Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story

John Banister

Musical Director/Tommy Allsup/Jack Daw/Clear Lake Musician

John is an honours Graduate of The Royal Academy of Music in London, England and began his career as a classical musician playing with some of Britain’s top orchestras such as The Royal Philharmonic, Welsh National Opera and Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet. As an actor/musician he has appeared in several of London’s West End shows such as The Buddy Holly Story, Jailhouse Rock, Great Balls of Fire and The Sound of Music. He is currently the Music Supervisor for The Buddy Holly Story through Buddy Worldwide Ltd, London, and has directed and appeared in many productions across Europe and North America. John was nominated for The Sterling Award for most outstanding Music Director at the Mayfield Dinner Theatre for Buddy in 2012. Also, at the Mayfield, he has appeared in Folkswaggin and Top Of The Pops, The British Invasion. Most Recently, John wrote and arranged the music for the world premier of Heartbreak Hotel, the prequel to Million Dollar Quartet, with the original writer and creators.

Nayeli Abrego

Maria Elena/Apollo Singer/Mary Lou Sokaloff/Snowbird/Clear Lake Musician

Nayeli is thrilled to at last return to the stage, and with such a wonderful cast and team. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance – Music Theatre from New York University. Select theatre:  Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (Thousand Islands Playhouse, Western Canada Theatre, New West Theatre), The Most Happy Fella (Skirball Center, NYC), The Ghomeshi Effect Tour (Perspective Collective Theatre). Select concert: Starbright 2019, You’ve Got a Friend… The Music of Carole King and James Taylor (Victoria Playhouse Petrolia), All You Need Is Love…And Rock And Roll (RuBarb Productions), 80s Solid Gold 2 (Stage West Calgary). Nayeli also performs as a soloist, most recently in Central America at the National Theatre of El Salvador, and at the Central American University (UCA). Find Nayeli’s music on Spotify, iTunes, and more! www.nayeliabrego.com / Instagram/Facebook: @NayeliMusica

Scott Carmichael

Norm Petty/Emcee/Engineer/DJ/Clear Lake Musician

Scott is thrilled to be making his Mayfield debut in Buddy. A Buddy veteran, Scott has also appeared in productions of the show for Western Canada Theatre, Thousand Island Playhouse, Arts Club, Magnus Theatre, Theatre Aquarius, Stage West, and Sudbury Theatre Centre. Selected acting credits include: Stompin’ Tom Connors in The Ballad of Stompin’ Tom (Sudbury Theatre Centre), Ring of Fire, ELF the Musical (Chemainus), Million Dollar Quartet (Drayton), The 39 Steps, Twelve Angry Men, I Love You You’re Perfect Now Change, The Melville Boys, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) (Rose Theatre Brampton).

Celeste Catena

Apollo Singer/Shirley/Snowbird/Clear Lake Musician

Celeste Catena (she/her) is thrilled to be making her Mayfield Dinner Theatre debut in this production of Buddy Holly! She has recently graduated in Sheridan College’s Class of 2021 with her Bachelor of Music Theatre Performance Degree with Honours and is so excited to finally be able to begin her career. Before the pandemic, Celeste was getting ready to make her Stratford Festival debut in their productions of Chicago and Here’s What It Takes. It is an immense privilege to be able to engage in live theatre again, and she hopes this show fills your heart as much as it does hers! Celeste is incredibly thankful to her agents at Talent House, her friends and family who keep her laughing, and everyone who has made this musical what it is, including our wonderful audiences. Be kind, stay healthy, and enjoy the show!

Tyler Check

Buddy Holly

Tyler is an actor, singer, musician, director, teacher, producer, and writer originally from Kingston Ontario. Previous theatre credits include: ­Mamma Mia (Stage West), Canada 151 (Mayfield Dinner Theatre), Million Dollar Quartet (Stage West/Mayfield/Drayton Entertainment/Mirvish), All You Need is Love & Rock n Roll (RuBarb Productions), You’ll Get Used To It…The War Show!, Kings & Queens of Country, Marathon of Hope (Drayton Entertainment), Forever Plaid (Starvox/Stirling Festival Theatre), Spamalot (Stephenville Theatre Festival). Along with performing Tyler works as a writer, music producer, and is the Artistic Director of Suitcase Theatre. If he’s not doing one of those things, you will usually find him either playing or thinking about playing Dungeons & Dragons. Tyler would like to thank The Talent House, as well as his family, for their constant love and support.  

Michael Clarke

Apollo Performer/Clear Lake Musician

Michael is thrilled to be returning to the Mayfield Dinner Theatre for The Buddy Holly Story, a show he loves. He has performed in a plethora of productions of the show across Canada since 1997.  “Each time it’s a different journey, working with different actors, musicians and creative teams to tell Buddy’s story”.  Other theatre credits include: Soul King – A concert tribute to Sam Cooke, Miss Saigon, The Who’s Tommy, The Lion King, Seussical the Musical, One Man two Guvnors, Kim’s Convenience and Smokey Joe’s Café; Film & Television: Clifford the Big Red Dog – 2019 reboot.  Michael thanks his friends and family for all their love and support.

Paul Morgan Donald

Hipockets Duncan/Clear Lake Musician

Paul is delighted to be back at the Mayfield!  This is his third time playing Hipockets and every performance is special. Other Mayfield appearances include All Shook Up and Folkswaggin’. Paul is the musical director of Die-Nasty, Edmonton’s live improvised soap opera, (currently in its 30th season Monday nights at the Varscona Theatre) and a composer and sound designer for theatre and film.

Sheldon Elter

The Big Bopper/Murray Deutch/Decca Producer (November 30-January 23)

Sheldon’s credits include: Dear Rita, Stories From The Red Dirt Road (Confed Centre), Ministry of Grace (Belfry Theatre), Comedy Company (Shadow Theatre),  Evangeline (Citadel Theatre/Charlotte Town Festival), Christmas Carol, Crazy For You, Alice Through The Looking Glass, One Man Two Guvnors, Julius Caesar, A Prairie Boy’s Winter and Vimy  (Citadel Theatre), Tartuffe, The Sound of Music, Enron (National Arts Centre), After The Fire, BEARS (Punctuate Theatre), The Crackwalker (Kill Your Television), Tartuffe, Sound of L’Homme de la Mancha (L’Unithéâtre), HROSES: An Affront to Reason (Maggie Tree), NEVERMORE (Catalyst Theatre), HAIR The Musical, Shear Madness, The 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee, The Buddy Holly Story and The Full Monty (Mayfield Dinner Theatre). TV credits: Tribal, Hank Williams’ First Nation (APTN), Hell On Wheels, (AMC). Co-star, writer, and Co-Executive Producer on Delmer and Marta and CAUTION: May Contain Nuts (APTN) Top 14 of Canadian Idol in 2006. He is also a member of the ukulele rock band sensation, The Be Arthurs.

Paul Lamoureux

Clear Lake Musician

Multi-instrumentalist Paul Lamoureux was born here in Edmonton. He holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in music from North Texas State University, and a diploma in Performing Arts from Grant MacEwan Community College (yes, that long ago!). Paul has performed with Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas (O at the Bellagio), the Tommy Banks Band, and Princess Cruises. Mayfield Dinner Theatre productions include Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Full Monty, The Wedding Singer, Chicago, and Cabaret. Fluently bilingual, Paul was Musical Director of CBC French radio’s Gala Albertain de la Chanson for 8 years and has recorded 4 CDs of his own instrumental pop/jazz music on his own label. When not working in theatre, Paul loves to entertain Seniors under the stage name “Lam-Chops”.

Jennifer McMillan

Vi Petty/Snowbird/ Clear Lake Musician

Jennifer is so excited and thankful to be back on stage at the Mayfield! Jen is an active member of the Edmonton musical community. She is a graduate of the Music Composition and Piano Performance programs at Grant MacEwan University and has since developed into a sought-after accompanist, vocalist, clinician, composer and arranger. As a music director and accompanist, she has played for numerous choirs, soloists, cabarets, and musicals in Canada and abroad. As a vocalist, Jen has lent her talents to many vocal ensembles and has sung for various vocal jazz and choral publishing demos. She has performed as a backup singer for Ben Folds and has been a featured vocalist in many film, television and video game recordings. A few favourites include Universal Studios Tokyo, Warframe (video game), CBS’s Hawaii Five-0, and CBC’s The Nature of Things.

Alex Panneton

Jerry Allison/Ritchie Valens

Alex was born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario. He graduated from Sheridan College’s Music Theatre Performance Program in 2017. He made his professional debut in Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story at the Globe Theatre, Regina and is thrilled to be performing it again, this time on the drums! Alex is a staple of the Sudbury-based company, YES Theatre, most notably as Grasshopper in James and the Giant Peach, Gaston in Beauty and the Beast, and featuring in Merrily We Roll Along directed by Mitchell Cushman. He frequently works with Smile Theatre, writing and touring an original musical for the company in 2019 entitled Back to B4: A Bingo Bonanza, as well as MDing/performing in the 50’s review At The Hop. Alex is a passionate musician, MD and multi-instrumentalist. Some of his musician credits include: Floyd Collins, Spring Awakening (Theatre Sheridan), The Rocky Horror Show (Ovation Productions) and Bare (ToToToo Theatre).

Trevor Patt

The Big Bopper/Murray Deutch/Decca Producer (November 9-28)

Trevor couldn’t be more excited to be making his debut at the Mayfield! He has been fortunate to spend five seasons at the Stratford Festival, and has also performed across Canada in numerous shows at many theatres including the Charlottetown Festival, Citadel Theatre, Grand Theatre, Drayton Entertainment, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Theatre Aquarius, Rainbow Stage, Smile Theatre, Theatre Orangeville, Port Hope, Here For Now, and the original development workshops of Come From Away. He also has been known to enjoy a scotch or three, loves camping, cooking, skateboarding, and his wonderful partner, Jade. Thanks to the Talent House and his family for their constant support.

Evan Stewart

Joe B. Mauldin/ Clear Lake Musician

Evan Stewart is a freelance bassist from Edmonton. Evan graduated from McGill University’s Schulich School of Music with a degree in Jazz Performance in 2012, studying with Alec Walkington, Frasier Hollins, and Jim Doxas. More recently he’s studied with Scott Feltham of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. He has toured, performed, and recorded extensively across North America. Recent performances include the Segal Centre’s productions of The Times They Are A Changin’, I Love You You’re Perfect Now Change, Prom Queen the Musical, and Million Dollar Quartet. Other notable performances include Million Dollar Quartet at the Aquarius Theatre in Hamilton, Million Dollar Quartet, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Kronborg: The Hamlet Rock Musical at the Charlottetown Festival in Prince Edward Island.

Derek Stremel

Ensemble/Clear Lake Musician

Derek grew up in a musical family and started playing multiple instruments at a young age. He moved to Alberta after high school, leaving his Manitoba farming roots behind to begin his professional musical career. Early in his career he also took a job with the Otis Elevator Company; like every job, it had its ups and downs. He heard that hard work never killed anybody but figured, why take the chance? So, for over two decades now he has been employed at the Mayfield Dinner Theatre playing musical revues and Broadway musicals. He sends his love and gratitude to his wife Pam and their girls Emily and Ashley. Derek would never use gratuitous italics and is always absolutely delighted by the opportunity to write about himself in the third person. He’d love to go into more detail, but he’s only allowed 150 words and has unfortunately run out of