YORK will have Buddy times two at the Grand Opera House from Monday.

Glen Joseph and Roger Rowley will be sharing out performances of Buddy, The Buddy Holly Story in the week-long run when this most regular of visiting musicals returns once more.

“We tend to do four performances each in a week, but it also depends on the region we’re in that week,” says Glen.

“I’m from Newcastle, so I’ll have the lion’s share of the shows in York – and as my girlfriend, Katie Gibson, is from Helmsley, I’ll be spending time there. Her dad will be coming to the show on Thursday.”

Glen first appeared in Buddy in 2009. “I’d auditioned for the show in 2007 straight out of drama school [at the Guildford School of Acting], when I probably wasn’t seasoned enough to do it,” he says.

“I ended up starting on the tour, but both guys in the West End got injured, so I was drafted in to make my West End debut on a Saturday night to a sold-out audience, with my parents there and me playing my father’s hero.”

Buddy Holly’s music had helped Glen’s dad negotiate his way through his schooldays. “He was sent to a Durham boarding school, where he felt very lonely and found solace in Buddy’s songs,” he says.

Glen was hooked on Holly from his teens too. “I first saw the Buddy musical at 14 and I first played Buddy in the show at 23,” he says. “I’ve done it for five years now and as long as I can keep my hair, I’d like to play him for as long as possible.”

Glen puts his finger on the reasons for Buddy’s success. “It was the original ‘jukebox musical’ and it started a genre, if you look at shows such as We Will Rock You, Tonight’s The Night, Mamma Mia! and Jersey Boys. They’re all in the West End. Then there’s Dolly Parton’s 9 To 5, and even Susan Boyle has got a musical about her,” he says.

What makes Buddy the cream of the pop crop, Glen?

“It’s his story. His career was only 18 months long. Maybe he knew he didn’t have much time on this mortal coil, so he had to cram everything in,” he suggests. “He was such a driven guy, even marrying so young.”

• Buddy, The Buddy Holly Story, Grand Opera House, York, Monday to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 0844 871 3024 or atgtickets.com/york