Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story
Embassy Theatre Skegness
02 - 06 May 2023
In a first for us here at Review Culture, we are reviewing the same show twice in a week at the same venue. On Tuesday night, we attended the opening night of Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story. We have also attended the closing night. Why? SImple, we were invited to. The 2023 touring production of the show features two performers in the lead role of Charles Hardin Holley, better know as legendary rock 'n' roll star Buddy Holly, tragically killed in 1959 just outside Clearlake, Iowa when chartered plane in which he was a passenger crashed during a blizzard. Along with Holly, other victims were the pilot Roger Peterson, teen star Ritchie Valens and J.P Richardson (better known as The Big Bopper). This show, written by Alan Janes, began life in 1989 and is still playing to enthusiastic audiences in 2023.
The reality of touring theatre today is that, post-COVID, you cannot afford to take a show out on the road with a limited cast and expect everything to run smoothly. In a world used to understudies and swings, a show named "Buddy" cannot afford to lose its star and not have a replacement ready and waiting to assume the mantle of the star. Thus there are two Buddy Hollys. I assume that this is also the reason that this show lists the extensive covers for each role in it's programme notes. In order to be fair to those performers expected to step into Buddy's shoes, they each get the chance to perform this demanding role at alternate performances. Interestingly, when not performing as Buddy, each is required to provide support as guitarist in The Crickets as Niki Sullivan and later as Tommy Allsup.
So it was, I saw AJ Jenks take the lead on Tuesday night, where he gave us a convincing performance of Buddy Holly, brimful of youthful exuberance. But the closing night belonged to Christopher Weeks, who I previously saw as the backing guitarist. Theoretically, seeing two actors playing a role in a production in the same week, the differences should be imperceptible. After all, it is the same character and the same script directed by the same person, with an audience expectation that they are seeing a show and it shouldn't matter who they see perform.
To a degree that is true in Buddy. However, every performer will always invest something of themself into any role they play and what the actor brings influences the performance they give. Thus, I watched the closing performance of the show with interest and a sharp eye for detail. The first thing to note is that neither actor is a dead ringer for Buddy physically. He had "a look" best summed up by the line in the show, "Buddy Holly wears glasses," and that is the first thing that comes into the mind of the public. Holly was a gangly, awkward looking individual - not unpleasant looking but - not always everyone's picture of a leading man.
Weeks plays Holly as a slightly dishevelled young man, more focussed on impressing with his music than with appearances. His wild mop of curly hair looking unkempt throughout. Without a doubt, Weeks nails the Texan drawl associated with Holly's speaking voice and the verbal ticks, hiccoughs and tone as he sings. He is remarkably close vocally to the original. His Buddy tries to fight back against the expectations of a music industry obsessed with things that just didn't matter to Buddy. I always pictured the original as being slightly more of an unpredictable firebrand however, less willing to give up on an argument than he would appear here. Holly was absolutely single-minded in the sound he wanted to create and was not prepared to compromise. Instead, he ploughed his own furrow ignoring the haters and laying down recording after recording until he got what HE wanted. Weeks' Buddy seems prepared to compromise to get studio time and recording opportunities. I suspect that the truth lay somewhere between my interpretation and his.
Nevertheless, Weeks delivers a muscular performance as the musical genius behind hit after hit who died at the tender age of 22. He performs Holly as a flawed individual who is oth impulsive and driven. He is willing to date and then wed, outside his own White Southern Baptist upbringing regardless of ostracism and is happy paying at all-black rock 'n' roll venues. Weeks' Holly is a maverick trailblazer. This ultimately creates a poignancy to the closing scene when a single spotlight rests on a lone acoustic guitar in a leather case embossed with the name "Buddy Holly", as Thomas Mitchells' voice of the everyman, personified in Hipockets Duncan, explains the tragic outcome for the failed flight designed to get the stars to warmer climes with greater haste than the beaten up bus the tour bookers provided.
It is the music that stands the test of time and that is why night after night audiences flock to the theatre to see this show. Once again, the magic of this production shone as hit after hit was lovingly recreated. I was impressed on opening night by the standard of the music in this stripped back touring version and remain so on closing night. The performers never miss a beat and are note-perfect throughout.
Weeks led the company to perfection during this performance and his stage presence and guitar playing were outstanding. I especially enjoyed his performance of two of Buddy's slower hits in True Love Ways and Raining In My Heart. He seemed to inject pathos into each song and found a depth that Holly himself should be proud of, were he still with us today. Of the two Buddys, I think Jenks handled the rockers better and Weeks the ballads. For example, I really enjoyed Jenks' electrified take on Brown Eyed Handsome Man but found the charm and gentleness of Everyday stood out more when Weeks performed it.
Both actors impress and give their performance their all and no one should feel that by only seeing one performer they are missing out. They both bring spectacular musicianship and musicality to their performance. Above all they both bring a convincing performance of Buddy Holly, the man behind the music in their acting. I suspect that this show, and these performers will continue to thrill audiences as it tours the UK and long may it do so.
Andy Evans 07 May 2023
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