Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

Week 3 of a 40-week tour of the UK, the long-running musical Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story, lands at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre. The multi award winning globe-trotting show, first performed in 1989, has clocked up an impressive 10,000+ performances in the UK, putting it firmly in the top 10 of UK musicals and can fairly promote itself as the forerunner of the now very popular Juke Box musical.

Typical of this style of musical, the script and acting play very much second fiddle to the music, which to be fair is practically non-stop. The story, what there is of it, by Alan Janes, focuses on the last 18 months, between 1957 and 1959, of Charles Hardin Holley’s, too short 22 years. The script could do with a reboot and the delivery is patchy, but gratefully, the music is never far away.

Act 1 sees Buddy struggling to break free from his Texas country roots and fighting to be taken seriously as a Rock’n’roll artist but is reminded that he is not Elvis Presley and ‘has about as much sex appeal as a telegraph pole’!

I’m not sure most of the ladies (and some of the men) in the audience would agree with that description of A J Jenks who gives a stellar lead performance and has the Buddy vocals off to a tee not to mention some virtuoso guitar work.

A highlight of the first act comes in the very first scene where Buddy Holly and the Crickets are in a Texas radio station, quietly playing a Country classic, Rose of Texas before morphing into the rock’n’roll classic, Rip It Up. And boy do they ever – its guaranteed to put a smile on your face!

Joe Butcher playing Cricket, Joe B Mauldin, also deserves a special mention for his antics on the double bass, throwing it around in fine style and at various times has Buddy climbing aboard the Bass, then himself, whilst continuing to play.

To be fair, the whole cast is multi-talented most playing multiple instruments, singing, dancing and acting, often multiple roles and doing so with no shortage of energy and ability.

After the interval the show picks up some much needed pace and careers towards its inevitable conclusion; the final 1959 Winter Dance Party concert featuring Buddy, Ritchie Valens (played by Miguel Angel) and the Big Bopper (played by Christopher Chandler). Immediately after the concert all three died in a plane crash during a terrible snowstorm.

There were some significant technical problems on press night. Whilst Pete Cox’s sound design worked great for the big concert scenes there were major issues including mics not working properly and popping and interference on both head and hand-held mics. Hopefully this was just opening night gremlins and can be sorted out going forward.

Adrian Ross’s set design, whilst evocative of the 1950’s era was too drab and ineffective and rather lost on this large stage, a series of fold up flats that clearly would be more at home in some of the smaller venues on the tour. Unfortunately, a one size fits all rarely works.

Director Matt Salisbury correctly puts the music at the forefront, but the story is lost and the acting looks (I hate to say it) under-rehearsed and the actors at times looked vulnerable on this imposing stage. All of which did not allow the audience to relax fully. Given the lineage of this show it deserves better.

This show ironically leaves so many questions unanswered. A deep dive into who Buddy Holly was, this is not. However, it is a timely reminder of just how prolific a song writer Buddy Holly was in his very short life, the brilliant music he created and how much future potential was lost the day the music died.

Running time – 2hrs 15 mins including 15 min interval. Playing until 18th March, https://www.capitaltheatres.com/

Reviewer: Greg Holstead

Reviewed: 14th March 2023

North West End UK Rating: ★★★