Oh, Boy!
The Lower Ossington Theatre’s Buddy hits all the right notes
by Stuart Munro
@StuartMunroTO
[This article has been corrected]
About a third of the way into the first act of Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, Buddy and the Crickets enter Norman Petty’s recording studio for a whirlwind recording session. At this point, what had started out as a slightly underpowered and oddly-paced production really finds its steam, and Buddy rocks on through the rest of the evening, giving the audience a night to remember.
Buddy tells the story of the rise to fame and sudden, tragic death of Buddy Holly. Using a catalogue of his music (including “Oh, Boy!,” “Peggy Sue,” “That’ll Be the Day,” and others), along with other late-50’s rock, the show whisks us through Buddy Holly’s all-too brief, two-year career. The plot is a bit thin – the focus is clearly on the music – but that’s really OK because, I’m happy to say, the LOT has finally started using live music in its productions! I suspect it’s just for this show, but it was very welcome.
