Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story

Texan Charles Hardin Holley, better known as Buddy Holly, was almost six months shy of his 23rd birthday when he died in a plane crash outside of Clear Lake, Iowa, in 1959. He had just spent the last year and a half riding a wave of rock 'n' roll popularity, as well as weathering the approbation of the stiffs and squares who decried the music's spirit of liberation and blending of racial identity. In retrospect, the bigots and prudes had reason to be scared: Listen to Holly's recordings today, with their brashness and abandon, sly innuendo, and raw passion, and hear something eternal. The History Theatre brings the well-known musical based on Holly's life to the stage, with young musicians and hopefully the right amount of irreverence. It wasn't history when it was happening, you know—it was love, and life, and amplifiers. It was bliss. (Photo by Scott Pakudaitis)
Thursdays-Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Starts: Oct. 3. Continues through Nov. 1, 2009