Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story

USER (27Oct06): This musical is amazing!!

USER (23May06): Buddy, The Buddy Holly Story Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham, Monday 22 May 2006 Yes it’s that nostalgic 1950s show, on the go for approaching 20 years, 13 years in the West End and touring for many years and still filling theatres everywhere it plays. Last night a good sized and enthusiastic audience rocked and rolled to Elliot Harper as Buddy Holly. I liked the format of the show and as this was the first time I’ve seen the musical found the biography style of Act 1 and concert presentation of Act 2 exactly right and judging by the audience reaction they thought so too. The musical follows the short lived career of the bespectacled star who took the pop music world by storm in 1957 but who sadly died in 1959 in a plane crash alongside fellow performers Ritchie Valens (La Bamba) and The Big Bopper (Chantilly Lace) who were portrayed larger than life by Ricky Glowacki and William Kenning. All the well known numbers such as “Everyday”, “Peggy Sue”, "Oh Boy", "True Love Ways", “Heartbeat” and “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” are sung with flare by Elliot Harper and backed by a talented group of musicians under the direction of John Banister. The Act 1 closer “Oh Boy” got just that reaction and the finale “Johnny B Goode” brought the house down. Carina Gillespie was well cast as Buddy’s sweetheart and the whole cast worked brilliantly together producing a great atmosphere on stage and in the auditorium particularly during Act 2. Of note too were Debbralee and Ann- Marie Roberts as the Apollo Theatre (Harlem) singers with their vocals, fun and powerful presence. The sets are functional, ideal for a touring production and in the same way that those for “Grease” set the time span Buddy too had adverts from the 1950s and the added use of some back projection to punctuate the journey through his short career worked very effectively. There was also moodiness to the sets through some clever lighting but some of the individual spot lighting needed to be faster. Written and directed by Rob Bettinson this is a show that will please all ages and clearly still has a great deal of energy. Catch it at the Alex until Saturday May 27th 2006 it is well worth seeing. Clive Fuller

USER (19Apr06): The most amazing performance I have ever seen. Elliot Harper rocked!!!! I felt as though I was watching buddy for real.

USER (03Feb06): Best show ever, great music and dancing