OhBoy – the Buddy jukebox rolls into town
Vicki Anderson talks to Glen Joseph who plays Buddy in the enduring hit touring show
now in
Nelson.
In the air above Texas, British musical theatre veteran Glen Joseph looked out the window of the plane nervously. He was on his way to meet Buddy Holly’s widow Maria Elena Holly.
Joseph had been asked to recreate the story of Buddy’s life in a ‘‘musical jukebox’’ show which has since travelled the world and been seen by more than 22 million people.
He wanted to get to know the man who made hit songs such as That’ll Be the Day, Maybe Baby and Peggy Sue by talking to Maria about her famous geeky and charismatic husband.
In 18 months, Buddy Holly changed the face of contemporary music and influenced everyone from The Beatles to Bruce Springsteen.
The two-hour show tells Holly’s life story, from his meteoric rise to fame to his final performance at The Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, before his tragic death at the age of 22 in a plane crash, often referred to as ‘‘the day the music died’’.
‘‘It was fascinating for me to get an insight into facets of his personality,’’ Joseph says of meeting Maria. ‘‘For me to recreate the man, if you like, with the excep- tion of his mother she was the one who knew him best.’’
Joseph visited Maria at her home in Dallas and the pair shared an evening meal.
‘‘When I first met her I was very nervous but she was very cool and down-to-earth, she was a real treat,’’ he says.
‘‘The most surprising thing I discovered about him through her was that . . . there was still a lot of segregation back then between black and white people. Buddy hated that. Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Buddy would hang out together in the hotels. People would say ‘you can’t do that’ and Buddy would say ‘yes we can or we’re going somewhere else’.’’
Fresh from performing the show in Britain, Joseph is joined in New Zealand by a cast of 16 actors and musicians on a 21-date tour. The show, which recently marked its 25th anniversary, has support from Paul McCartney, who owned the copyrights to Holly’s music.
‘‘Unlike the film it tells the story of the man and the music,’’ Joseph says.
‘‘By the end of the show everyone is up and dancing. It’s a celebration of his life.’’