'BUDDY! THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY' Delayed Due To Casting Issues?

Marlene Smith's production of BUDDY! THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY may be on hold until further notice. Tickets for the production, which was scheduled to play the Elgin Theatre, were set to go on sale on August 27th - but are not currently available according to Ticketmaster.

An announcement about who was going to play Buddy was expected to be released on September 7th. The Toronto Star reports that the show is on hold while producers look for a star to fill the title role.

The cast of the show was set to include: Troy Adams (Angels in America, Part 1 & 2/Soulpepper, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown/Stratford Theatre Festival); Danny Balkwill (We Will Rock You, Mamma Mia National Tours); Susan Dunstan (The Lion King US/National Tour, Lord of the Rings/Mirvish Productions); Zachary Knowles (A Midsummer Nights Dream/Saint Lawrence Shakespeare Festival); Judy Kovacs (CATS/NuMu, The Little Mermaid and Snow White/Ross Petty Productions;Oscar Moreno (West Side Story/Grand Theatre, Urinetown/Stageworks Toronto); Dana Jean Phoenix (The Musical of Musicals, The Musical!/Mirvish Productions, The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen/Summerworks); Jay T. Schramek (CATS/NuMu, Mamma Mia/Mirvish Productions); Kent Sheridan (Dirty Dancing, Mamma Mia/Mirvish Productions); David Silvestri: (42nd Street/Stratford Festival, Guys and Dolls/Drayton Festival); Jeremy Walmsley (Harvey, Jane Eyre/ Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre).

The production was set to be directed by Charles Roy, with music direction by Mark Camilleri, choreography by Gino Berti, set and prop design by Scott Penner, sound design by William Fallon, lighting design by Siobhán Sleath, and costume design by Joanna Yu.

BUDDY! THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY tells the true story of Buddy Holly's meteoric rise to fame, from the moment in 1957 when That'll Be The Day hit the airwaves until his tragic death less than two years later on "the day the music died." The show features over 20 of Buddy Holly's greatest hits including That'll Be The Day, Peggy Sue, Oh Boy, Everyday and Maybe Baby plus other hits of the era such as Ritchie Valens' La Bamba and The Big Bopper's Chantilly Lace.

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