HANK WILLIAMS: LOST HIGHWAY
At the Little Shubert Theater, 422 W. 42nd St.; Telecharge, (212) 239-6200.
MUSIC is a monster that devours its acolytes like a kid gobbles candy corn. It’s not a new notion – we cried for Jim, Janis and Jimi – but before those tragic deaths by rock ‘n’ roll, there was Hank.
“Hank Williams: Lost Highway,” which was hailed a hit when it played the Manhattan Ensemble Theater in a limited run, finds new life closer to Broadway at the Little Shubert Theater, where it reopened on Wednesday.
Post theater critic Donald Lyons put it well when he hailed the show as “the best example of a musician’s bio ever put on stage.”
Hank’s burn-bright, flame-out life breathes in this production, where we see the artist as a young man take a 9-mile skid on a 10-mile ride.
It’s established that this is good theater, but the question is, does the music do justice to the legendary country star, and does it stand up to modern ears?
Yes, on both counts.
Take the VH1 “Behind the Music” plot away and the show turns into a concert featuring singer Jason Petty in a dead-on portrayal of Williams.
Hank is there, from the vocal acrobatics of “Honky Tonk Blues,” where Petty bends his pipes into a modified blues yodel, to Petty’s solo rendering of Williams’ desperate signature song, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.” At times it seems as if Petty is not just offering an impersonation of the country legend, but channeling his ghost.
And, as in any concert, the singer is only as good as the band.
In roles supporting Petty are bassist Steven Anthony, guitarist Myk Waterford, steel guitarist Russ Weaver and mandolin/fiddle player Drew Perkins, who are a hot hillbilly band despite the artificial glue of the play holding them together.
Whenever Weaver gives the music its high lonesome sound on steel, you get shivers down your spine. Perkins is such an outstanding fiddler, he could easily cut heads with any Nashville cat ready to rosin a bow.
The only complaints: The sound system lost channels during key moments – the worst was during “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.” That really whacked the show, because it was a very poignant crossroads in the action when Petty was trying to break your heart.
That glitch, where the speakers on the right side of the house flicked on and off, would have been a relatively small stumble had it not happened at such a key juncture.
And the amps should have been cranked much louder.
Overall, these are small gripes in a show that offers 15 of Williams’ best songs – performed with close-your-eyes-and-Hank’s-there accuracy.
