West End and Broadway smash-hit musical Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story is at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford from November 11 to 15.

Buddy tells the enduring story of musical icon Buddy Holly’s meteoric rise, from his early country and rhythm and blues musical influences to becoming a major rock ’n’ roll innovator and international star, up until his legendary final performance at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, and death in an air crash at the age of 22.

In 18 months the bespectacled boy from Lubbock, Texas, revolutionised rock ’n’ roll - the sound of youth - and how it was written, recorded and performed, influencing everyone from The Beatles to Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones to Fleetwood Mac. And Buddy’s influence wasn’t just limited to the sound. “He made it okay to wear glasses,” said John Lennon. “I was Buddy Holly.”

Buddy presents 20 of his greatest hits, including That’ll Be The Day, Peggy Sue, Oh Boy, Everyday and Rave On, along with the Big Bopper’s Chantilly Lace and Ritchie Valens’ La Bamba, plus Shout and Johnny B. Goode.

The role of Buddy will be played by AJ Jenks or Joe Sterling, with the cast also including Stephen Alexander-Kerr, Miguel Angel, Joshua Barton, Andrew Farrell, Ewan Ling, Marta Miranda, Melker Nilsson, Thomas-Fabian Parrish and Laura-Dene Perryman.

Writer and executive producer Alan Janes said: “We are very excited to be back on tour. The electricity and connection created between cast on stage and audience members at each performance is palpable. Witnessing people of all ages up out of their seats and dancing in the aisles, caught up in the energy and pure joy of the music, is something to behold and never fails to amaze with this show. The music very much lives on!”

Buddy has been seen by 23 million people since it opened in the West End in 1989, including 4,900 performances over 614 weeks on tour in the UK and Ireland plus 5,822 performances over 728 weeks in the West End. It ranks alongside Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Miss Saigon, Evita and Cats among musicals to surpass three decades on stage.

In 1991 it became the first production to tour the UK while simultaneously playing in the West End. It set a record of 243 weeks of continuous touring and ran in the West End for more than 14 years, playing the Victoria Palace, Strand/Novello and Duchess Theatres.

Buddy has visited cities and countries including Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Reno, Toronto, Hamburg, Essen, Sydney, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, Holland, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Japan and Singapore.

A total of 27 actors have played Buddy and sung his songs 271,666 times. The knee-sliding energy of their performances has required 3,338 pairs of trousers and 434 pairs of glasses. Fourteen couples met and married while working on the show and produced 28 Buddy babies.

For tickets call 01483 440000 or visit yvonne-arnaud.co.uk