‘Buddy Holly’ musical rocking tirelessly at Hilton

Joe Delaney

Friday, March 3, 2000 | 9:33 a.m.

"Buddy ... The Buddy Holly Story," a musical theater success on Broadway and an even bigger hit for a longer period in London, concludes a too-brief run at the Las Vegas Hilton with matinee and evening performances Saturday and Sunday.

Business has been brisk and the crowds responsive.

Holly had a meteoric career that spanned less than three years: from 1956 until his death in a plane crash in February 1959. His first influence was Elvis Presley.

The story goes that Presley played Lubbock, Texas, in 1955, and young Holly was so impressed that he got up on stage and gave an impromptu performance at the end of the show.

This staged version starts a year or so later in Lubbock at a radio station where Holly and the Crickets are fired for playing a rock 'n' roll song. The station owner steered him to Norman Petty, owner of a recording studio in Clovis, N.M.

Holly's first recording hit, "That'll Be The Day," was recorded with Petty at the controls in mid-1957. "Peggy Sue" was his mega-hit, signature-song follow-up.

Based on fact but with much literary license taken in the musical, Holly's brief history is well-documented. There are 15 songs in the first act and 13 in the second act with a scheduled 15-minute intermission that actually lasted 25 minutes at the show caught, for a total of 2 hours, 40 minutes.

In addition to Van Zeiler's near-perfect depiction of Holly, there is a strong replication of the Big Bopper singing "Chantilly Lace" by Travis Turpin plus an overdone Richie Valens by Rob Langeder singing "La Bamba."

Big Bopper and Valens perished with Holly and the pilot on that fatal night.

Holly has had the most lasting impact as a songwriter-performer. One of the outstanding songs sung by Holly comes near the end of the second act, "It Doesn't Matter Anymore," which was written for the Texan by Paul Anka when Anka was more successful writing hits for others than for himself.

Taken in a single serving, Holly's compositions were mostly variations on typical blues at a fast tempo. There was not a great deal of variety; it was performance rather than song content. A comparison can be made with the early efforts of Neil Sedaka, starting later in 1959. Sedaka's background was New York and classical; Holly's, rural Texas and country.

Under Petty's direction, Holly and the Crickets were at their most productive. It is accurate that most of their arrangements were created in the studio rather than public performance. Petty does not come off well as a person in the musical theater stage version.

The overall audience remained into it throughout the entire 160 minutes including intermission. A little judicious editing and elimination of a song or two could result in a very entertaining, less-wearying 90 minutes minus the intermission. This is a must for those now grownup Holly fans.