Chesterfield to host award-winning musical about Buddy Holly

Loved by critics and audiences alike, Buddy tells the enduring story of the musical icon’s meteoric rise from his rockabilly beginnings to international stardom and his legendary final performance at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, before his tragic death at the age of just 22. In 18 short months the bespectacled boy from Lubbock, Texas, revolutionised the face of contemporary music, and would influence everyone from The Beatles to Bruce Springsteen and The Rolling Stones.

Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story will run at Chesterfield’s Winding Wheel Theatre from March 7 to 11, 2023. Writer/ producer Alan Janes says: “We are so excited to be back on tour and to see our audiences – aged 8 to 80 – dance in the aisles every night to our story of a young man whose musical career spanned an all-too-brief period, but whose music will be remembered forever.”

Boasting a multi-talented cast of actor-musicians, the show will include more than 20 of Buddy’s greatest hits, including the timeless classics That’ll Be The Day, Peggy Sue, Oh Boy, Everyday and Rave On. With the Big Bopper’s Chantilly Lace and Ritchie Valens’ La Bamba, and rip-roaring versions of Shout and Johnny B. Goode completing a stellar musical line-up, Buddy is a not to be missed evening of family entertainment.

Leading the company will be AJ Jenks and Christopher Weeks, alternating the titular role, alongside Joe Butcher as Joe B Mauldin, Josh Haberfield as Jerry Allison, and Miguel Angel as Ritchie Valens/Tyrone Jones. Completing the cast are Daniella Agredo Piper, Christopher Chandler, Stephanie Cremona, Samuelle Durojaiye, Jacob Leeson, Ewan Ling, Thomas Mitchells and Laura-Dene Perryman.

The multi award-winning musical has enjoyed phenomenal success, having played a record-breaking 4668 performances over 580 weeks on tour in the UK and Ireland, as well as 5822 performances over 728 weeks in London’s West End. Buddy is one of a small number of iconic musicals including Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Miss Saigon, Evita and Cats in reaching a phenomenal three decades on stage.

Tickets to see the show in Chesterfield are priced from £26. Book online at www.chesterfieldtheatres.co.uk or call 01246 345222.