Mayflower Theatre, Southampton – until Saturday 24th June 2023
Reviewed by Sally Lumley
4****
The show tells the story of Buddy Holly’s (Christopher Weeks) rapid rise to fame with his band The Crickets, fighting against the established country music scene to do “his music his way”. A lucky break, and meeting with music producer Norman Petty (Thomas Mitchells), leads to commercial success and an impressive catalogue of rock ‘n’ roll hits, before Buddy’s infamous plane crash just eighteen months later. The show relies more on the music than the backstory, and many of the songs are delivered as if we were in the audience of a real Buddy Holly show. While this works, we were left with lots of questions about who Buddy really was and would have liked to know more about him and his relationships with the people around him. However, using this approach does cleverly allow the show to include other hit songs and acts of the time including Ritchie Valens (Miguel Angel) and The Big Bopper (Christopher Chandler) who bought the house down with their performances; we were shaking our air maracas along in the crowd!
Christopher Weeks as Buddy Holly has the iconic voice down to perfection, and the moves to match, more than doing justice to the original. He was very capably supported by The Crickets, with the amazing multi-talented cast playing all the instruments live on stage, really helping to transport the audience back to a 1950’s rock ‘n’ roll concert. Joe Butcher on double bass was particularly impressive, showcasing some incredible moves while he played. Another crowd favourite was Thomas Mitchells who played multiple roles throughout the show, but particularly shining when he engaged with the audience as the MC of the Clearlake show, providing a naturally funny comic interlude.
Buddy – the Buddy Holly Story had the whole audience on their feet cheering for more. The show is a wonderful tribute to a rock ‘n’ roll legend and an entertaining night out for fans old and new