The Buddy Holly Story Hits Utica’s Stanley Stage

Don't be surprised to see people dancing and singing down Genesee Street on Sunday as The Buddy Holly Story comes to Utica.

The show critics say is known to get audiences up on their feet, recounts the quick rise of Holly and ultimately, his tragic death in an airplane crash just a few years later. The Buddy Holly Story first hit the stage more than three decades ago in London (1989), yet continues to excite crowds from Broadway and all across North America, to Asia, Australia and beyond.

See it for yourself, LIVE this Sunday afternoon at 4:00 at the Stanley Theatre in Utica, presented by Broadway Utica.

And, all this week - listeners to the Keeler in the Morning Show have a chance to win tickets! You may be able to find some of the answers to this week's Buddy Holly Ticket Trivia questions below:

A Story Loved By Several Generations

As mentioned above, the musical The Buddy Holly Story first debuted in 1989. But, before the musical was a movie by the same name. Gary Busey played Buddy Holly back in 1978. For nearly 45 years, this story has drawn huge audiences on the big screen and Broadway...and they keep coming back.

Did Someone Book The Wrong Band?

A scene from movie version of The Buddy Holly Story depicts Busey (as Holly) playing in front an all black audience at The Apollo. Some have questioned how 'real' the scene was and believed it was 'creative discretion' on behalf of the movie's producers.

Not so, says IMBD:

According to Little Richard, the Apollo theater performance by Buddy Holly and The Crickets in front of an all-black audience is pretty accurate. Holly and his band were booked "sight unseen" because the owner thought they were black. The audience was shocked to see white performers on stage, but they embraced Holly and his band.

 

Holy Holly, That's Not How He Spelled Holley.

While 'Buddy' was just a nickname, Holly was really his last name. But, he spelled it Holley (born Charles Hardin Holley). It isn't uncommon for famous movie stars, musicians, or other celebrities to alter or completely change their birthnames and adopt a stage name. But this wasn't an alteration made by the artist, says Facinate.com, it was just a error that was uncorrected:

...Decca records simply misspelled the name on his original contract. Buddy decided to keep it simple and just go with this new spelling from that point on.

What's It Worth To Ya?

Being such an revolutionary and influential musician, coupled with the fact that he died so young, Buddy-Holly-authentic-memorabilia is rare and extremely valuable. As the story goes, his first guitar he ever bought was a 1954 Fender Stratocaster for $249.50 for a music store in Lubbock, TX. However, it was stolen one night while he was on tour.

Imagine what that thing would have sold for at auction today?

His Fans Had Fans!

Some of his biggest fans are music icons. The Beatles' Paul McCartney owns the rights to 40 Holly Songs, McCartney was the narrator in the bio-pic remake, The Real Buddy Holly Story, and reports say the Beatles early songwriting style was all influenced Holly:

...Both Driver and Morton said McCartney has acknowledged on numerous occasions that at least the first 40 Beatles songs, if not more, were molded after Holly's style of songwriting, which went beyond the standard 12-bar blues chords used throughout 1950s rock ‘n' roll...

Purchase tickets for the show or see a schedule of upcoming performances presented by Broadway Utica.