Buddy, the long running rock ‘n’ roll musical biography of 50s recording star Buddy Holly, returns to London in August for a West End run at the Duchess theatre.
Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story, to give it its full title, is a musical journey through the tragically short career of young rock ‘n’ roll star Buddy Holly, who died in a plane crash in February 1959 aged 22. Charting the three years from the musician’s first recording contract through his move to New York and the fatal tour of Midwest America with Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper, the show sees Buddy singing his way from the recording studio in Nashville Tennessee to Harlem’s Apollo Theatre, culminating in a live rock ‘n’ roll finale at the Winter Dance Party. Along the way the musical features over 20 of Buddy’s greatest hits including Peggy Sue, That’ll Be The Day, Oh Boy, Rave On, Heartbeat and Raining In My Heart.
Now in its 18th year, the show first opened at the Victoria Palace in 1989 before transferring to the Strand (now the Novello) in 1995, where it ran until departing the West End in 2002. The musical has since toured the UK and internationally.
Buddy is written by Alan Janes and Rob Bettinson, who produce and direct the production respectively. Janes and Bettinson are the duo behind the shows Jailhouse Rock – The Musical (Piccadilly, 2004) and 125th Street (Shaftesbury, 2002).
Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story opens at the Duchess on 7 August (previews from 3 August) and is booking until 5 January. Tickets go on sale on Tuesday.
Currently at the Duchess is Peepolykus’s spoof thriller The Hound Of The Baskervilles, which is booking until 21 July. em>CB