{"id":86363,"date":"2025-07-17T11:44:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T18:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=86363"},"modified":"2025-07-17T11:57:37","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T18:57:37","slug":"theater-review-musical-theatre-wests-buddy-the-buddy-holly-story-rocks-the-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/art\/theater-review-musical-theatre-wests-buddy-the-buddy-holly-story-rocks-the-stage","title":{"rendered":"Theater review: Musical Theatre West\u2019s \u2018Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story\u2019 rocks the stage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Welcome to Theater News, a regular column by longtime reviewer Anita W. Harris. Look for it most Thursdays. Or sign up<\/a> for our Eat See Do newsletter to get it in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re on the fence about catching Musical Theatre West\u2019s \u201cBuddy: The Buddy Holly Story\u201d \u2014 at the Carpenter Center through July 27 \u2014 definitely go! Despite its redundant title, the musical does justice to the 1950s musician\u2019s legacy through the production\u2019s supercharged talent. It\u2019s a play, rock concert and party in one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key to the show\u2019s success is actor-musician Will Riddle\u2019s embodiment of Buddy Holly, complete with Texas twang, wiry energy and dark-rimmed glasses. His guitar playing, singing and acting carry this show about a figure who practically created rock-and-roll as we know it, influencing iconic musicians ranging from The Beatles to Bob Dylan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n Link<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Holly\u2019s story, as written by Alan Janes, starts in Lubbock, Texas, with the teenager performing with bandmates Joe Maudlin (Omar D. Brancato) creatively playing an upright bass and Jerry Allison (Laura Leo Kelly) on drums, in a country music festival sponsored by a local radio station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s funny to see all the grown-ups react in horror and even faint when Holly and his band break into rockabilly while the younger folks start dancing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But soon, a radio DJ named Hipockets Duncan (a formidable David Kirk Grant) facilitates a recording contract for the band with Decca Records. When that doesn\u2019t work because of Holly\u2019s insistence on playing the music his way, Hipockets sends the boys to Clovis, New Mexico to work with a more \u201cexperimental\u201d music producer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From left, foreground: Will Riddle and Omar D. Brancato in Musical Theatre West’s “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story.” Photo by TAKE.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And so began the stratospheric rise of Buddy Holly and The Crickets, with hit after hit of tunes like \u201cThat\u2019ll Be the Day,\u201d \u201cRave On\u201d and \u201cNot Fade Away\u201d dominating radio airwaves and record charts from 1957 until Holly\u2019s untimely death in a 1959 plane crash \u2014 called \u201cthe day the music died\u201d by Don McLean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the songs are crisply executed by the accomplished actor-musicians in this show, including Chase Ramsey as additional Cricket Tommy Alsopp and Elizabeth Curtin as Vi Petty, the record producer\u2019s wife, on keyboards. It\u2019s a pleasure to experience the band\u2019s marathon recording sessions of now-familiar songs like \u201cEveryday\u201d and learn the funny reason why \u201cCindy Lou\u201d became \u201cPeggy Sue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And each cast member brings their all to each role, as directed and choreographed by Keith Andrews, with music direction by Ryan O\u2019Connell. Janaya Mahealani Jones threatens to steal the show as Marlena Madison singing \u2014 or rather, soulfully belting \u2014 \u201cShout\u201d with Tyrone Jones (Justin Marriel Boyd) at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, where the white Buddy Holly and The Crickets somehow get booked to perform in front of a predominantly Black audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From left: Janaya Mahealani Jones and Justin Marriel Boyd in Musical Theatre West’s “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story.” Photo by TAKE.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In this way \u2014 and with some humor, mostly due to Boyd\u2019s talent for physical comedy \u2014 the play doesn\u2019t shy away from connecting Holly\u2019s rock-and-roll sound with African American rhythm-and-blues from which it stemmed. It also has young Mexican American singer Ritchie Valens (Ali M\u00e1rquez-Qadiri) question why he can\u2019t gyrate his pelvis if Elvis can. And has Holly\u2019s mother question her son\u2019s falling in love with the Latina Maria Elena (Mia Sempertegui) when he calls her to say he\u2019s getting married.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But by the end, it\u2019s one big dance party as Holly, Valens and the Big Bopper (Trent Mills) perform song after song at what became their final touring show in Clear Lake, Iowa. The entire ensemble joins in on horns, keyboards and backup singing with lighting (designed by Paul Black) creating a magical aura.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, as throughout, the audience is invited to join in by clapping, expressing enthusiasm and even dancing. In this way, the show becomes a celebratory party for all, with Holly and his musical compadres not just honored but brought to life, their infectious energy and sound lingering long after the show ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Musical Theatre West\u2019s \u201cBuddy: The Buddy Holly Story\u201d continues through July 27 at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center on the CSULB campus, 6200 E. Atherton St., with shows Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sundays at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. For tickets, call 562-856-1999 or visit <\/i>Musical.org<\/i><\/a>. Click <\/i>here<\/i><\/a> for parking information during summer construction.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The musical does justice to the 1950s musician\u2019s legacy through the production\u2019s supercharged talent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":86366,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32310],"class_list":["post-86363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86363"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86368,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86363\/revisions\/86368"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86363"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=86363"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=86363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}