Review: BUDDY: THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY at Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre

Broadway Palm's production of BUDDY: THE Buddy Holly STORY tells the story of Buddy Holly's rise to fame, through the creation of some of his biggest hits. 

Buddy Holly is played by Hunter Henrickson, who was excellent in this role. He embodied Buddy's personality, and had a wonderful voice as well. His performance was fabulous. Maria Elena, who becomes Buddy's wife, is played by Natalie Carrera. I really enjoyed her performance and felt her emotion through it. Other cast members include Kyle Wells Lahr as Joe B. Mauldin, Robert Brandon as Jerry Allison, Jack Supan as the Fourth Cricket, Matt Smolko as Hipockets Duncan, Mike Brennan as Norman Petty/The Big Bopper, Miranda Simonne Lipes as Vi Petty, Santos Sanchez as Ritchie Valens, and Ruthgena Faraco, Gregory Holmes, and Maya Senecharles as the Apollo Singers. Buddy's bandmates, the "Crickets" (Joe Mauldin and Jerry Allison) were great alongside him, and every cast member did a wonderful job performing all of the music - it is all performed live, which is really delightful. This was an incredibly strong cast, and they each were great in bringing this story to life.

It's so much fun to hear the audience react to each popular song as it starts to play, such as "Peggy Sue," "Everyday," "That's All Right," "That'll Be The Day," and many more. With such a talented cast, this production more than did justice to all of these infamous songs. 

Directed by Matt McClure (who is also the Music Supervisor), other creative team members include Choreographer Natalie Hershman, Scenic Designer Dominic Lau, Technical Director Cody O'Dell, Technical Manager and Sound Designer Abbey Dillard, Lighting Designer Russell Thompson, Video Designer Chris McCleary, Music Director Loren Strickland, Costume Designer John P. White, Stage and Deck Manager Sean Rodrigo Royal, Props Designer Nate Rush, and Artistic Producer/Casting Brian Enzman. Each did a great job bringing this rock n' roll story to life. The technical and creative aspects were lovely and effective for the story, and the music sounded fantastic.

I highly recommend seeing BUDDY while it's playing at Broadway Palm. It's a fun, upbeat, music-filled show with a wonderfully talented cast. Although Buddy Holly tragically died very young, this show is a great way to recognize and honor all he contributed to the music industry at such a young age.

For more information and tickets, follow the link below. 

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