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Wednesday, 21 June 2006 04:08 |
| John North
Editor & Publisher |
MARS HILL ?? The musical biography ?®Hank Williams: Lost Highway?∆ certainly was a crowd-pleaser last Friday night in Owen Theatre at Mars Hill College.
My assessment is based on the enthused applause from the nearly sell-out crowd periodically during the show ?? and the sustained standing ovation at the end.. Director Bill Gregg likely left feeling glad all over.
Randy
Noojin provided a sparkling portrayal of country music
singer-songwriter Hank Williams in this gem of a production by the
Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre. The musical concludes this
weekend.
Williams is frequently mentioned as one of the top innovators of
American popular music, along with Louis Armstrong, Robert Johnson,
Duke Ellington, Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan.
The musical, described in some circles as spectacular, was written by
Randal Myler and Mark Harelik on the 50th anniversary of the Williams??
tragic death at age 29 on New Year??s Eve 1952.
Noojin??s Williams was ably backed by a supporting cast that included
Kay Crews St. Clair as Mama Lilly, Kelly Christianson as Audrey
Williams (Hank??s wife), Chuck Beattie (a local blues favorite) as
Tee-Tot, Peter Tamm as ?®Pap?∆ Rose, and Laura Nell Dubuisson as Waitress.
The Drifting Cowboys, Williams?? band, proved to be a musical
tour-de-force on the Mars Hill stage, with Bruce Lang as Hoss, Steve
Trismen as Leon ?®Loudmouth,?∆ Tony Medlin as Jimmy ?®Burrhead?∆ and Hank
Bones as Shag. Lang also served as the production??s musical director.
Among the dozens of songs performed, the highlights included renditions
of ?®Jambalaya,?∆ ?®I??m So Lonesome I Could Cry,?∆ ?®Move It on Over,?∆ ?®Hey,
Good Lookin???∆ and, of course, ?®Your Cheatin?? Heart.?∆
In the show, we
follow Williams from his humble beginnings in Mount Olive, Ala. (near
Montgomery), to the Louisiana Hayride. Ultimately, he reaches the
pinnacle of country music success ?? the Grand Ole Opry. From there,
Williams, who was an alcoholic from his early teens onward, plummeted.
I found it ironic that as a poor, sickly white boy from the Jim Crow
South, Williams was open to the influence of Tee-Tot, a black blues
singer-guitarist street musician from whom he learned much about
singing and songwriting, at least according to this musical.
His domineering mother managed to push Williams forward on the first leg of the road to fame and fortune.
Interestingly, his marriages and divorces ?? two of each ?? involving
Audrey proved to be both a blessing and a curse. She was a blessing to
him in propelling him from a fairly well-known, locally popular country
singer to the Grand Ole Opry, which he joined in 1949. (He was fired
from the Opry in 1952 and died shortly thereafter). While there was no
end to the torment Williams suffered from their relationship,
ironically again, it inspired some of his greatest songs.
Considering the alcohol, combined with the dangerous drugs that
Williams took to dull the back pain he suffered from (probably)
degenerative spinal disorder and the emotional pain from his
relationship with Audrey, it strikes me as quite remarkable that he was
able to produce innovative, spirited and, at times, emotionally
courageous, songs.
While it made for a tidy and happy ending for the show to reprise with
Williams returning to sing ?®I Saw the Light,?∆ I found the ending
disingenous, inasmuch as this tortured artist admittedly never saw the
light during his lifetime.
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