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Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
*****
THE story is probably well known – but
this is far from a gloomy commemoration, more an energetic celebration
of the man, his friends and their music.
For a start, there were
some cracking musicians on that stage. Buddy, christened Charles Haldin
Holly, played by Glen Joseph (Alex Fobbester at other performances) and
his immense talent and legacy have informed Rock and Roll and the live
music presented in this show shows the breadth of his talent and the
fight to bring ‘his kind of music played his way’.
His friends, the Crickets (Joe Butcher) and Jerry
(Josh Haberfield - an exceptional drummer), start off in Lubbock, Texas
where Country is King and their first big break with Decca Records in
Nashville comes to a gory and speedy end, where the kind of music they
play, Rock and Roll, is a step too far.
But signing with the broad-minded Norman Petty
(Alex Tosh) in New Mexico, who also looked after Roy Orbison, was the
next and best step. Together success was assured and hits followed one
after another – all well known.
The music used in the
show from That’ll be the Day
through Peggy Sue
to Johnny B Goode
was wonderful. The lovely, gentle and quiet
Everyday with
Vi Petty (Celia Cruwys-Finnigan) on the celeste started a quiet hum in
the audience that grew into unexpected audience participation and was
gorgeous. When the audience joined in with
Raining in my Heart
we knew the words better than Buddy!
A scene that was glorious featured The Flames
(Miguel Angel and Jordan Cunningham) at the Harlem Apollo where, in the
days of segregation of the late 50s, a white band could have had a
really hard time but it went well.
Later, when Buddy had split from The Crickets to
spend more time with his new bride Maria Elena (Kerry Low), the Winter
Dance scene with The Big Bopper (Thomas Mitchells) and Richie Valens
(Jordan Cunningham) was high-energy, foot-tapping brilliance and one
chap in the audience just had to get out of his seat and do some
high-energy dance moves.
One last thing, I really enjoyed and so did the
rest of the audience, the Compere at Clearlake (Matthew Quinn),
absolutely hysterical take-off of Red Coat entertainer and a joy to
watch. Directed by Matt Salisbury, Buddy runs to 15-10-16
Jane Howard
12-10-16
Buddy continue its UK tour and will be at
Wolverhampton Grand 31 Jan-4 Feb, 2017 and The New Alexandra Theatre 28
March – 1 April, 2017
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