Actors rock out in ‘Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story’

You’d think that after playing legendary rocker Buddy Holly in 17 different productions of “Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story” since 2007 – including the Theater League tour that comes through Wichita this week – Todd Meredith might begin to worry about being taken over by the character.

But Meredith, a native New Yorker from Albany, is quick to note that while he’s known for channeling the lanky, bespectacled Texan in the show as well as with a separate tribute band, the Rave-Ons, he’s still his own person and in demand for other things.

“I played Johnny Cash in ‘Ring of Fire’ just last year. And I’ve done straight shows like ‘Noises Off’ (slapstick British comedy), so I do other things,” Meredith says. “But I never get tired of playing Buddy. It’s the role that allowed me to put together my dreams of being both a musician and an actor. Each audience is different, so each performance is fresh for me. No two live concerts are ever the same.”

“Buddy – the Buddy Holly Story” will be in Century II Concert Hall for three performances at 7:30 p.m. Monday through Wednesday. Written by Alan Janes from a concept by Laurie Mansfield, this pioneering jukebox musical uses more than 30 early rock ’n’ roll classics like Holly’s “Peggy Sue,” “That’ll Be the Day” and “True Love Ways” to tell the story of his meteoric but tragically brief career. Buddy was just 22 when he died in a wintry plane crash on Feb. 3, 1959, following a concert in Clear Lake, Iowa.

The musical opened in 1989 in London and ran for more than 5,000 performances over 12 years, making it one of the longest runs in West End history. It came to Broadway in 1990, then began a series of national and international tours, capped with the 25th anniversary production last year that segued into this current tour.

Meredith admitted that he didn’t know much about Buddy Holly until he won the role.

“I had heard of him, of course, and I knew some of his music. But I grew up liking the Beatles and other 1960s groups. When I started researching Buddy, I was surprised to discover how many of my favorite performers were directly influenced by his music,” Meredith says. “Paul McCartney and John Lennon said the first 40 songs they wrote together came from what they learned from him.”

Meredith says he was awestruck by Holly’s determination and work ethic.

“Oh, man! He was from Lubbock, Texas, so he was a good old boy with Southern qualities. He was very polite and easy-going – except when it came to music. He was a hard worker and the type of guy who knew what he wanted from an early age. At 17 or 18, his goal was to become a rock ’n’ roll star. And he got going,” Meredith says.

“The most surprising thing for me is how much he accomplished in such a short time. He died at 22 after a career that lasted only 18 months, but he left us songs that will be around forever.”

The Big Bopper

With Holly on that fateful final plane ride were boisterous personality J.P. Richardson, better known as the Big Bopper of “Chantilly Lace” fame, and newcomer Ritchie Valens, best remembered for “La Bamba.” Both also figure prominently in the show as they re-create their final concert in Clear Lake near the end of Act II.

The key to playing the Big Bopper, says actor Mike Brennan, is to get the right inflection on his signature catch phrase, “Hello-o-o, Baby!” – not to mention that devilishly flirty laugh that usually accompanies it.

“The Bopper was a bigger-than-life personality, so if you don’t come on strong and loud – he was a Texas radio DJ to start with – you can’t do justice to him,” says Brennan, a New Jersey native from near Asbury Park who is playing the role for the seventh time. “He always had so much joy and energy in his performances that when I’m doing him, I can feel his essence. It’s all about having a good time.”

Because Richardson/Bopper was one of the first artists to experiment with music videos, Brennan says he had a lot to draw from for research of movements and mannerisms.

“JP was known for creating novelty songs like ‘Little Red Riding Hood,’ ‘Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor’ and ‘Running Bear.’ That’s just the way he was. I like to think I’m the same type of outgoing personality,” Brennan says.

“When I first got the role as the Bopper, I thought it would be fun to maybe do it just one more time before I went on to other shows,” says Brennan, who has also played the Beast in “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast,” Daddy Warbucks in “Annie” and Luther Billis in “South Pacific.”

“But then this just snowballed,” he says with a laugh about his seventh stint.

Ritchie Valens

Playing Ritchie Valens, who will always be linked with Holly and Richardson through Don McLean’s “American Pie (The Day the Music Died),” is Arizona native Eddie Maldonado.

“I’m classically trained in opera and branched out to musical theater, but – oh, my goodness – is this ever fun to crash into rock ’n’ roll. It’s like a party every night,” says Maldonado, an award-winning performer who has done such shows as “Spamalot,” “The Full Monty,” and the cruise ship version of “Disney’s the Lion King.”

Playing Valens is especially satisfying for Maldonado because of his own Mexican-American heritage. He believes that he was pointed toward the role by the spirit of his late grandfather because of the timing between his death and the audition notice.

“Ritchie was pretty much an icon in Phoenix where I grew up. Everybody knew ‘La Bamba.’ He was sort of the Bruno Mars or Ricky Martin of his day,” Maldonado says. “I believe my grandfather pointed me toward it so I could represent a part of my heritage.”

The fun – but also the challenge – is re-creating Valens’ teenage energy, the actor says.

“Ritchie was 17 and I’m 26, so I have to trip back to my memory vault and find that over-the-top teenage energy. One of the perks of the job is that I get to relive my youth in a really fun way. I get to gyrate my hips for the ladies every night on stage,” he says with a laugh.

This story was originally published February 26, 2015 at 6:06 PM with the headline "Actors rock out in ‘Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story’."