About the Play:

Hank Williams: Lost Highway is a full-length musical drama by Randal Myler and Mark Harelik. A heartfelt musical tribute that chronicles Hank Williams' rise from humble beginnings to his glory days commanding the charts and the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, to his self-destruction at the age of twenty-nine. This unforgettable tribute includes such unforgettable Hank Williams' hits as I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, Move It on Over, and Hey, Good Lookin.

Hank Williams: Lost Highway is the spectacular musical biography of the legendary singer-songwriter frequently mentioned alongside Louis Armstrong, Robert Johnson, Duke Ellington, Elvis and Bob Dylan as one of the great innovators of American popular 'roots' music. The play transports audiences from the hills of rural southern Alabama to the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, following Williams' spectacularly swift rise from humble honky-tonk beginnings on the Louisiana Hayride to his Nashville triumphs to his rapid decline into erratic behaviour and self-destruction. He died at the age of twenty-nine of heart failure brought on by complications from mixing alcohol and prescription drugs. During the course of the evening, Hank and The Drifting Cowboys treat us to more than 20 unforgettable songs, such as I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, Move It on Over, and Hey, Good Lookin, and Jambalaya (On the Bayou) – songs which take on new and meaningful resonance in the context of Hank Williams' short and troubled life.

Hank Williams: Lost Highway premiered in in 1986 at the Denver Theatre Center and then moved to the Mark Taper Forum, the Old Globe, and a two-year run at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. It then had a sold-out run in 2002 Off Off Broadway at the Manhattan Ensemble Theatre, transferred to Off Broadway at the Little Shubert Theatre, and received an Obie Award, two Lucille Lortel Award nominations, three Outer Critics Circle Award nominations, one Drama Desk nomination and a Drama League honour. Since then it has enjoyed huge success at regional and commnity theatres in the U.S. and Canada.

Cast: 2 women, 7 men

What people say:

"[Lost Highway has] the exhilarating feeling of Williams on stage in a particular place on a particular night…serves up classic country with the edges raw and the energy hot…By the end of the play, you've traveled on a profound emotional journey: Lost Highway transports its audience, and communicates the inspiring message of the beauty and richness of Williams' songs…forceful, clear-eyed, moving, impressive." — Rolling Stone

"…honors a very particular musical talent with care and energy…smart, sweet, poignant." — New York Times

"The best example of a musician's bio put on stage that I've ever seen. Wonderful…delightful…marvelous." — New York Post

"Lost Highway scores big…has us hank-ering for more." — New York Daily News

"As musical bios go, Lost Highway – penned by Mark Harelik and Randal Myler – is one of the best, merging a compelling story with close to two dozen old school country tune." — Chicago Theater Beat

About the Playwright:

Randal Myler is the co-author and original director of Hank Williams: Lost Highway. He has received two Tony Award nominations and a Drama Desk nomination.

Mark Harelik is an American television, film, and stage actor, and playwright. He has appeared in his own plays, including Hank Williams: Lost Highway, which he and Randal Myler wrote.