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theatre
| 9/16/2009 10:23:00 AM Email this article • Print this article |
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The Big Bopper (Ryan Dunkin), Buddy Holly (Erik Hayden), and Richie Valens (Ernie Pruneda) in ‘Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story,’ now at the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse. (Photo provided) |
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Rock of the Ages
by Barbara Adams
Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story. Written by Alan Janes and Rob Betttinson. Directed by Kate Swan; musical direction by Michael Croiter. With Erik Hayden and ensemble. At Auburn's Merry-Go-Round Playhouse through Sept. 30.
Some shows are so satisfying that you want to see them twice. So the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse isn't taking much of a gamble in restaging Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, which played here just three summers ago. Packing the house with the same Buddy, same Crickets, Alan Janes and Rob Bettinson's musical feast features nearly three dozen unforgettable tunes from the late 1950s.
The story traces the meteoric career of a lanky kid from Lubbock, Texas - from his early country western roots to a rapid succession of hits that shook the country with a new sound. And then, in just three short years, the fatal airplane crash - Feb. 3, 1959, "the day the music died," when Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J. P. Richardson, the Big Bopper, all lost their lives in Iowa.
But even though you know the tale ends in tragedy, this show's a constant celebration, with one singable, danceable song after the other. It all culminates in a post-crash resurrection and a virtual rock-concert ending as the whole company lights up the stage with a rousing "Johnny B Goode." The over-60 crowd is bopping to the music of their youth, of course, but they're not the only ones moved. One young woman was heard to say, "My friends make fun of me, but I love this music."
The music and the story blend superbly, thanks to Kate Swan's direction and Michael Croiter's musical direction. Scenic designer Robert John Andrusko creates an attractive, versatile set, lit by Mark Romig - minimal set pieces that shift easily, all triple-framed by a series of ads for period goods like Lucky Strike and Double Bubble gum.
But it's Lucy Brown's costumes that really bring home the era - from Buddy's iconic white suit and black eyeglass frames to the lush, jewel-tone dresses on the women at Harlem's Apollo Theater. (Buddy Holly and The Crickets were the first white rock group invited to the Apollo's stage - because of their sound, it was assumed they were black.)
Since music's the heart of this show, many of the performers have to be singers and instrumentalists both, all led by the charismatic and polite young rebel played by Erik Hayden. He not only looks like Buddy Holly (ok, maybe handsomer) but moves like him. And Hayden's concert antics - playing backwards with his guitar over his shoulders, walking up the side of the bass viol - are as convincing as his full-bodied voice.
This is early rock 'n' roll reincarnated, and it's hard to sit still, much less not sing along to "Peggy Sue," "Maybe Baby" or "That'll Be the Day." Hayden's Buddy is ably backed by Devon Goffman on bass and Chris McBurney on drums, vividly sketching individual characters, Joe B. Mauldin and Jerry Allison, the original band members Buddy's loyal to - until he eventually strikes out on his own.
Peter Cormican is the perfect as the avuncular good old boy, Hippockets Duncan, the DJ who first features Buddy's music and nurtures his career. Norman and Vi Petty, of The Crickets' first major recording studio, are nicely played by Mark Sanders and Jennifer Drew. And Chelsea Lovett sparkles as Maria Elena, the Puerto Rican New Yorker whom Buddy meets, woos and marries with lightning speed.
The action, and Buddy's career, bounces from Lubbock to Nashville, from Clovis, New Mexico to Manhattan. There's that unforgettable night when the Crickets astonish the Apollo audience, with Apollo regulars - performed by Gabrielle Porter, Jermaine Miles and Gabriel Mudd - joining in.
And finally, the story nears the inevitable - that touring gig at the Surf Ball Room in Clear Lake, Iowa. The audience is treated to a dozen songs, backed by a diverse orchestra. Co-headliners include Ritchie Valens singing "La Bamba" - Ernie Pruneda's vocally fine but his repetitious characterization is stale. Ryan G. Dunkin incarnates the Big Bopper (and gracefully covers the occasional microphone failures). Standing big and broad in his animal print jacket, his fair hair plastered in a fashion we've almost forgotten, Dunkin plays this genial giant with modest authority.
A smooth Jermaine Miles is back as Jack Daw with the Snowbirds, and of course, Hayden's Buddy, with an endless series of hit songs, ripping up the stage - recalling when this was done musically, not literally. Rave on.
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