HANK WILLIAMS: LOST HIGHWAY

By Randal Myler and Mark Harelik

Hank Williams Story Comes to The Lee Lockwood Library and Museum—Waco, Texas

By Debra Evans

As an eight-year-old, Tucker Peterson walked many a mile to play his cousin's guitar. "Your Cheatin' Heart" being one of the first songs he ever learned. He once played the song over and over into the wee hours of the morning to comfort a friend grieving the loss of his father. ("That was my daddy's favorite—please play it again.") In all the years since, Peterson says he has never tired of the tune.

Peterson and the Bosque County Players are now bringing that song to audiences across Texas, along with numerous others of the country great from Alabama, as they present their adaptation of Hank Williams:Lost Highway.

Resting on the shoulders of Peterson's distinctive voice and old-style guitar-picking, Lost Highway weaves a wandering path through Hank Williams' troubled life and the songs that have captivated a century of artists since. Casting soulful shadows on this path—like the influence Payne had on Hank's music—is the versatile songbird voice of Paul Puckett, portraying Rufus "Tee-Tot" Payne.

Theatre veterans Walt Lewis and Anne West appear as Williams' manager and mother, respectively. Glen Pfeiffer, Robert Fortier, Dana Bennett and Kenneth Davis portray Hank's band members and provide the musical background that underlies the show. Rounding out the cast are Susan Fortier and Shelley Slayton.

Lost Highway treats audiences to an evening of the music they grew up loving, as well as giving them the chance to witness the highs and lows of country music's most storied singer/songwriter. Though tinged with the sadness of Hank's untimely death, the play ultimately rings out his immortality; as Hank's music lives forever in our hearts due to its simplistic greatness, so audiences are left with the flow of that undying musical legacy.