Clarksville, TN Online » Ted Kitterman

Our review of Buddy, The Buddy Holly Story

Bill Larson — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 04:59:02 +0000

The Roxy Regional Theatre is now showing Buddy, The Buddy Holly Story. I attended the opening nights show and here is my review of the production.

I walked into the theatre and was immediately transported through time to the late 1950’s by this incredible Amber Wallace set. I have never been disappointed with any Roxy set, but my favorites are all Amber Wallace’s creations. Her best work in my opinion, was the sets that she did for last years Miss Saigon and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.

This show covers Buddy Holly’s life from his rise to success in 1957 to his death in the 1959 plane crash which also took the lives of Rock and Roll legends Ritchie Valens and J. P. Richardson who was also know as the Big Bopper. This plane crash was immortalized in the Don Mclean song American Pie.

“The Day the Music Died” (February 3, 1959), was the day of the plane crash that killed three popular American rock and roll musicians. Early that morning, at approximately 1:05 AM Central Standard Time, an airplane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson crashed in a farmer’s field en route to a concert near Fargo, North Dakota, killing all three performers as well as the pilot, Roger Peterson. Don McLean’s 1971 song, “American Pie,” contains many references to this day, including the phrase itself. – Wikipedia

The actors were all exquisitely cast for their roles.

Jody Evans, formerly of Nashville Stars played Buddy Holly. Jody’s appearance, voice, and style of playing was Buddy Holly. He successfully brings off Buddy Holly’s esoteric combination of nerdy appearance and rock star coolness.

Meeting Jody after the show I can truthfully say, he is gracious and a gentleman in the true sense of the word. Someone who always tries to ensure that the people around him are as comfortable as possible.

As a child growing up in Arkansas, Jody Evans was rocked to sleep to the music of Elvis Presley. When other kids wanted to be football heroes or whatever, he wanted to be Elvis. He wore suits and ties to school to emulate another hero, Clark Kent. He was branded a nerd because he wore glasses.

At ten years old his mother took him to see the movie ‘La Bamba’ and even though he was taken with the story of Ritchie Valens the real thrill came towards the end when Buddy Holly (played by Marshall Crenshaw) came on the scene. He was impressed at the man who wore a suit and tie and glasses, how he sung and played so good.

By the age of twelve he knew music was all he ever wanted to do. So, he got a job and saved money to buy his first guitar, a 1966 Fender Mustang. A friend showed him A, D, and E chords enabling him to learn and play nearly every Buddy Holly song in the world.

At fifteen he started his first band and began playing talent shows or wherever there was a stage he could get on. One of these talent shows took him to Memphis where the owner of Sun Studios saw Jody and asked him if he would like to make a record. The only problem was Jody had no original material. He asked to be given a week and in the next five days wrote his first six songs. Soon after he found himself recording where his first hero had started.

It was these recordings that captured the attention of Dale Hawkins (Suzy Q 1957), who proclaimed Jody the best songwriter he ever heard and Pete Anderson (producer & guitarist Dwight Yoakam), who after hearing Jody’s recordings and seeing a tape of his live performance exclaimed, “If Jody Evans played Berlin tonight they would be rioting in the streets”.

Untarnished and undiscovered, Jody Evans is living proof that Rock ‘n Roll music still exists the way its inventors meant it to be. – From the Jody Evans web site.

I want to say that after hearing Jody Evans perform in this show, he has earned a permanent place on my iPod’s playlists. If you are interested in sampling his excellent music, he makes several songs available for download in MP3 format on his web site and there are also a couple of songs on his Myspace page.

Accompanying Buddy Holly as the Crickets were Jimmy Bishop (Bass, Joe B. Maudlin), Joshua Smith (Drums, Jerry Allison), and John Winters (Guitar, Niki Sullivan).

Jimmy Bishop has been a favorite of mine ever since his first appearance in a Roxy Production in “A Year with Frog and Toad”. He shined in the recently completed run of the Graduate where he played Mr Robinson. In Buddy, The Buddy Holly Story his performance realistically conveys to you the vibe of a rock and roll star.

Joshua Smith is an APSU student and a heck of a musician. This was his theatrical debut, that being said handled his drum sticks with a professionals flair.

John Winters was an excellent backup for Jody Evans. That being said, I am sure that I have seen him somewhere else in the past. Since he is a professional musician and has opened for many big name groups, that is very likely.

There were other characters in this show besides Buddy Holly and the Crickets,

Philip Ocampo plays an engineer (for the second time at the Roxy) and the role of Ritchie Valens which is the role most people will likely take home with them. One thing I can say for Philip is that he brings a sense of fun into all of his roles. His portrayal of Ritchie Valens is no exception. I will not spoil the show for you by describing his character here, you will just have to go see it for your self. I will say that I missed Philip when he left us after Miss Saigon. I am glad he has returned.

Jayson Elliott is a bit younger than J. P. Richardson was at the time of his death, but that did not detract from his performance. His costumes could have come right out of the Big Bopper’s wardrobe. This was his Roxy debut and I hope to see him in future shows to get a better feel for his talents.

Ted Kitterman, Humberto Figueroa, and Mariah Wolitski, are young actors and frequent performers at the Roxy and in this show they handle roles of several disc jockeys and old time radio ad singers. Mariah also handles the role of Peggy Sue.

Hannah Carmona plays Maria Elena Santiago, the Puerto Rican receptionist of Buddy’s record publisher, after a courtship lasting roughly five hour he proposed to her. Hannah is a talented young actress and a budding beauty with a smile that I bet can break a young man’s heart.

Greg Williamson returns to the Roxy stage as Norman Petty, a record producer from Clovis New Mexico. He won this years Monte award. In Bye Bye Birdie he played the mayor of the town and was backed up by the lovely Julie Ross who returns in this show as Vi, Norman Petty’s wife. My all time favorite role of Greg’s would be his performance of Cogsworth in the Roxy production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

Rick Hurst returns for his second Roxy run, his first was as the bartender Maude in Bye Bye Birdie, In this show he plays Hipockets Duncan, an exuberant radio DJ from Buddy’s home town of Lubbock Texas. Rick pulls off his role with the “air of authority” and “keen sense of humour” that the creators of this show intended it to have.

Last but certainly not the least is the very talented Koral Rose Curkeet. she played a performer at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, New York. She appeared in Bye Bye Birdie, but this is the first time we have had the chance to hear her sing. Her voice is rich and powerful, anyone who hears her sing can not help but to fall in love with it.

SYNOPSIS OF SCENES:

ACT ONE
Grand Bowl, Lubbock, Texas Outside The Grand Bowl Decca Recording Studios, Nashville. KDAV Radio Studio, Lubbock Norvajak Studios, Clovis, New Mexico Apollo Theatre, Harlem, New York
ACT TWO
Music Publisher’s Office, New York Extasis Nightclub, New York Norvajak Studios, Clovis, New Mexico Buddy & Maria Elena’s Apartment, New York Backstage Surf Ballroom, Clear Lake, Iowa Clear Lake Concert

The above listed scenes are from the information
listed on http://www.buddythemusical.com/,
and may not accurately reflect the scenes in
the Roxy’s rendition of this show.

Music:

Song	Publishing Company
Flower of my heart	Holly House Inc
Ready Teddy	Unichappell Music Inc.
Blue Days Black Nights	Unichappell Music Inc.
That’s all right	Unichappell Music Inc.
A teenager in love	Unichappell Music Inc.
That’ll be the day	MPL Comm. Inc. MPL/Wren
Peggy Sue	MPL Comm. Inc. MPL/Wren
Maybe Baby	MPL Comm. Inc. MPL/Wren
Not fade away	MPL Comm. Inc. MPL/Wren
True love ways	MPL Comm. Inc. MPL/Wren
Looking for Someone to love	MPL Comm. Inc. MPL/Wren
Listen to me	MPL Comm. Inc. MPL/Wren
It’s so easy to fall in love	MPL Comm. Inc. MPL/Wren
Well alright	MPL Comm. Inc. MPL/Wren
When you ask about love	Acuff Rose Music Inc.
Words of love	MPL Comm. Inc. MPL/Wren
Oh boy	Wren Music Co. c/o MPL
Rave on	Wren Music Co. c/o MPL
Heartbeat	Wren Music Co. c/o MPL
Changing all those	Cedarwood Publishing Co.
Think it over	Cedarwood Publishing Co. / Southern Music Publishing Co.
Everyday	Southern Music Publishing Co.
Mailman bring me no more	Southern Music Publishing Co. / Beinstock Publishing
Peggy Sue got married	Southern Music Publishing Co.
Why do fools	Windswept Pacific Entertainment
Chantilly Lace	Donald Daily, Glad Music Co., Fort Knox Music Inc., Trio Music Company Inc.
Raining in my heart	House of Bryant Pubs. Inc.
It doesn’t matter anymore	Management Agency
Johnny B Goode	Isalee Music Co.
Rock around with Ollie Vee	Hill and Range Songs Inc.
All other songs, arrangements, and incidental music are by Paul Jury

My Review of Spoon River Anthology at the Roxy

Bill Larson — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 01:51:56 +0000

I went to the Roxy Regional Theatre tonight, to attend their performance of Spoon River Anthology, which was performed in their OtherSpace theatre. If I had only one sentence with which to give a summation of the show, I think it would be: A tapestry of lives woven together by the the sweet melancholy strains of a violin.

WHOEVER thou art who passest by
Know that my father was gentle,
And my mother was violent,
While I was born the whole of such hostile halves,
Not intermixed and fused,
But each distinct, feebly soldered together.
Some of you saw me as gentle,
Some as violent,
Some as both.
But neither half of me wrought my ruin.
It was the falling asunder of halves,
Never a part of each other,
That left me a lifeless soul.

-Henry Layton, Spoon River Anthology

Spoon River Anthology is a series of monologues which detail the lives of the residents of a small mid-western town’s cemetery. The recollection of their lives are related to the audience by their shades from the afterlife. Spoon River Anthology was based off of a collection of poems written in 1915 by Edgar Lee Masters.

To this generation I would say:
Memorize some bit of verse of truth or beauty.
It may serve a turn in your life.
My husband had nothing to do
With the fall of the bank–he was only cashier.
The wreck was due to the president, Thomas Rhodes,
And his vain, unscrupulous son.
Yet my husband was sent to prison,
And I was left with the children,
To feed and clothe and school them.
And I did it, and sent them forth
Into the world all clean and strong,
And all through the wisdom of Pope, the poet:
“Act well your part, there all the honor lies.”

-Mrs. George Reece, Spoon River Anthology

As always with the OtherSpace, the sets were sparse, and by being so, are not a distraction from the performers and their performances. I want to give my personal thanks the young actors and actresses who were in the show, they put a lot of time and effort into preparing themselves for this production, and it clearly showed during their performances this evening. They are participants in the Roxy’s School of the Arts program, which takes young people and gives them instruction in acting.

I BELONGED to the church,
And to the party of prohibition;
And the villagers thought I died of eating watermelon.
In truth I had cirrhosis of the liver,
For every noon for thirty years,
I slipped behind the prescription partition
In Trainor’s drug store
And poured a generous drink
From the bottle marked “Spiritus frumenti.”

- Deacon Taylor, Spoon River Anthology

I want to give a special commendation to Ted Kitterman who played a violin during the show, he also did the monologue of Fiddler Jack which I am including below. I knew Ted could act and sing. What I did not know, was that he could play a violin with such skill and passion. His playing was the outstanding highlight that I take from this show.

THE earth keeps some vibration going
There in your heart, and that is you.
And if the people find you can fiddle,
Why, fiddle you must, for all your life.
What do you see, a harvest of clover?
Or a meadow to walk through to the river?
The wind’s in the corn; you rub your hands
For beeves hereafter ready for market;
Or else you hear the rustle of skirts
Like the girls when dancing at Little Grove.
To Cooney Potter a pillar of dust
Or whirling leaves meant ruinous drouth;
They looked to me like Red-Head Sammy
Stepping it off, to “Toor-a-Loor.”
How could I till my forty acres
Not to speak of getting more,
With a medley of horns, bassoons and piccolos
Stirred in my brain by crows and robins
And the creak of a wind-mill–only these?
And I never started to plow in my life
That some one did not stop in the road
And take me away to a dance or picnic.
I ended up with forty acres;
I ended up with a broken fiddle–
And a broken laugh, and a thousand memories,
And not a single regret.

- Fiddler Jones, Spoon River Anthology

Spoon River Anthology is out of copyright and so can be viewed freely. If you would like to read the poetry behind the play, I would recommend “The Project Gutenberg Etext of Spoon River Anthology” which can be freely downloaded.

I HAD fiddled all day at the county fair.
But driving home “Butch” Weldy and Jack McGuire,
Who were roaring full, made me fiddle and fiddle
To the song of Susie Skinner, while whipping the horses
Till they ran away. Blind as I was, I tried to get out
As the carriage fell in the ditch,
And was caught in the wheels and killed.
There’s a blind man here with a brow
As big and white as a cloud.
And all we fiddlers, from highest to lowest,
Writers of music and tellers of stories
Sit at his feet,
And hear him sing of the fall of Troy.

- Blind Jack, Spoon River Anthology

This play runs for one more evening. I strongly recommend that anyone who can, go see it, I do not think you will regret doing so.