That day back in February 1959 when Buddy Holly was killed in a plane crash may well have been ' the day the music died' but Holly's superb music lives on and the way Yeadon Town Hall was rocking this week it is certainly alive and well even if the original performer isn't!

The Grove and Rawdon Theatre Company took on the difficult task of presenting 'Buddy The Musical' the world's most successful rock'n'roll musical. Artistic Director Royston Bayfield had not only to find good actors but actors who could actually play musical instruments as well.

He certainly hit the right note with Roger Rowley who took on the lead role of Buddy and gave a tremendous performance. The audience was on its feet clapping, stamping, dancing and cheering wildy which must have been a really exhilarating experience for the company the whole company for every single person involved in the show played a vital role in this stunning production.

For those of us brought up with Holly's music this was a great night of nostalgia, for the younger members of the audience it was a terrific night out and for the younger members of the cast it must have opened their eyes to a whole new genre of music which they seemed to thoroughly enjoy.

The show is a story about a young man whose passion and genius shaped the future of the music world. Without Buddy Holly there would have possibly been no Beatles, no Rolling Stones and Elton John and Eric Clapton both admit to being directly influenced by Holly. His music has stood the test of time and that was certainly proved with packed audiences at Yeadon, even in the earlier part of the week, and sold out signs went out for the more popular Thursday, Friday and Saturday night performances before the musical even got underway.

Those who missed out well you missed out big style.

Twenty year-old Roger Rowley in the lead role was absolutely superb and he has come a long way since starting out with a Guiseley Barnstormers' Summer School back in 1996. Having played guitar from the age of 11 helped make Roger's performance even more convincing and with his talent he will obviously never be short of work.

The show included Holly's greatest hits including 'Peggy Sue', 'That'll Be The Day', 'Oh Boy', 'Rave On', 'Heartbeat' and 'Raining In My Heart' and Rowley had them off to perfection.

'Buddy - The Musical' has had audiences on their feet in every corner of the globe and has spent 13 sensational years in London.

This was your chance to catch it locally and even the West End could not have surpassed the all round brilliance of this show.

The largesse of Richard Lloyd in the role of The Big Bopper was simply brilliant and the ever versatile Joe Morrow gave another excellent performance to add to his impressive cv. Full of energy Morrow revelled in the role of Ritchie Valens and brought the house down with his rendition of 'La Bamba'.

It is difficult to pick people out as the strength of this Grove production was in its all round cast, the drive, the passion and the stage presence of each and every one of them. A very professional performance.

Adam Folkard, Nick Tobias and Tom Kyle made up the Crickets and wholeheartedly threw themselves into their roles while Martin Holmes was a very accomplished MC at Clearlake, his smooth style and comedy moments proving a real hit with the audience.

Stalwart Peter Stebbings seemed to revel in the role of Hipockets Duncan while avid Buddy Holly fan Brian Luty was obviously thrilled to get the cameo role of Norman Petty which he played with great conviction.

In a talented cast Rachel Leach played Holly's wife Maria Elena and Michele Turner was Vi Petty while Marva and Pat Bell produced some hilarious as well as musical moments as the Apollo Theatre performers.

Susannah Jose appeared as Mary Lou Sokolof while a number of performers had multiple roles. Great support was given by Ian Clarke, Matthew Lovell, Frank Mottram, Gareth Jones, Nick Cooper, Martin Holmes, Ross Tonkin, Andrea Benson, Rachel Brooks, Loretta D Marklew, Charlotte Farrar, Paul Bamber, Lauren Clarke, Emma Folkard, Alice Stebbings, Rachel Thomson, Emma Cooper, A great triumph for all concerned particularly Director and Co Choreographer Royston Bayfield; Musical Director Catherine Sweet and Choreographer Rachel Thomson.