Glen Joseph as Buddy

Buddy Holly and his music helped shape a generation. Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story tours New Zealand in March and April 2015, taking in 21 venues around the country.

Musical theatre veteran Glen Joseph has just completed a 48-week tour of the production in the UK and will begin a 21-venue tour of New Zealand this month. Most of the cast will be Kiwis, but it is an honour for Glen to bring his title role to the Southern Hemisphere.

Glen started out thinking he was going to be a rugby player, but his talent for music called too loudly, and has seen him play Buddy on the West End, Eric in Dreamboats & Petticoats (West End & UK Tour), Curly in Oklahoma! (Yvonne Arnaud, Guildford) and Chuck in Footloose! (Gordon Craig, Stevenage). As a singer/songwriter, Glen has toured the UK and America, including shows in Memphis, Nashville and New Orleans in 2012, and has supported a number of notable recording artists, most recently three time Grammy Award nominee Leona Lewis. Outside of music, Glen appeared on WWE Legend Mick Foley’s UK Tour.

After spending time in Texas interviewing Buddy’s widow Maria Elena Holly, Glen has been asked to recreate Buddy Holly internationally.

New Zealand is the farthest he has ever travelled and Buddy Holly is a role he has wanted to play since he was 14 years old. “Buddy Holly was the reason I picked up a guitar,” he says. “My dad loves him too.

“It’s such a great part, but a big ask,” he says. “As Buddy, I really don’t get to leave the stage – caffeine gets me through!”

Glen will be travelling with this fiancee Katie, to whom he proposed on the Buddy Holly stage. “She is the one who organises and supports me – I wouldn’t know which plane to get on without her!” he jokes.

More than 22 million people have seen the Buddy Holly show worldwide, proving that music can be truly timeless. There are a lot of younger fans of the show who are keen on the musical history, and I love to see that.”

Featuring two terrific hours of the greatest songs ever written, including That’ll Be The Day, Oh Boy, Rave On, La Bamba, Chantilly Lace and Johnny B. Goode. 

“The audience for Buddy is usually really interactive,” says Glen. “If they aren’t all on there feet by the final five minutes of Johnny B. Goode; they probably never will!”