REVIEW - Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story keeps his legendary songs alive and thrilling new audiences year after year

On Monday, we were invited to Lowry, Salford to see Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story. Read what our reviewer Karen Ryder had to say about this fantastic show...

Buddy will always hold a special place in my heart for many reasons.  Firstly, it was the first musical I ever saw in the West End as a teen.  I was asked along by my friend whose dad was a huge Buddy Holly fan!  In the lead up to our trip, he would take abundant pleasure in sharing his passion, enthusiastically teaching us the songs, playing them on car journeys.  We learnt the rhythms so we could be our own percussion band and soaked up the history of how Buddy Holly made his mark on rock n’ roll.  My friends dad is now sadly rocking alongside the Big Bopper, Ritche Valens and Buddy, so it was an emotional night for us as we remembered his love of this sensational music, and for us, it all began with this show.

Buddy Holly was perhaps one of the most unassuming rock n’ roll stars that ever lived.  From a country music, rockabilly background, and his thick set glasses, appearances were certainly deceptive, for when he picked up that guitar and made music, the world paid attention.  Buddy -  The Buddy Holly Story follows the legendary tale of a young group of men and their meteoric rise to international stardom in just a few short months.  There are highs, there are low, and there is a devastating twist of fate as their lives were cut short following a plane crash, later inspiring the song ‘American Pie.’  Buddy was aged just 22.  His music would go on to influence just about everyone, from The Beatles to Bruce Springteen.  Buddy -  The Buddy Holly Story is a love letter to his talent, his music, his legacy, and is an absolute must for any rock n’ roll fan.

Dubbed as the original jukebox musical, you certainly get your fill on Buddy songs, and as the musical follows the bands story, we see the songs as they are created, rehearsed, recorded and performed, so there is never any sense of them being shoehorned into an existing book.  We see their groundbreaking, history making performance at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, are bewitched by one of the simplest yet beautiful moments in musical theatre as Buddy sings True Love Ways, just voice and guitar to his pregnant wife, and giggle at the zealous charm of these talented musicians, winning people over wherever they went.  The second half mostly pays homage to their final concert in Clear Lake Iowa and so includes the likes of The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens.  This is a phenomenal feel good concert that literally has the theatre bouncing and alive with unadulterated joy, togetherness, and positivity.  We are encouraged to clap along, sing along, cheer, shout and fill the theatre full of palpable energy, which the band hungrily feeds off.  I only have to think about these scenes to ignite the sensations and put a smile on my face.  They are so powerful that they stay with you.  Let’s face it, they have stayed with me a lifetime, from my very first viewing of the show when I was a youngster, and the many more visits over the years.  With songs such as That’ll Be The Day and Oh Boy rousing your spirits, Everyday and Heartbeat encouraging you to join in the percussion / clapping, Peggy Sue and Maybe Baby tempting you to try and mimic the distinctive Buddy twang and voice note jumps, True Love Ways and Raining In My Heart reaching for the tissues, or the vivacious Rave On and Brown Eyed Handsome Man fuelling your inner rock n’ roll wild child, it’s virtually impossible to pick a favourite from this back catalogue, because they all serve their own purpose, and are all winners.

Every time I see Buddy -  The Buddy Holly Story, I am blown away by the cast and always think my expectations have been exceeded so much that any future casts don’t stand a chance in comparison.  And time and time again I am wrong.  Tonight, not only was I wrong, I was so wrong that if I were a hat eating person, I’d have eaten mine!  There are not enough superlatives to shimmy shake and shine at this sickeningly talented bunch!  AJ Jenks (The Three Musketeers, Saturday Night Fever, Million Dollar Quartet) sets the theatre alight as Buddy Holly.  He brings us grit, determination, a strong sense of self, and rock n’ roll pumping out of his core.  Jenks captures Buddy’s definite twang beautifully, and indulges us in his remarkable talent from country blues, to rasping rock, to heart stopping ballads.  Jenks ignites the audience time and time again and by the end of the show, he seems to want ‘just one more song’ just as much as we do!  Stephen Alexander-Kerr, Melker Nilsson, and Joe Sterling were our Crickets and incredible musicians, capturing the performance flare of this iconic trio wonderfully.   The stunts pulled off by Nilsson on the double bass were breath taking and impressive to say the least.  The harmonies between these four were stunning and as a band they blew everyone away, making us forget that they are actually not a band at all, but brought together only for the purpose of this production.  Miguel Angel and Joshua Barton were Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper respectively, bringing us the fun and energy of these much loved performers with their biggest hits La Bamba and Chantilly Lace.  The remaining cast, all playing dual roles were Andrew Farrell, Ewan Ling, Marta Miranda, Thomas Fabian Parrish, and Laura-Dene Perryman.  They all brought outstanding vocals, insatiable energy, and drove the show forward through a variety of nuanced moments, each with their own moment to shine.     

Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story opens with the stage designed as a recording studio, with the ‘egg carton’ style sound proofing adorning the stage in a rainbow of pastel colours.  Apart from the odd piece of furniture being switched around, this forms the basis of the staging for most of the first half, and the show benefits from this, as it is free to be all about the music.  The move to the Apollo Theatre Harlem is cleverly staged, taking us from backstage to onstage via a simple yet genius swish of curtain and lighting, and when we reach the concert in Clear Lake Iowa, ruched curtains adorn the stage with a showbiz flare.  Some of the transitions and set changes take a moment of time, leaving performers on the audience side of the curtain to ‘fill’ and keep us entertained.  The intention works, but something didn’t quite hit the mark, and it felt a tad awkward at times.  This might have been the joke – that the performers were thrown in the deep end - but I was personally unsure and it tugged on the energy that had been built up a little bit.  However, with a show such as this, that energy is never far away and before you know it, you are once again toe tapping, clapping, and fizzing with the sheer momentum of the show as it catapults you towards a rip-roaring finale, designed to get you up on your feet.  The inevitable tragic end of Holly, Bopper and Valens is handled with dignity, respect and poignancy.  It has stayed with me since I first saw this show many years ago, and it touched me just as much tonight. It is a wonderfully tender moment and a perfect theatrical example of how less can be more.

Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story has still got it after all these years.  There is a reason it has been seen by over 22 million people word wide, has won endless awards, and shows no sign of slowing down – because the music speaks for itself.  It is keeping these legendary songs alive and thrilling new audiences year after year.  It is cranking up the volume on our raw instinct to rock it out and dance it out!  So, whether you remember Buddy Holly for his songs, his unprecedented achievements, for this musical, for making it cool to wear glasses, for memories that are intertwined with a loved one, or for your dad singing the alternate lyrics to Oh Boy (if you know, you know), remember him.  This is rock n’ roll at its finest, raw, free, and full of hope.  And with a cast that play instruments as well as they sing, as well as they act, as well as they entertain, that is your lasting impression.  And that is the legacy that a young Buddy Holly gave the world.  Create music, love it, sing it, play it, experiment with it, never settle for less than perfection, share it, and rave on!   

WE SCORE BY BUDDY...



Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story is on at Lowry, Salford until Saturday 27th September 2025.

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