Patrons of Toby?s Dinner Theatre production of “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story” will no doubt burn off many of the calories they consumed earlier at the all-you-can-eat buffet. In this high voltage performance, the audience is not only encouraged to participate; they become willing and eager members of the chorus in spite of themselves.
In what co-director Shawn Kettering says is “half musical, half rock concert,” the larger-than-life characters of Buddy Holly, his Crickets, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens steamroll onto the stage in a fast-paced, two-hour show that never looses its momentum. Never mind if you happen to be one of the country?s 2 percent who are not familiar with the man and his music; the rest of the audience will cue you in on the lyrics, while the clapping and toe-tapping comes spontaneously.
The action of the musical takes place between January 1956 and February 1959. This period chronicles the three short years of Holly?s professional career with the Crickets and his solo meteoric rise to stardom as the world?s top rock ?n? roll recording artist.
The show?s final scenes relive, in upbeat fashion, Holly?s final show on the road before the fateful plane crash that took his life along with the lives of Richie Valens and J.P Richardson (the Big Bopper).
A cast of 17 singers, actors, and dancers portray a number of characters integral to the life and career of Holly.
Matthew Schleigh, as Buddy Holly, turns in a near-flawless, dynamo performance. His high-pitched, hiccupping twang and gyrating movements release the energy of a runaway locomotive. Shawn Kettering as the Big Bopper, Miguel Jarquin-Moreland recreating the playful Richie Valens and Ray Hatch as the James Brown “act-alike” MC at the Apollo are a too-real blast from the past.
But it is the music, so perfectly and authentically created, that prompts the audience to sing along, while twisting in their seats to such classics as “Peggy Sue,” “Oh Boy,” “Rave On,” “Chantilly Lace,” and “La Bamba.”
All the hits are covered. And after the singing ends, the legend of Buddy Holly is more alive than ever.
IF YOU GO
» What: “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story”
» Where: Toby?s Dinner Theatre of Columbia
5900 Symphony Woods Road, Columbia
» When: Now through Feb. 18
» Call the ticket office at 410-995-1969 for show times, ticket prices and group sales
