to light. During the 90 minutes of solid energy created by this cast, we hear songs such as “Everyday”, “maybe Baby”, “Peggy Sue”, “Why Do Fools Fall In Love” and a host of others including a superb rendition of “La Bamba” as performed by Ritchie Valens ( handled to perfection by Jordan Arredondo). We also have the third person who died in that plane crash, The Big Bopper ( deftly handled by David Stobbe, who also played Hippockets Duncan, the DJ who started Buddy).
There are many songs in this show, and one almost feels like they are at a concert with a story unfolding in the background. Everything moves swiftly and with style. We get the story about Buddy Holly and his Crickets who had the sound of the “Black singers’ playing at The Apollo in Harlem and how they were greeted by their host and hostess, Marcus Terrel and Melanie Brezell. These two performers were terrific in these roles as well as other parts they took on. In fact, this turned out to be a strong ensemble piece with several actors taking on many roles as well as handling musical instruments to make the show complete. Hats off to: Jed Feder, Shaun Whitley, Alex Goodrich ( he of the comic touch), Cory Goodrich ( her musical abilities shine), Molly Hernandez,, Ellie Kahn, Michael Kurowski , and Christopher Wren. This ensemble proves how important the cast is to the show. They are the pieces of the puzzle that complete the picture.
While theater-in-the-round has no real set design, the cleverness of those at Marriott always keeps the audience into the story. Jeff Kmiec has kept it up. Theresa Ham’s costumes are very stylish and fitting of the era, The lighting ( Jesse Klug) and sound (Michael Daly) are perfect, and as always the props (Sally Zack) are perfect.
This is a story that young people will learn from. The songs are still popular and yet, they come from an era “a long time ago”. I was a senior in high school the day the music dies ( for Buddy Holly), so hearing this music brings back a great deal of my teen year memories. The younger people in the audience will treat this as a history lesson, but those who remember the songs will think about where they were and what they were doing when Buddy’s music came alive.
Bring back those thrilling days of yesterday, go to The Marriott Theater in Lincolnshire and watch a spectacular rendition of “Buddy; The Buddy Holly Story”.
“Buddy” will continue thru August 13th with performances as follows:
Thursdays 7:30pmBox Office: 847-634-0200
Marriott Theatre is located in Lincolnshire at 10 Marriott Drive
Plenty of free parking as well as valet available.
To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Buddy: the Buddy Holly Story”.
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