Show and Stay® Make Some Buddies
With a flurry of new musical bios trying desperately to make it in the West End at the minute, we headed down to chat to Dean Elliot, Matthew Wycliffe and Lee Ormsby from the established musical Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, to see how it should be done.
Traipsing through the West End on a grey Monday afternoon is a rather strange experience. Big red buses and black cabs dart through the winding Victorian streets revving and blasting past the busy pavements. Great, glitzy advertising boards spring from all the different theatres and portly restauranteurs stand in the doorway of their eateries beckoning you to come and enjoy a quick lunch with them. Still, with all this the place nevertheless feels fairly sleepy; quiet but full of potential, the West End is a night town, clear as day.
The PR company we've come to see is set right at the top of an old townhouse and we have to negotiate several flights of stairs before we find the office. We sit down, set up and in a few minutes Dean arrives. His curly hair flopped forward rather than arranged in the familiar 50s quiff. Dean Elliott shares the lead role in the West End version of Buddy with Matthew Wycliffe and, as we wait for Matt to turn up, he seems bright and friendly and eager to find out all about Show and Stay®. A couple of minutes later Matt hobbles in, he's dressed in a long black military coat and has a grey scarf wrapped tightly round his neck; he's suffering, quite clearly, from a rather vigourous case of the sniffles. "No, don't worry, I'm fine", he sniffs, coughs a little and then smiles. Equally enthusiastic to talk to us, we get on with a bout of friendly and informal introductions. Lee Ormsby, who plays 50s pop star 'the Big Bopper', completes the trio and after a round of coffees turn up we're ready to begin.
"I used to listen to that song every-day and now we play it every-day."
The three are obviously great mates, they laugh and joke to one another and talk freely and excitedly about what they think about the show and each others' performances. What's more, playing the same part obviously has started to affect Dean and Matt and the pair often tie up with the same opinions and finish each others sentences. It's a little disorientating to begin with but charming nonetheless.
Okay, pleasantries out the way, we get down to it - I am Michael Parkinson, I am Jeremy Paxman; I am Richard Madely!
"So, first question: were you fans of Buddy Holly's music before you took on the role?" Dean looks up, smiles a rye smile and then says simply: "Yep..." There's a long pause, I gulp, he's not going to be this monosyllabic is he? 'This', I thought, 'is going to be a long afternoon'. Dean, Matt and Lee then all burst out laughing and I sigh a huge sigh of relief. Dean continues: "No, my mother was a huge fan of rock and roll, not necessarily just Buddy Holly, but I grew up with the music." In fact, he remembers when he was very young listening to a little known Bobby Vee cover of Holly's Everyday on the B-side of an old 7". "I used to listen to that every-day", he beams "and now we play it every-day."
We asked Matt and Dean what it's like to share the part and how their performances differ from one another. Dean concludes that because it's such a high energy show, it's really difficult to decide. "Because of the nature of Buddy, the actors have to invest a certain novelty to each performance." Matt then steps up: "I think, because the show is all live, there's no pit band or anything, it gives the show something-", Matt finds the word: "an extra pezazz." and as he does so he clicks his fingers and points them. It's clear that he's picked up some of Buddy Holly's mannerisms. "You're right", Dean starts, "it keeps it fresh and exciting."
"Yeah, yeah", Dean picks up the thread again, "I mean you come and see this show on a Wednesday and then come along on the Thursday night and it's got a different energy." And it's not just on this abstract level, Matt goes on to explain that all of the 16 cast members are completely versed in about five or six parts, they swap around. Even Dean and Matt, when they're not playing 'Buddy', play 'Tommy Allsop' a guitarist in Holly's band The Crickets (in fact, look out for the sheepish chap at the back in the posters - that's the other Buddy!).
"You come and see this show on a Wednesday and then come along on the Thursday night and it's got a different energy."
The energy doesn't stop there, Lee is quick to point out that he thinks that because the show is live and being performed now, though the music is clearly Buddy Holly's, it seems to have a modern flavour all of its own. "A re-imagining maybe?" we venture; "Maybe, but I think it's less perceptible than that." He continues: "50s music might have a bit of a stigma about it, that it's older music for older people, but it's not really" Dean jumps in here, "yeah, so many people come up and say they had no idea that a song they love and that we sing was a Buddy Holly song. I mean 'Heartbeat', 'Not Fade Away' were both Buddy Holly songs before anyone else did them."
"So what about embarrassing moments then?" we ask, hoping for a funny story or two. Matt certainly doesn't disappoint, and from the look on everyone's face, there's at least one story that stands out. "I remember once, I'd fractured my foot and so was in the audience watching Dean." Dean giggles and buries his head; he knows what's coming. "Anyway, the whole audience was going crazy and it got to the end and they're playing 'Johnny B. Goode'. He comes bouncing down the stairs at the end and everyone's like 'yeah fantastic' and he comes running forward and shouts 'yeah!', slipped on a cable and went flying into like a seven-year-old girl!" Dean picks up a little red in the face: "Yeah, landed on this little girl in the front row"
The three actors laugh about it with a glint in their eyes, Matt then continues the story: "the next day, when we got back into the theatre, the technical crew had put a load of white gaffer tape on the edge of the stage and marked it out like the chalk line they put round dead bodies!"
"From the moment you wake up you have to focus on what you have to do in the evening."
Clearly the cast and crew in this production get on really well so we ask what it's like to work in a team with such a high level of camaraderie. All three are keen to put down how well they get on and, with such a busy schedule, they tend to spend a lot of time with other members of the cast. Matt's first to talk about the workload: "I mean people think you just work for the time you're on stage but there's so much more."
"From the moment you wake up", Dean ventures, "you have to focus on what you have to do in the evening." They then discuss how they warm up and go through gruelling stories of four-hour routines. Dean says that he uses steaming to help relax his vocal chords, practices his scales, vocal exercises like tongue twisters and tries to take a lot of honey. He then pauses, stoops down to his half full coffee cup and smiles guiltily: "and not too much caffeine." to which Matt erupts: "Just the five cups this morning then Dean!"
Moving away from Buddy for the minute, we want to know what other shows and roles the guys would like to perform in. Dean doesn't miss a beat: "Mickey from Blood Brothers" he says, then pauses, leans into the Dictaphone on the table, "please." Matt takes slightly longer but finally announces that if he could play any other part it would be Hamlet. A fan of Shakespeare for a long time, he feels it is the ultimate part for a young actor. Of course, there's no secret as to which part Lee would like to play; the others certainly already know. His favourite part is the 'Phantom' from Phantom of the Opera. "I've seen it 40 times" he beams.
When we asked Lee what shows he would recommend he talks a little about shows out at the moment but really wants to get down some of the rumours he's heard about productions coming over to the West End in the near future. "What is there to look out for?" we ask.
"The Hunchback of Notre Dame, it was phenomenal" he says. "I saw it in Germany in 1999." Has he heard whether or not it's coming over? Well, he certainly hints that he's heard one or two things about it. Other than that he's keen to go on about The Color Purple which he saw on Broadway and rates amongst the best productions he's ever seen.
It's clear after talking to Lee for about five seconds that he lives and breathes theatre. Not only is he a gifted and controlled performer, he is a connoisseur, an anorak if you will, and it really is a delight to listen to him open up about what productions he likes and why. "Pricilla, Queen of the Desert, that's supposed to be coming over too." he admits with a big grin spreading across his face.
Finally, we wanted to know the future of Buddy, what could be in store for the show in the coming few months? Well, one story they were keen to tell was when, about six months ago, Buddy Holly's widow Maria Elena Holly came to see the show. A really humbling moment, Dean was clearly moved to be performing to someone so important to the Buddy story. During the show they brought the 73-year-old lady onto the stage and Dean dropped the trademark glasses and the accent to introduce her to the audience. A really intense occasion, the boys are all delighted to announce that Maria Elena is planning to make another trip over the Atlantic to see the show in November. Quite an endorsement don't you think?
Well, in closing, we thought we'd ask about what the cast plan to do for February 3rd, 2009, which will coincide with the 50th anniversary of Buddy Holly's death. Marked out by The Duchess Theatre as a 'special performance' we asked Lee, 
Dean and Matt what they had in store. Sadly, they couldn't reveal any of the juicy details but they promised it would be a really amazing production. Tickets for that are already selling out so if you want to be a part of it make sure you book early.
We had a great time interviewing the Buddy boys who were really friendly and generous with their time. An outstanding performance, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story is a first-class musical that has established itself in the West End as one of the finest musical biographies ever composed.
Published by: Nathan Brooker
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