The timeless songs and stage persona of Buddy Holly — as well as his tourmates The Big Bopper and Richie Valens — are conjured into colorful life in BUDDY, the touring jukebox musical that visits the Count Basie on Saturday. Â
It was over 56 years ago that the Winter Dance Party rock and roll tour headlined by Buddy Holly ended in disaster, when the small plane containing the singer-songwriter and two of his chart-topping tourmates — Richie Valens (“La Bamba”) and The Big Bopper (“Chantilly Lace”) — crashed in an Iowa cornfield; a tragedy that came to be known as The Day the Music Died. Since that time, the legend of the bespectacled Texan who reigned so briefly and brightly on the Billboards has only grown — bolstered by a catalog of forward-looking recordings that include “Rave On,” “Peggy Sue” and “That’ll Be the Day.”
Having been paid tribute by nearly every rocker of the past half century (as well as portrayed on screen by Marshall Crenshaw and the inimitable Gary Busey), Charles Hardin Holley was more than just a big-beat pioneer — his life and legacy also inspired what’s widely credited as the first modern “jukebox” stage musical: Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story, a UK-spawned hit that’s run nonstop for over 25 years, with a North American touring production that comes to the Count Basie Theatre this Saturday, April 4.
Rescheduled from January 27, the matinee is framed as a recreation of scenes from Holly’s short life, climaxing with that final concert in Clear Lake. A cast of actor-singer-musicians conjure Holly and company (including Dion DiMucci, the Bronx-born rocker who chose not to book a seat on that fateful flight) through a collection of their signature songs and other period hits. Tickets ($29 – $59) can be reserved right here.
