Let’s start with the elephant in
the room – this is not the Buddy Holly story! We find out very little about the
man behind the famous glasses; no mention is made of his life before he entered
the record industry except for the continuous messages from his mom worried if
he’s eaten or not. There are moments of interesting snippets from the two and a
half years that the musical covers, and in Act 2, we see a little of his love
story with Maria Elena – but, in reality, we are witnessing the story of Buddy
Holly’s music and it takes centre-stage with over 20 of his hits packed into
the evening. We are at a glorified
tribute act, where storyline and character development have been sacrificed to
squeeze in as many of Holly’s back-catalogue as possible. So, if we accept this
early on, then wow – what a great tribute act, with not just Buddy Holly’s
music but a smattering of other hits from the era too. The live sound is brilliantly balanced and
whilst not carbon copies, each song is rendered true to the original
performance that we all know and love. A
J Jenks plays Buddy with obvious affection and respect. He is, like all the cast, a talented musician
in his own right, leading the show and leading the music too, as Buddy himself
did. The energy required for his
performance is huge – he bounces, jumps, kicks, and dances his way around the
stage for almost two hours.
The action, such as it is, is
narrated by Thomas Mitchells, in a guise of roles (“Hi-pockets” Duncan, Norman
Petty and various DJ/comperes). Mitchell’s
talent was evident almost immediately. He had ranged through at least 4 accents in the 10 minutes and provided
much comedy as “Hi-pockets” bounced between his on-air and real-life personas. With
a change of Mitchells’ jacket and hat, and a new projected logo above the walls
of the recording studio set, we move from Texas to Nashville, back to Texas and
then to New Mexico – where we are treated to a scene depicting the birth of
‘Everyday’ with Stephanie Cremona as Petty’s wife, at the celeste in her
rollers and housecoat, and Jerry Allison providing percussion on his thighs. Both performers really shine as the night
goes on, but this was a particularly lovely moment.
The culmination of Act 1 is the
band’s performance at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem where the Crickets’ naivety
causes much humour as Tyrone Jones (Miguel Angel), Chantel Williams (Laura-Dene
Perryman) and Marlena Madison (Samuelle Durojaiye) find themselves in close
quarters with these white boys from Texas. The band’s music “sounds” black and
it’s clear there’s been some assumptions somewhere, as they’re the only white
performers on the bill! It’s a nerve-wracking wait as the audience lap up the
rousing performances of ‘Reet Petite’ (Angel) and ‘Shout’ (Perryman and
Durojaiye). As we all now know, Holly’s
music speaks for itself – he steps across a divide he is barely aware of - and
the rest is history. Special mention
must go here to Joe Butcher who, as Joe B Mauldin gave a seminal display of how
a rock’n’roll bass should be played – he made the instrument his dance partner
to great comic effect and more than one held breath as he and Jenks defied
science in their balancing prowess!
By Act 2, Buddy is in New York
with a reconfigured backing group (why, we don’t find out) and the confidence
of success about him. He meets Maria
Elena and he proposes on their first date. Jenks’ rendition of ‘True Love Ways’ as he bids his now pregnant wife
farewell to travel to Iowa was a tender reminder of the tragedy we all know is
coming. The latter half of Act 2 is
occupied with Holly, Valens (Angel) and the Big Bopper’s (Christopher Chandler)
last concert - first backstage, where we see the coin toss that seals Ritchie
Valens’ fate and then out on stage at the Surf Ballroom, Clear Lake. With the whole cast on stage, including
Mitchells first as the MC and then taking his place with the backing singers,
this is a celebration of all three performers. Angel is even better as Ritchie Valens than he was as Tyrone Jones in
Act 1, and Chandler is a dominant force in height and personality. Played against the most beautiful vintage
swag, that shone in every possible colour through the set, with live
saxophones, trumpet, and pianos to supplement the “original” band, this was a
tour de force of the Holly era. Just
when you thought they must surely have exhausted the Buddy Holly songbook, out
came another song, and another – all familiar, chart-toppers with that
distinctive hic-cough in the lyrics. The sheer number of songs, aligned with
the tender farewell to his wife and the pally humour of the backstage scene,
served as a very clever way to build the tension.
As in Act 1, the theatre audience become a
part of the show – stepping into history as we represented the Clear Lake
audience of 1959. One couldn’t help but
wonder how we compared. This very
polite, middle-aged, Tuesday night audience in Bradford were not the screaming,
rock’n’roll fans we imagine Holly and his friends played to that night. It took the cast all their best efforts with
comedy, ardour, and vivacity to finally get us up on our feet and dancing by
the end of ‘Johnny B Goode’ (no, it’s not a Holly number but it had the perfect
energy for the final song).
As we inhabited that crowd’s
shoes for a few moments and were reminded of what a talent this man had been,
the inevitable happened...the music
came to an echoing halt, the curtains closed and with a spotlight on his
distinctive guitar, we heard the radio announcement of his death. This was an impactful end to the night.
So, I usually end with my
recommendation as to whether or not to go and see whatever the show is that I’m
reviewing. Should you go and see
‘Buddy’? If you’re a fan of rock’n’roll (or even just like a bit of nostalgia),
it’s got to be a yes. The opportunity to
see such a talented set of musicians live, is worth the ticket price in its own
right. If you’re going to go – give the
cast a break; let loose a bit, get a bit carried away and make sure you’re “all
ready to rock’n’roll”!
Reviewer - Justine Sutcliffe
on - 13.6.23
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