'Buddy' story entertains, doesn't rock house

Last Thursday, the IU Auditorium in conjunction with Phoenix Productions presented "Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story." All in all this musical adaptation of rock legend Buddy Holly's all-too-short life was an entertaining diversion but failed to capture Holly's essence and immense talent. \nAmerican Musical and Dramatic Academy alumnus Erik Hayden headlined "Buddy" as the main character. He was likable enough -- his acting was passable while his singing and musicianship were truly impressive. But ultimately his performance couldn't elevate the material.\nAs written by Alan Janes, "Buddy" doesn't delve deeply enough into this deeply missed performer's life. The show is structured around music, which consists primarily of Holly's greatest hits, but character development and story structure are sorely lacking. For instance, Holly meets his future wife Maria Elena Santiago (Ali Spuck) and within seconds he's professing his love for her and declaring the fact that he's going to marry her. A few minutes later he does, and soon thereafter she's pregnant. Who knew they had the time to have sex? While I realize Holly met and subsequently married Maria Elena within two weeks, there must have been more to the romance than what's presented, and it would have been nice to see this.\nReally, the only insight "Buddy" gives is that Holly's mother continually pestered him to eat, he made the music he wanted and got pissed when his handlers, notably producer/schister Norman Petty (William Elsman), suggested that he not wear his trademark glasses while performing. The dialogue was predominantly uninspired and corny and did little to further the narrative.\nDespite this abundance of criticism, "Buddy" wasn't void of enjoyable moments. As previously mentioned, Hayden impressed as Buddy (going so far as to impressively play guitar behind his head and shimmy up and down a stand-up bass while rocking out). Nicholas Kohn, who portrayed The Big Bopper, added humor and decent musical stylings to the performance. Michael Croiter and Brendan R. Murphy, who respectively play Jerry Allison and Joe B. Maudlin, members of Holly's backing band The Crickets, infuse their minimal roles with charm and musical precision. \nFor the most part the cast was very good -- the only noticeable exception being Eric Sosa, who played the role of Ritchie Valens as though he were playing Ricky Martin, only fruitier. His singing was sharp, and he was far more "Living La Vida Loca" than "La Bamba." While good, the cast wasn't good enough to elevate "Buddy" beyond the ill-conceived script.\n"Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story" was mildly entertaining, but it wasn't worth the time or money spent seeing it -- I'd much rather have watched IU's victory over Duke. However, if you're interested in learning more about Holly I'd recommend taking a history of rock class here on campus, downloading some of his tunes or simply visiting a music store and picking up a "best of" album.