BUDDY ** 1/2 ( out of 4 stars)
I love the music of Buddy Holly, from Peggy Sue to Everyday to That'll Be The Day. Classics...songs we grew up with.Songs which influenced numerous artists to come, including the Beatles.
His life story was brilliantly portrayed by actor Gary Busey in a 1978 bio-pic that earned Busey an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.
Now, the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia presents Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story...
Buddy Holly was fun at the Kimmel. Nice to re-live the music..around 27 songs packed into a tidy 2 hours. Didn't really learn anything new from the story. They did touch on the coin flip Richie Valens won-or lost- on the fatal night of the plane crash.No Waylon Jennings (Jennings was supposed to be on the plane that crashed that fatal night in 1959).
Act 1 was mostly about Buddy's rise to fame. Surprisingly, they left out the Ed Sullivan show.I thought this was a big part of Buddy's career. Maybe they couldn't find anyone to play Ed?
The break-up with the Crickets was attributed to alcoholism and greed by the Crickets. Didn't the Crickets try to get back with Buddy before he died? If so, this was skipped too.
The guy playing Buddy (John Dewey) was good. Without the glasses he isn't a spitting image of Buddy, but musically, he was spot on, as were all the musicians. His singing was good as well, but at times I felt he was trying to imitate Buddy Holly rather than BE Buddy Holly. Hard to explain, but Gary Busey really got into the role like no other.
Maybe if Busey's performance wasn't so brilliant, any other Buddy Holly would be just as good, but in all honesty, Busey was flawless.
Anyway, I did find it interesting that they hit hard on the reverse radical/prejudice issue when Buddy played at the Apollo in Harlem. They tried to get the audience to actually be a part of the play, as the Apollo audience.
The supporting cast were all excellent. I was never a Big Bopper fan ( he always reminded me of Jackie Gleason,( although I am a real Gleason fan), but the guy who portrays Bopper (Karack Osborn) was terrific. lots of energy.
The Richie Valens guy was just ok.
One of the highlights of the show was midway thru when Buddy sings "True Love Way"s acoustically on guitar to his wife.Unexpected, after all the rock n' roll, and a nice softer touch.
Speaking of which, Buddy's marriage seemed kind of rushed. Act 2 began with Buddy meeting Maria. Within 5 mins they were married ( I know it did happen pretty quick in real life). Within the hour Buddy had died. Not much of a build-u between marriage and death..
They very briefly mentioned how Buddy didn't want to go on the final Winter Dance Party tour. Maria mentions having a nightmare about an "explosion in the sky" and the fact Buddy has promised her he would go everywhere by bus, but needed to fly that fateful night because they were behind schedule.
The ending..not sure how I feel about this.
They mention Buddy's death after the Winter Dance Party scene, where Bopper, Valens and Holly all have segments. It's a lively set. Buddy is in spotlight when his death is mentioned ( the rest of the stage goes dark). Then Maria steps out from the wings, guitar in hand, and starts to sing True Love Ways to him ( I didn't know Maria could sing or play guitar..).
Kinda corny, but it's not maudlin, where people are crying.
Suddenly the stage lights up again and the entire cast goes into a rocking version of "Johnny B. Goode." The show closes with another encore of "Oh, Boy."
Not good to end the play on a sad note, I get it, although that would've been pretty dramatic. Leave the audience dancing and feeling good.
But it was strange seeing the cast suddenly step out of character. I mean, the Holly guy still sang like Buddy, but did Buddy EVER sing "Johnny B. Goode?" It was kind of like, ok, how do we end this thing? It seemed forced.
All in all, a good time. Surprising it wasn't sold out. I know most of the run is sold out. Maybe because it was a Saturday afternoon matinee performance on a holiday weekend?
The crowd was mostly middle-age to older. Not many teens or millennials, unlike Paul last summer, who had all ages at his concert.
PS. Love the Kimmel Center. Very accessible. And the staff are super friendly and helpful.
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