A Music Legend Rides the Lost Highway to Tony Award Winning Annapolis Theatre

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...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.

Annapolis, MD (PRWEB) May 28, 2014

The Tony Award winning Infinity Theatre Company, which brings professional New York City theatre to Annapolis, is proud to announce their upcoming production of HANK WILLIAMS: LOST HIGHWAY. The production stars many of the original off-Broadway cast members and is directed by the Co-Author of the show, Randal Myler. The opening for the show is at the CTA Theatre Complex in Annapolis on Saturday, June 7th at 8pm.

Tony Award nominee Randal Myler, who is directing the show in Annapolis, has engaged Jason Petty to play the lead role, Hank Williams. This performance won Petty the 2003 Obie Award, recognizing achievement in off-Broadway theatre, for his work at the Little Shubert Theatre in NYC.

"I have directed my show many times…with a few damn fine ‘Hanks’ along the way…but no one has matched Jason's authenticity and sheer singing talent in the role. He is the best ‘Hank Williams’ I have ever worked with…and likely the best we will ever see,” said Director/Co-Author Randal Myler.

Star Jason Petty said, "I am very excited to work with Randy again, and really looking forward to this production. I wasn't sure I'd ever revisit the role after the run in New York City in 2003, but Infinity Theatre Company and Randy made it happen. I can't wait to return to that wonderful role.”

"Petty is not just offering an impersonation of Hank Williams, but channeling his ghost." - New York Post

“Infinity has found a perfect production to help celebrate its fifth anniversary season in HANK WILLIAMS: LOST HIGHWAY. It is not just a revealing musical bio-play of a troubled music legend, but one of the most successful off-Broadway shows of the last twenty years. It will be loved by people with an interest in the inception of country music, and everyone who loves going on an emotional journey with world-class performers in our intimate venue,” said Infinity Theatre Company Co-Producing Artistic Director Anna Roberts Ostroff.

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 music. The play follows Williams’ rise from his beginnings on the Louisiana Hayride, to his triumphs on the Grand Ole Opry, to his eventual self-destruction at twenty-nine. Along the way, we are treated to indelible songs such as “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” “Move It on Over,” and “Hey, Good Lookin’,” which are given fresh and profound resonance set in the context of Williams’ life.

HANK WILLIAMS: LOST HIGHWAY, “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 communicates the inspiring message of the beauty and richness of Williams’ songs…forceful, clear-eyed, moving, impressive.” - Rolling Stone Magazine

Directed by the show’s Co-Author Randal Myler, HANK WILLIAMS: LOST HIGHWAY stars Obie Award winner Jason Petty, as well as original cast members and instrumentalists Steve Anthony, Drew Perkins, and Russ Wever, who play members of Hank’s band The Drifting Cowboys. The production also features Tony Award nominee Mississippi Charles Bevel, who plays Hank’s blues mentor Tee-Tot.

The show runs at Infinity Theatre Company at the CTA Theatre Complex at 1661 Bay Head Rd. in Annapolis from June 7th until June 29th, 2014, and is followed by the musical I DO! I DO! which runs from July 12th until August 3rd, 2014. Ticket buyers can get 20% off (15% after May 31) by ordering tickets to both shows at the same time. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit InfinityTheatreCompany.com or call 877-501-8499.

"Infinity Theatre founders Anna & Alan Ostroff are enlivening the local performing arts community." - Mary Johnson, Baltimore Sun

"Anna Roberts Ostroff & Alan Ostroff have consistently brought in New York caliber high-quality performances to the modest, affordable, and accessible setting." - Debbie Jackson, DC Theatre Scene

BIOGRAPHIES

RANDAL MYLER (Director/Co-Author) was nominated for a Tony Award for IT AIN’T NOTHIN’ BUT THE BLUES (Director/Co-Author) at Lincoln Center and the Ambassador Theater; nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for HANK WILLIAMS: LOST HIGHWAY (Director/Co-Author) at the Little Shubert; and his hit musical on the life of Janis Joplin ran for over two years at the Village Theater (Director/Author). His musical FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN (based on interviews and the music of coal miners) was nominated for five Jeff Awards in Chicago and his musical TOUCH THE NAMES: LETTERS TO THE VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL has been staged at several major regional theaters. Mr. Myler has guest directed throughout the country, including the Kennedy Center, the Actors Theatre of Louisville, Arena Stage, the New Victory Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum, Seattle Rep, the Denver Center, Northlight Theatre, the Old Globe in San Diego, the Alley Theater in Houston, the Arizona Theater Company, the Cleveland Playhouse, the Cincinnati Playhouse, Dallas Theater Center, the Grand Ole Opry's Ryman Auditorium, Arkansas Rep, Meadowbrook Theater, Laguna Playhouse, Theatreworks in Palo Alto, Crossroads Theater, the Barter Theater, Kansas City Rep, San Diego Rep, and many others. Later this season he will be directing the world premieres of both MAMA HATED DIESELS (songs and interviews of the American truck driver) at the Denver Center (also Co-Author) and LOWDOWN DIRTY BLUES (also Co-Author) at Northlight Theatre.

JASON PETTY* (Hank Williams) was hand-picked by officials at the world famous Ryman Auditorium in Nashville for the role of Hank Williams in 1996. Thus began a career that has seen him play the role over 1,000 times all over the US, Canada and Europe. His pre-Hank career saw stints in local and regional productions of OKLAHOMA, LES MISERABLES, and LI’L ABNER among others. After landing the Williams role in Nashville, Jason was invited to perform on the Grand Ole Opry over a dozen times and many national TV and radio appearances as well. Jason was honored to perform the role of Hank in 2002-2003 in the off-Broadway version of HANK WILLIAMS: LOST HIGHWAY, for which he won the coveted Obie Award. That performance paired him with award-winning Writer and Director Randal Myler. Since the off-Broadway version of LOST HIGHWAY ended, Jason has written several shows that have been touring the country non-stop for 11 years. In 2013, Jason was asked to play Stephen Foster in the world premiere of the musical BEAUTIFUL DREAMER. Petty now makes his home in rural Tennessee with his beautiful wife, Hope, and their two children, Loralei (7) and James (4). jasonpetty.com *Member, Actors’ Equity

ANNA ROBERTS OSTROFF & ALAN OSTROFF are a Tony Award winning husband and wife producing team who serve as the Co-Producing Artistic Directors of Infinity Theatre Company in Annapolis, MD. Anna & Alan studied theatre at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and spent several years performing professionally around the country. Their producing career began with the 2006 NYC Fringe Festival’s presentation of Alan’s comedy TRADITION, one of the highest-grossing shows in that year’s festival. This was followed by many benefits and Theatre for Young Audience tours, exclusively for the non-profit arts outreach organization Arts For All, of which Anna is the Founder/Executive Director and Alan serves on the Board. Anna and Alan have associate produced two Cardinal Theatrical shows in Minneapolis, MN - the hit runs of RENT and THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW staged at the Lab Theatre. In 2010, the couple formed Infinity Theatre Company, a regional theatre bringing NYC talent to Annapolis for a summer season of musicals, where they have since set the standard for excellence in local entertainment, producing THE FANTASTICKS, MY WAY - A MUSICAL TRIBUTE TO FRANK SINATRA, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, SISTERS OF SWING - THE STORY OF THE ANDREWS SISTERS, DAMES AT SEA, ALWAYS...PATSY CLINE, and SHE LOVES ME. The Ostroffs’ first foray into Broadway producing, the revival of PIPPIN following an acclaimed run at American Repertory Theatre, opened at the Music Box Theatre in April 2013 and won the Tony Award for Best Musical Revival.

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