DAYTONA
THEATRE ROYAL
HAYMARKET, LONDON
In a recent interview Maureen
Lipman said that this is
‘unquestionably the best role’ of
her career and she’s not wrong.
Lipman is jaw droppingly
stunning in the strictly limited
season of Daytona at the Theatre
Royal Haymarket.
The actors and musicians were wholly
impressive, with a relatively small cast
filling out a number of roles. Their
musical ability was second to none, with
many of the performers playing a number
of musical instruments and undertaking
absolutely cracking renditions of the
classic songs, all played live on stage.
Glen Joseph, in the title role, really came
to life in the musical numbers, especially
in the latter half of the second act, when
his confidence and talent shone through.
Lydia Fraser sang spectacularly, and Will
Pearce impressed as Ritchie Valens with
his performance of La Bamba
buddythemusical.com
His regaling of the story takes up the
majority of the first half and is
longwinded. The true horror of the
back-story fails to register fully, as
Billy launches into monologues, so
long that they had me looking at my
watch. It’s not to say that the emotions
weren’t there, but the importance and
the investment in the story that an
audience needs in the characters and
their story is lost with the length of
time it takes to get there. It felt as
though the audience was lost during
the swathes of dialogue.
It’s not until the second act that the
story becomes interesting and
Lipman’s competence in ruling the
stage is truly felt, reminding us of her
abilities as a superb and subtle actor. If
only it hadn’t taken so long to get
there. There is a captivating
monologue where Lipman opens up
her character to show an emotionally
bereft woman who, has only just
managed to cope with the life that was
forced upon her. A romantic
attachment, albeit brief, is quite
breathtaking.
Until 23 August. Box office: 020 7930 8800.
Venue details: Theatre Royal Haymarket,
London www.trh.co.uk
AUG / SEPT 2014 | THEGAYUK 21
Reviews by Paul Szabo & Jake Hook
In terms of its presentation, the show is
very basic, with a largely static set and a
lack of set pieces and dance numbers. But
the show is not so much about the
visuals, but all about the music, and the
onstage cast simply couldn’t be faulted in
terms of their musical prowess. The first
Celebrating its 25th year, Buddy
half of each act was narrative driven; and
tells the story of Buddy Holly, from
the latter half was more focussed on the
his beginnings as a country music
musical performances. With the musical
performer on his local radio
numbers performed either as scenes in
station, through his meteoric rise
the recording studio or as concert
to fame, and his final performance
performances, the songs flowed naturally
with Richie Valens and The Big
through the story and still sounded
Bopper, before his tragic and
absolutely superb, despite them being
untimely death.
written nearly 60 years ago. Those who
are not so familiar with Holly’s music will
In this rock ‘n’ roll spectacular, the
be surprised at the number of songs they
greatest hits of Holly’s all too short career will recognise.
are featured, including Rave On, Peggy
Sue, Heartbeat, Every day, Raining in
The show could have done with a slightly
My Heart and True Love Ways and it
more dynamic set and staging, and the
was incredibly refreshing to see a show
volume of the music far outweighed the
based on the songs of one artist which
vocals during some of the numbers, but
wasn’t just a run of the mill jukebox
those quibbles aside, the show was
musical, as the songs actually formed
tremendously entertaining and infectious
part of the story as opposed to just being
with the temptation to tap your feet and
shoehorned into a flimsy narrative.
sing along proving absolutely impossible
Pleasingly, the show focussed generally
to resist. The whole theatre was up on
on the more upbeat numbers, as opposed
their feet during the closing scenes and
to the slower ballads, which gave the
encore; and the standing ovation that the
show a real energy.
cast received was well deserved.
◼◼◼◼
BUDDY: THE BUDDY
HOLLY STORY
UK TOUR
Daytona is an intimate 3-hander show
which tells a story of missed
opportunities and what ifs. Without
sharing too much, an elderly Jewish
migrant couple Elli (Maureen Lipman)
and Joe (Harry Shearer) are living out
their twilight years ballroom dancing
and going through the motions of a
long and seemingly happy marriage.
One evening, whilst Elli is getting last
minute alterations to her dancing
dress, Joe’s brother, wild haired and
Hawaii shirt wearing, Billy (Oliver
Cotton, who also wrote the play),
knocks at the door, after a 30-year
estrangement. He tells Joe that he has
taken drastic action on a man from
their past, he believes was a
particularly violent and murderous
Nazi during the war, whilst on his
holiday, in Daytona.