The Buddy Holly Story

Cast of The Buddy Holly Story. Photo by Seanna Kennedy.

“A long, long time ago, I can still remember how that music used to make me smile...”

This opening lyric to Don McLean's "American Pie" is universally recognized as a reference to three musicians, The Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens and Buddy Holly, who died in a tragic plane crashon February 3, 1959. The music supposedly died that day, but Buddy Holly is still very much alive and well in the Lower Ossington Theatre's stellar production of The Buddy Holly Story, now on stage at the Randolph Theatre

The audience is provided with a program from the Winter Dance Party at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, the venue where Holly performed his last show, as well as a pair of thick cardboard glasses, authentic touches which turn back the clock to 1956, when Holly, played by Eric Bleyendaal, a spirited musician from Lubbock, Texas, has big dreams of becoming a rock and roll superstar.

With his friends, Jerry (Justin Sorochan), Joe (Zachary Knowles) and Tommy (Justin Bath), otherwise known
as The Crickets, Holly first boldly defies radio announcer Hi-Pockets Duncan (Nathan Younger) by launching into a rock and roll song on the radio rather than a country ballad, and then defies Decca Records who sign The Crickets as a country music band, ultimately getting kicked out of the recording studio. Finally, Holly finds a flexible producer, Norman Petty (Jonathan Widdifield) who likes the group's rock and roll sound, and the rest is history.

Under the direction of Charles Roy, Bleyendaal's Holly is both stubborn and vulnerable, with his extreme talent overshadowing his youth and inexperience. The performances in The Buddy Holly Story are excellent, with songs such as “That'll Be the Day," “Peggy Sue," “Everyday," and “Maybe Baby” performed and sung by Bleyendaal who has mastered Holly's every mannerism. The story takes a romantic turn when Holly meets Maria Elena Santiago (played to perfection by Stephanie Seaton), whom he later marries after only one date.

The show saves the best for last, with the final act taking place at the Surf Ballroom on the fateful night of February 2, 1959. The audience already knows the story's tragic ending, but on stage, the backup singers' dresses sparkle and Ritchie Valens (Justin Darmanin), The Big Bopper (Nathan Younger), and Buddy Holly are alive again, each performing a recreation of their final concert. Two huge highlights are Younger's performance as The Big Bopper singing “Chantilly Lace” and all three musicians performing Ritchie Valens' “La Bamba."

The Buddy Holly Story is a celebration of the music and legacy left behind by the bespectacled pioneer of rock and roll, and is not to be missed. The production is on stage until April 21 at the Randolph Theatre. Visit lowerossingtontheatre.com for more information and to buy tickets.