The Saturday Morning “Nobody-Asked-Me-To, But-Here-I-Go-Anyway” Evening Out Review – “Buddy, The Buddy Holly Story” Stage West Theatre Restaurants Calgary.
(or, Why I Will Never Be A Professional Concert Reviewer…)
One of the first live groups I ever saw without my parents’ accompaniment was a “greaser” cover group from Vancouver. They dressed up in 50’s wear, and played all the great hits of that era, which back then wasn’t really all that far behind us.
Last night, Mrs. That Dan Guy and I caught another British Columbia-originated band (now based in Toronto), bringing the same music to life as part of the just-opened Stage West production of “Buddy, The Buddy Holly Story”, here in Calgary.
Zachary Stevenson and Jeff Bryant of The Human Statues (more on that group later) help bring this show to eye-popping life, along with a talented supporting cast. Of all the shows we’ve seen here so far, this one absolutely tops the list. When we saw the Stage West run of “DreamGirls”, the very next day we picked up tickets to see James Brown. Unfortunately, he passed away about 12 days before his show here – but that show knocked our collective socks off.
When you see something requiring you to “suspend your disbelief”, you really do want to get “lost in the illusion”. You don’t even have to close your eyes to imagine Buddy Holly on stage for this show – for one thing, Stevenson’s ability to cover Holly songs is downright spooky – as perfect as you are ever going to get without actually sitting right in front of Buddy Holly. But his acting skills and energy sold the performance as well – along with the rest of the cast.
SPOILER ALERT: If you’re not familiar with the story of Buddy Holly’s meteoric rise to fame, the story does not have a happy ending. Holly and two of his musical colleagues died in a plane crash in 1959.
Essentially, the musical arcs his early career, and ends with his last concert. I really should know more of the actual story – I’ve seen the terrific film starring Gary Busey a number of times, and own the DVD. Bright and shiny… But I do know how authentic the music was – as a mobile DJ for years and years and years, I started most of my dances with “That’ll Be The Day” – the song never gets old.
This was also perhaps the most ambitious program we’ve seen here – it seemed like they had double the cast, but when everybody came out for bows afterwards we were surprised to see how few people fleshed out the show. Strong directing, loads of humour, and many highlights. (One in particular, a small town concert intermission act of a local accordion/horn/cymbal group doing the American anthem was about as hilarious as anything we’ve ever seen).
However, the star here was the music, faithfully presented, and gobbled up by the audience. The first act covers the beginning of Holly’s career – the second is a sheer celebration of the end part of his heyday (until you realize he doesn’t survive to the end of the show – hey, I warned you!!).
(or, Why I Will Never Be A Professional Concert Reviewer…)
One of the first live groups I ever saw without my parents’ accompaniment was a “greaser” cover group from Vancouver. They dressed up in 50’s wear, and played all the great hits of that era, which back then wasn’t really all that far behind us.
Last night, Mrs. That Dan Guy and I caught another British Columbia-originated band (now based in Toronto), bringing the same music to life as part of the just-opened Stage West production of “Buddy, The Buddy Holly Story”, here in Calgary.
Zachary Stevenson and Jeff Bryant of The Human Statues (more on that group later) help bring this show to eye-popping life, along with a talented supporting cast. Of all the shows we’ve seen here so far, this one absolutely tops the list. When we saw the Stage West run of “DreamGirls”, the very next day we picked up tickets to see James Brown. Unfortunately, he passed away about 12 days before his show here – but that show knocked our collective socks off.
When you see something requiring you to “suspend your disbelief”, you really do want to get “lost in the illusion”. You don’t even have to close your eyes to imagine Buddy Holly on stage for this show – for one thing, Stevenson’s ability to cover Holly songs is downright spooky – as perfect as you are ever going to get without actually sitting right in front of Buddy Holly. But his acting skills and energy sold the performance as well – along with the rest of the cast.
SPOILER ALERT: If you’re not familiar with the story of Buddy Holly’s meteoric rise to fame, the story does not have a happy ending. Holly and two of his musical colleagues died in a plane crash in 1959.
Essentially, the musical arcs his early career, and ends with his last concert. I really should know more of the actual story – I’ve seen the terrific film starring Gary Busey a number of times, and own the DVD. Bright and shiny… But I do know how authentic the music was – as a mobile DJ for years and years and years, I started most of my dances with “That’ll Be The Day” – the song never gets old.
This was also perhaps the most ambitious program we’ve seen here – it seemed like they had double the cast, but when everybody came out for bows afterwards we were surprised to see how few people fleshed out the show. Strong directing, loads of humour, and many highlights. (One in particular, a small town concert intermission act of a local accordion/horn/cymbal group doing the American anthem was about as hilarious as anything we’ve ever seen).
However, the star here was the music, faithfully presented, and gobbled up by the audience. The first act covers the beginning of Holly’s career – the second is a sheer celebration of the end part of his heyday (until you realize he doesn’t survive to the end of the show – hey, I warned you!!).
As it happens, if you’ve read this space for any time, you know I am befuddled by interesting or consecutive number combinations. Well, last night, of all the table the facility features, we were seated at Table #59.
This revival celebrates the 50th anniversary of Holly’s passing – in 1959. I was also born in 1959 – so once again spooky numbers are around me.
For trivia’s sake, Buddy Holly’s big hit “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” was written by Canadian Paul Anka, who we saw live in concert not too long ago. Trivial? Perhaps…
Personal highlight – the acoustic version of “True Love Ways”. Guys, cut that on an upcoming cd – awesome!!
Oh yeah, I was gonna get back to The Human Statues ( http://www.thehumanstatues.com/ ). Check out this up and coming Canuck group – the promo video on their website alone is a howl, and the CD we bought on the way out the door was instantly enjoyable playing on our drive home – too many influences to even try narrowing down, but they have a knack for catchy songs that stick on the first listen.
Alright, enough gushing – you get the idea. If you’re reading this in the Calgary area, get your tickets pronto.
(Holy Crow, this is dangerously close to a real review!!)
(Poultry lovers, Charlie will return tomorrow morning.)
Chow for now!!
(Poultry lovers, Charlie will return tomorrow morning.)
Chow for now!!
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