Theatre Royal, Nottingham – until Saturday 29th July 2023
Reviewed by Jill Heslop
5*****
“Tell your friends to come on down, ‘cos Buddy Holly’s back in town!” With these words, A. J. Jenks as Buddy Holly, ends this glorious musical show celebrating over 30 years of The Buddy Holly Story. And what a show it is! Brilliant singers, talented musicians, funny dialogue, all adding up to a wonderful night out at the theatre for all ages.
The tragic tale of Buddy Holly’s early death is well-known and luckily this is not the focus of the show. Instead we are taken on a musical journey (cleverly narrated by Hipockets Duncan, played by Thomas Mitchells) from Lubbock, Texas where Buddy was born and learned to play the guitar, to the recording studios of Decca and the beginnings of Rock and Roll taking over from the popular Country and Western music of the time. Amazingly, ‘That’ll Be The Day’ was rejected harshly at their early performance of the song! But the hits just keep on coming and the audience enjoy joining in with such familiar and legendary songs as ‘Peggy Sue’, ‘Oh Boy’, ‘Everyday’ and ‘Rave On’ throughout the show.
We see Buddy’s determination and talent at such a young age as he tirelessly does take after take in the studio. There is fun aplenty as we move to the Apollo theatre in Harlem, New York, where Buddy Holly and the Crickets were the first all-white rock act to play at the venue. This was shown with good humour. We are treated to a fantastic performance of ‘Reet Petite’ by Miguel Angel as Tyrone Jones and the brilliant singing of ‘Shout’ by Chantel Williams (Laura-Dene Williams) and Marlena Madison (Samuelle Durojaiye).
The final move to Clear Lake, Iowa is a mixture of back stage fly-on-the-wall dialogue and live performances, and we see the significance of the light-hearted bargaining for a seat on the fatal plane by Ritchie Valens (Miguel Angel) and The Big Bopper (Christopher Chandler).
A grand finale, the Surf Ballroom performance, involved the whole musical cast on stage with individual performances of ‘Chantilly Lace’ by The Big Bopper (Christopher Chandler) and yet another highlight of the evening, an unforgettable rendition of ‘La Bamba’ led by Ritchie Valens (Miguel Angel). By now the audience wish there were no seats in the venue, so we could get up and dance! We were all on our feet by the end of the evening, asking for more and being given some great guitar tricks by Buddy (A. J. Jenks) and acrobatics by bass player Joe B. Mauldin (Joe Butcher).
This is a feel-good musical with so much history on stage displayed with energy and verve, taking the audience on a trip down memory lane with a bang! As Buddy says, “Come on down, ‘cos Buddy Holly’s back in town!”