Todd Meredith & the Rave Ons at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse and Timber Lake Playhouse -- September 25 and 26.
Thursday, September 25, 1 & 7:15 p.m.
Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, 1828 Third Avenue, Rock Island IL
Friday, September 26, 7:30 p.m.
Timber Lake Playhouse, 8215 Black Oak Road, Mt. Carroll IL
The familiar, beloved sounds of “Peggy Sue,” “Maybe Baby,” “Oh Boy,” and many other iconic '50s and '60s rock hits will successively fill Rock Island's Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse and Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse on September 25 and 26, the venue's concert events with Todd Meredith & the Rave Ons showcasing the dynamic talents of the headliner who memorably portrayed the lead in in Circa '21's 2008 musical Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story.
Todd Meredith & the Rave Ons are a high-energy rock-and-roll band originally formed to revitalize the music of Buddy Holly & the Crickets. This talented band has more than 150 tunes from all decades in their repertoire, and have played together all over the world, dazzling audiences at such venues as: Celebrity Cruise Lines, Holland America Cruise Lines and BB Kings Blues Club, NYC and numerous other clubs, theaters, restaurants, and civic centers from coast to coast -- including in Buddy Holly’s hometown of Lubbock, Texas. For their latest local performances, the show will be split into two acts. Todd Meredith & the Rave Ons' first act will be a tribute to Buddy Holly & the Crickets, while the second act will boast a variety of artists from the 1950s and '60s, among them Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, the Everly Brothers, Chuck Berry, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Credence Clearwater Revival, right up to Jimmi Hendrix and Cream.
A magna cum laude graduate of New York's Siena College, Meredith has acted in, directed, and music directed numerous productions of Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story nationwide, and in addition to playing Buddy Holly, he has performed as Carl Perkins in several stagings of the Tony-winning Million Dollar Quartet, including in a recent engagement at Amana's Old Creamery Theatre. Meredith's musical-theatre credits also include roles in Pump Boys & Dinettes, Ring of Fire, Urinetown, and Annie, and reviewing the actor in DC Metro Theater Arts, Julia L. Exline wrote, “Todd Meredith's performance as Buddy Holly, a determined young singer who refused to submit in a repressive environment, was one of the most effervescent I've ever seen.”
Todd Meredith & the Rave Ons bring their classic-rock tribute to Rock Island's Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse for two shows on September 25: the 1 p.m. performance ($65) will be preceded by a noon plated lunch, and the 7:15 show ($70) will feature a 6 p.m. plated dinner. For more information and tickets, call (309)786-7733 extension 2 and visit Circa21.com.
The group will also play Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse on September 26, with admission to the 7:30 p.m. show-only concert $35-50. For more information and tickets, call (815)244-2035 and visit TimberLakePlayhouse.org.
