CHANTILLY LACE: The Musical showcases the talents of Jiles Perry Richardson, Jr. (a/k/a The Big Bopper), who wrote three songs which reached #1 on the charts after his death.  Famed for the song CHANTILLY LACE (named by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of Rock's 500 most influential songs) and for his untimely death at the age of 28 along with Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, the Bopper's story has not been told before because his pregnant widow was so devastated by his death that she was unable to speak about him for years.

The Bopper's posthumously-born son, Jay P. Richardson, now manages his legacy and, in conjunction with Mr. Richardson, Potion Productions will be mounting the musical to honor the 50th anniversary of his father's last performance.  That event will also be celebrated by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Surf Ballroom, site of the last performance before "The Day the Music Died," made famous by Don McLean's song AMERICAN PIE.

CHANTILLY LACE went gold shortly before the plane crash - RUNNING BEAR, the only song in our musical not recorded by the Bopper, was originally recorded by Johnny Preston and went to Number One.  WHITE LIGHTNIN, recorded by George Jones, went to Number One, as did CHANTILLY LACE in 1972 when recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis.  BEGGAR TO A KING was a popular country-western waltz recorded by Hank Snow, Ernest Tubbs and Jones.  Many of the Bopper's other songs, although known to fans at the time, have not been showcased for future generations, a mistake this production will rectify. Far from a one-hit wonder, Jape's songs include ballads, waltzes and tender love songs.

The Bopper also predicted the advent of the music video in an interview with an English music magazine weeks before his death and recorded three shortly before his death.  Although the music he would have made died on February 3, 1959, the music he did make will live forever."