Review - Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story at The Hawth

Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story has been seen by 22 million people worldwide, making it the most successful rock and roll musical of all time.
Buddy: The Buddy Holly StoryBuddy: The Buddy Holly Story
Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story

And it's easy to see why. I am not an expert in Buddy's music, but am aware of the classics. And they are really brought to life in a hugely entertaining and crowd-pleasing show.

This multi-award winning West End show was at the Hawth, Crawley for two nights and if you missed it, it's your loss. It's a great show and it's easy to forget if it wasn't for Buddy, we may not have had the multi-million selling juke-box musicals Mamma Mia, Jersey Boys and We Will Rock You.

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The show features two hours of some of the greatest songs ever written, including Oh Boy, Rave On, La Bamba, Chantilly Lace, Johnny B. Goode, Raining In My Heart, That’ll Be The Day, Everyday, Shout, and many many more.

The cast of talented actors and musicians tell Buddy Holly’s story, from his meteoric rise to fame, to his final legendary performance at The Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa.

len Joseph is very charismatic in the titular role and belts out those great songs with lots of enthusiasm. Thomas Mitchells (The Big Bopper), Jordan Cunningham (Ritchie Valens) and Miguel Angel (various roles) have great fun on stage and interact well with the crowd.

And as well the music, dance and drama, there's also great humour. And Matthew Quinn as MC at Clear Lake showed off his comic timing as he interacted with the crowd. Even Anne-Marie from Switzerland didn't throw him off course!

If Buddy doesn't leave you dancing in the aisles and with a smile on your face, there is something wrong.

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