Hank Williams: Lost Highway, a CurtainUp review <meta http-equiv="content-type" content= "text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META CONTENT="mshtml 5.50.4134.600" name="generator"> <meta content="CurtainUp, Elyse Sommer" name="author"> <meta name="key words" content= "hank williams, randal myler, mark harelik, dan wheetman,jason petty, michael w. howell, juliet smith , margaret bowman, stephen g. anthony, myk watford, drew perkins, michael p. moran, tertia lynch , russ wever, neew york theater reviews, folk music, metropolitan ensemble company, off broadway, biographical concert, musical"> <meta http-equiv="date" content="March 28, 2003">"> <meta name="Description" content= "arts & entertainment , theater, theatre, Broadway Off-Broadway Off-Off Broadway shows news reviews listings features, New York, Berkshires, Massachussets, Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco Philadelphia Washington DC West End London, New Jersey theater news review, features, interviews, theater-related news, theater-related features, theater-related quotations, restaurants near theaters, theatergoer tips, theater feature archive , free weekly updates, theater writing guidelines, New York City navigation tips, theatrical awards archive"> <link rel="Stylesheet" type="text/css" href="cunew1.css"></head> <body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" link="#000099" vlink="#000099" alink="#000099"> <img alt="CurtainUp" src="citylogo.gif"> <br> <div class="a"><i><b>CurtainUp</b></i></div><br> <div class="b"><b>The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features, Annotated Listings</b></div> <div class="c"><b>www.curtainup.com</b></div> <br> <br> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" width="100%" border="0"> <tr> <td class= yellow valign="top" width="110" bgcolor="#FFFF88"> <a href="index.html">HOME PAGE</a> <br><br><a href="siteguide.html">SITE GUIDE</a><br><br><script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script><br><br><a href="goingall.html">REVIEWS</a> <br><br><a href="mastftr.html">FEATURES</a> <br><br>NEWS <br><a href="etc.html"> Etcetera and<br> Short Term Listings</a> <br><br>LISTINGS <br><a href="add-bway.html">Broadway</a> <br><a href="add-offb.html">Off-Broadway</a> <br> <br> <a href="restaurants.html">NYC Restaurants</a> <br> <br> <a href="bookstor.html">BOOKS and CDs</a><br><br>OTHER PLACES <br><a href="berkmain.html">Berkshires</a> <br><a href="londlink.html">London</a> <br><a href="la-main.html">California</a> <br> <a href="dcnewandnoteworthy.html">DC</a><br><a href="philadelphia.html">Philadelphia</a> <br> <a href="elsewhere.html">Elsewhere</a><br><br><a href="timelyquotes.html">QUOTES</a> <br><br><a href="tkts.html">On TKTS</a> <br><br> <a href="authalbu.html">PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS</a><br><br> <a href="letters.html">LETTERS TO EDITOR</a> <br><br><a href="movitalk.html">FILM</a> <br><br><a href="links.html">LINKS</a> <br><br>MISCELLANEOUS<br><a href="email.html">Free Updates</a> <br> <a href="masthead.html">Masthead</a> <br> <a href="curtainupguidelines.html">Writing for Us</a><br><div style="width:101px;height:28px;overflow:hidden;" > <br> <br>Butterfly Valves,Globe Valves,Plug Valves link <a href="http://www.valvemade.com/check_valve.html">check valve</a>, <a href="http://www.valvemade.com/ball_valve.html">ball valve</a>, <a href="http://www.valvemade.com">valves</a> Butterfly valves 2011.06.05, <a href="http://www.valvemade.com/gate_valve.html">Gate valve</a>,, Ball Valves,Gate Valves,Check Valves <a href="http://www.valvemade.com/globe_valve.html">globe valve</a>, <a href="http://www.valvemade.com/butterfly_valve.html">butterfly valves</a>, <a href="http://www.valvemade.com/flange.html">flange</a><br> China Valve manufacturer and Supplier</div> </td> <td class="center" valign="top"> <div class="dcu"><b>A <i>CurtainUp</i> Review</b></div> <div class="e"><i><b>Hank Williams: Lost Highway</b></i></div> <br> <div class="f"> <b> By <a href="elybio.html">Elyse Sommer</a></b></div><br> <br> </b> <table class= "plain" border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=4 > <tr> <td bgcolor="#CCCCCC"> <div align="center"><b>Hank and His Band Move Uptown </b></div><br> This appealing bio-musical about the legendary Hank Williams was twice extended at its original home on Mercer Street. On March 26th the show, its cast and sets intact, moved to the new big-little 42nd Street theatre, the 500-seat Shubert ( 422 W. 42nd Street, 212/239-6200) for an open run.<br><br> The new stage is about twice as wide and deep as that of the one on Mercer Street giving the show a roomier look. Seeing Jason Petty and his able support team in heir new home I could detect no changes. <i>Lost Highways</i> remains an enjoyable biographical revue, notable more for the pleasure of the music than the story. The voices are more intensely amplified which is probably needed to accommodate the larger house. Alas the weaknesses in the script also loom larger so that one only hopes that the show can attract the larger audience it now needs to make that open run a long one.<br><br> Show times are Tue @7PM, Wed - Sat @8PM matinees Sat. at 3:30 and Sun at 3pm, Sun @2PM. For more details see the review below. -- Elyse Sommer, 3/28/03 </tr> </td> </table> <div align="right"> <table class = quote cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" width="350" border= "0"> <tr> <td valign="top" align="right"> <i>My dissatisfaction with Tin Pan Alley music became clear to me as soon as I heard these boys and others like 'em. Their music wasn't written, it was born. And where Hank Williams was concerned, it was as natural as breathing</i> <br>--- Fred "Pap" Rose, who brought Williams and his Drifting Cowboys to the Grand Ole Opry, the summit of every folk singer's dream <hr width="100%" size="1"></tr> </table> </div> "Say good lookin', watcha got cookin'?. . . "<br><br> What's cookin' on the stage of the Metropolitan Playhouse on Mercer Street is an endearing, hand-clapping retrospective of country western legend Hank Williams' brief life and extensive song legacy. You don't have to be a country western fan to enjoy yourself and go out humming "Hey, Good Lookin'" -- and still hum it in the shower the next morning.<br><br> Though Williams has been dead for half a century -- this production is a celebration to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his death at twenty-nine -- his music and numerous books about him have nurtured his legend. As with <i>Love Janis</i>, about Janis Joplin, another fabled singer who died prematurely, Randal Myler has created a show that's essentially a biographical concert with just enough background to frame song after bouncy song. <br><br> The book, co-written by Myler and Mark Harelik (who also performed the lead in other incarnations of this show), doesn't ignore Williams' alcoholism (he started drinking at age ten). Don't, however, expect a dark folk opera or a fact perfect, fully detailed biography or, for that matter, any insights into the songwriting process. The program compensates for this with lots of interesting facts and quotes as well as a time line. The emphasis of the show is on the joy of the music and giving audiences, most of whom will be too young to ever have seen Williams and his Drifting Cowboy band perform live, a flavor that's as close to the real thing as possible. <br><br> Jason Petty, who first stepped into Williams' boots in 1996 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, though a better singer than actor, does inhabit the singer-songwriter's persona and voice. He's immensely likeable, and puts his heart and soul into the music. <br><br> Petty gets terrific backup from the members of the band, several of whom get some deserved star turns -- notably "Way Downtown" in which Jimmy (Myk Watford) and Hoss (Stephen G. Anthony) combine music with vaudevillian comedy, regularly interrupted by Leon (Drew Perkins) on a variety of instruments. Margaret Bowman is very fine as Hank's bible-thumping Mama Lily whose resemblance to Marjorie Main, physically and in manner, will be apparent anyone who has ever caught that crustiest of crusty old timers on reruns of the Ma and Pa Kettle flicks. <br><br> Young as he was, Williams was married twice. The storminess of his first marriage with the pert but untalented Miss Audrey (Tertia Lynch). Her determination to be part of the show is here played mostly for comic relief. Instead of the second Mrs. Williams, there's an omnipresent waitress and sometime narrator (Juliet Smith)) representing all the people who listened to Hank over the radio. Her one time fling with Williams when he wanders into her diner seems superfluous and out of character with the show. More satisfying is the character known as Tee-Tot (well played by the strong of voice Michael W. Howell) a black blues singer from whom Williams learned to find his own musical voice (a mix of hillbilly, boogie, blues, yodeling and gospel). <br><br> Beowolf Boritt's set includes Grand Ole Opry posters all along the wall of the theater's single aisle and divides the stage into a main playing area for the performances, with a smaller area at each side for Tee-Tot and the waitress. Colorful backdrops rise and fall as needed. Robert Blackman's costumes have the ring of authenticity and the scene where everyone is dressed in white or black -- Hank and the band's suits patterned to resemble sheets of music -- is a bit like a Country Western version of the race track scene in <i>My Fair Lady.</i> Perhaps if audiences continue to respond as enthusiastically as they did last Monday evening, the show can eventually move into the space that <i>Love, Janis </i> will soon vacate after its successful two-year run. <br><br> LINKS <br> <a href="immigrant.html">The Immigrant</a> Written by Harelik and directed by Myler<br> <a href="nothbutb.html">It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues</a>co-conceived and directed by Myler<br> <a href="lovejanis.html">Love, Janis</a> directed by Myler<br><br> <table class = credit border="0" > <tr> <td bgcolor="#CCCCCC"> <span class="caps">Hank Williams: Lost Highway</span> <br>Written by Randal Myler and Mark Harelik Directed by Randal Myler <br>Musical Director: Dan Wheetman <hr width="100%" size="1"> Cast: Jason Petty (Hank Williams), Michael W. Howell (Tee-Tot), Juliet Smith (The Waitress), Margaret Bowman (Mama Lilly) Stephen G. Anthony (Hoss), Myk Watford (Jimmy "Burrhead"), Drew Perkins (Leon "Loudmouth"), Michael P. Moran (Fred "Pap" Rose, Tertia Lynch (Audrey Williams), Russ Wever ( Shag). <br> Set Design: Beowulf Boritt <br> Costume Design: Robert Blackman <br> Lighting Design: Don Darnutzer<br> Sound Design: Randy Hansen<br>Running time: 2 hours and 20 minutes, includes one 10--minute intermission <br> Manhattan Ensemble Theater, Mercer Street New (at Broome Street) 239-62000 <br><a href="http://www.met.com/">web site</a><br> Tue @7PM, Wed - Sat @8PM, Sun @2PM $40-$45. 12/09/02-1/19/03-- extended to 2/03/03--and again to 2/23/03; opening 12/19/02. <br> <br>Reviewed by <b><a href="elybio.html">Elyse Sommer </a></b> based on December 16th press performance.<br>Last Performance 7/13/03<br> </td></tr> </table> <table class= "plain" border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=4 cols=2> <tr> <td bgcolor="#CCCCCC" colspan="2"> <div align="center"><b>Musical Numbers </b></div> </td></tr> <tr> <td valign="top" bgcolor="#CCCCCC"><div align="center"><b>Act One</b></div> <ul><li>This Is the Way I Do/ Tee-Tot</li><li> Message to My Mother/Hank</li><li> Thank God/Hank, Mama & Comapny</li><li> WPA Blues/Hank</li><li> Long Gone Lonesome Blues/Tee-Tot, Hank</li><li> Settin' the Woods on Fire/Hank & The Drifting Cowboys</li><li> Sally Goodin/Leon</li><li> Honky Tonk Blues/Hank & The Drifting Cowboys</li><li> I'm Tellin' You/Audrey & The Drifting Cowboys</li><li> I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love With You)/Hank & The Drifting Cowboys</li><li> I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry/ Tee-Tot</li><li> Jambalaya (On The Bayou)/Hank & The Drifting Cowboys</li><li> Move It On Over/Hank & The Drifting Cowboys</li> <li> Mind Your Own Business/Hank & The Drifting Cowboys</li><li> Lovesick Blues/Hank & The Drifting Cowboys</li> </ul></td> <td valign="top" bgcolor="#CCCCCC"><div align="center"><b>Act Two</b></div> <ul><li>The Blood Done Sign My Name/ Tee-Tot</li><li> Happy Rovin' Cowboy/Hank & The Drifting Cowboys</li><li> I'm Gonna Sing, Sing, Sing / Hank, Audrey, The Drifting Cowboys</li><li> Long Gone Lonesome Blues (reprise)/ Hank, Tee-Tot & The Drifting Cowboys</li><li> Way Downtown / The Drifting Cowboys</li><li> I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry (reprise)/ Hank</li><li> I'm A Run to the City of Refuge/A House of Gold (medley)/ Tee-Tot, Hank</li><li> Hey, Good Lookin'/ Hank & The Drifting Cowboys</li><li> I Saw the Light/ Hank, Hoss</li><li> Lost Highway/. Hank, Tee-Tot</li><li> Your Cheatin' Heart/ Hank & The Drifting Cowboys</li><li> I Saw the Light (reprise) / Company</li> </ul></td></tr> </table></td> <td class=gray valign="top" width="130" bgcolor="#CCCCCC"> <div align="center"> <b> Theater Books Make Great Gifts</b><br> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1557835667/curtaianewyorkthA/"><img height="148" alt="At This Theater Cover" src="playbillbook.jpg" width="99" border=0></a><br><b><span class=smaller><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1557835667/curtaianewyorkthA/">At This Theater </a></span><br><br><br></b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1557835888/curtaianewyorkthA/"><img height="147" alt="Ridiculous! 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