The Buddy Holly Story | 17 March 2026
Invited Press Night | Review by Robyn Watson
Rocking and Rolling into Darlington’s Hippodrome week is The Buddy Holly Story. Expect drama, passion and excitement as this show takes its week-long spot in the Hippodrome. As expected, it tells the tragic tale of Buddy’s life celebrating his many achievements to music in the very short time he was able to grace our ears. From Texas Rockabilly beginnings to wanting to pursue the Rock n Roll dream, this show highlights his eccentric personality and grit for wanting more before sadly passing, aged 22, in a plane crash. The plane crash that inspired the smash hit American Pie, penning it as the day the music died. I was hoping to be entertained but also educated last night and I definitely was. I was amazed with just how many songs I recognised and it is no surprise how he influenced so many stellar artists such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
The staging was very colourful and looked mightily impressive whilst keeping that very 50s feel. I loved the use of the draped cloths with different coloured lights reflected onto them to create the concert hall feel. They cleverly used the stage to create different scenes such as the recording studio and the Apollo Theatre. The cast expertly maneuvered the set across the stage but for the most part this stayed relatively simple. There were some exciting lighting cues which made for a very immersive experience.
The thing I was most impressed with throughout the evening, had to be the insanely talented cast who played live on stage. From Guitars to Brass, this show really had the live music aspect nailed down. With a whopping 30 live songs, the cast had enormous shoes to fill and there was not a beat out of place. I particularly enjoyed Melker Nilsson’s double bass skills especially as he was throwing that enormous instrument around like it weighed nothing. The show began in The Grand Bowl, Lubbock with Joshua Barton as Hipockets introducing us to the story live on his radio station. We got to see Holly rebel almost instantly with his change up from Rose of Texas to Rip it Up.
Playing Buddy Holly was the insanely talented AJ Jenks, who wowed the audience with his beautiful voice and amazing guitar riffs- particularly in the final number where he played the guitar behind his head! He had the personality down with the sweet ‘good guy’ attitude sliding into the more stubborn ways, which allowed him to produce music just the way he wanted. Jenks embodied the character of Holly perfectly, and I adored his sweet and emotional moment with just his wife, Maria Elena, played sweetly by Marta Miranda, and his guitar singing True Love Ways. This was a really nice transition from the rest of the music within the show. I would have loved to see more of the songs weaved into the story a little more naturally just like this one as a lot of Jukebox Musicals have cleverly thought about the placement of the songs. That being said this didn’t deter from my enjoyment of the show.
My favourite part of the show had to be their performance in The Apollo Theatre in New York at the end of Act One. I was blown away by Miguel Angel’s version of Reet Petite. What a showstopping performer. The music just seemed to flow out of him effortlessly. He was then joined by Laura Dene- Perryman who played Marlena Maddison and they duetted Shout together. What a dream team. This was a real eye opener as Buddy Holly and his Crickets took to the stage with a cascade of hits although being terrified to play in the venue it went down an absolute treat! I adored the use of audience participation throughout the theatre and concert scenes as it really got the whole audience involved and in a real feel good mood. Everyone around me was singing and dancing away and it just put a huge smile on my face.
Holding together the live music on stage was bassist Joe Sterling playing Niki Sullivan and Stephen Alexander- Kerr who played Jerry Allison. These two always seemed to be getting into mischief and I just adored Jerry’s quirky, crazy attitude on stage. Also, what an absolutely incredible drummer! They supported Jenks well and I loved their in unison movements and dance breaks between songs. A really lovely choreographed piece of movement.
The end of the show transported us to the Clear Lake Concert, where we were treated to a whole cascade of songs. Thomas Fabian Parrish led the role of the Clearlake MC, and he certainly had a challenging job of getting the audience warmed up. A scary job not knowing what your response will always be but the good people of Darlington certainly did the job. He announced Ewan Ling as Jack Daw with his wonderful band singing a gorgeous, harmonious version of Why Do Fools Fall in Love. This led into Big Bopper’s version of Chantilly Lace which was such a fantastically fun number played by Joshua Barton playing a dual role. A real change up of character which he did with ease. The Clear Lake concert then brought out Jenks and he really shined through the next 8 songs. This cannot be easy on his vocals but he gave such high energy in all the numbers. Everyone in the audience was singing and smiling along throughout. Heartbeat was a highlight with everyone clapping along to the number. It was amazing to see the whole cast coming on stage to build the orchestra. What a set of multi talented people! The whole cast looked like they were having the time of their lives.
In a fitting ending, the announcement came that Buddy boarded the plane with his friends but sadly didn’t make it. It didn’t dwell on the sadness for too long and this kept the lighthearted feel to the show. Very respectfully done.
Overall, this is a great show with an immensely talented cast however, I would have liked to have seen a little more depth to the story after Buddy had gone. If you’re looking for a light hearted, feel good show this one is definitely for you! You will be wowed by the legacy of their music they left behind and will definitely be surprised with how many songs you know.