A talented cast and brilliant backing band make classic country hits shine, but the show could use more polish to fully honor its legendary namesakes
By Lucie K. Scheuer for Ashland.news
“Spotlight on the Highwaymen,” currently playing at the Camelot Theatre, is entertaining but needs some work. It contains all the elements that make for an evening of genuine country music, including some fine singer-musicians and honestly interpreted, familiar numbers like “Always on My Mind.” But this horse needs a little more ridin’ before it’s ready for the range.
Since the show could use another week of rehearsal but has already opened, there is a belief here that with more focus, timing and coordination — facilitated by director Tommy Statler and backed by a superb house band — its four talented performers will eventually find their footing.
The renegade singers, Bernt Strom as Willie Nelson, Scott Allen McGuire as Kris Kristofferson, Tyler Bailey as Waylon Jennings and Mozart Pierson as Johnny Cash, have strong, expressive voices. At times, though, they acted like four guys who stumbled into a karaoke bar and couldn’t decide who was going to order the drinks. Or who was going to sing the songs.
Granted, it’s no small task trying to narrate the life of the person you’re covering, read a script and sing their hits. For that, credit is due. Also, by the second act, it all seems to come together.
Solo hits, too
Although it is “Spotlight on the Highwaymen,” the show features many of the individual hits of this country foursome, which is actually a good thing, since they had so many.
Strom plays the ever-thoughtful acoustic guitarist and slightly raspy-throated Willie Nelson, with the same sense of easygoingness and sincerity that is the hallmark of the artist and the man. Strom performs Nelson’s anthem “On the Road Again” with wonderful get-up-and-go, with energetic backup from the band.
McGuire plays Kris Kristofferson with the cadence and movement of the mild-mannered singer and musician. McGuire does a really great cover of Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee” that is so folk emblematic, it reminds you of Kristofferson’s congenial appeal on and off the screen.
Bailey is a talented young man, and it is nice to see him stepping into the spotlight as Waylon Jennings, after having sung with the Rogue Valley Chorale and the Oregon Music Education Association’s all-state choir. Bailey may have been miscast as Jennings, though. It is not his fault. He doesn’t possess the years of hard living, rough looks, the twangy voice or outlaw mentality needed to be a Waylon Jennings. But he sure does hold his own on “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?” and when it comes to voice blending, his does.
A strong Johnny Cash
Last but certainly not least, Pierson plays a mean Johnny Cash. Pierson has made this reviewer, who has never been a fan of Cash, a true believer. His bass-baritone register, the menacing growls of a “Boy Named Sue,” “I Walk the Line,” and “Folsom Prison Blues” — it’s all there. You can really feel it, along with the railroad pounding blues.
As usual, these country four have the benefit of being backed by a great band made up of Karl Iverson on keyboards and accordion, Larry Smith on bass, Steve Sutfin on drums and Micah McCaw, who really tore it up and laid it down on his electric guitar. What a talent.
Nick Chandler’s sound mixing was well-balanced with Jonathan Pratt’s nature-themed video backgrounds.
Scriptwriter Gwen Overland reminds us the Highwaymen had similar struggles with drugs, marriages and run-ins with the law — but they all persevered. It is just our luck that they came together as the Highwaymen. They had heart, talent and tremendous appeal, and this is what makes their stories worth telling and their songs worth hearing.
Ashland resident Lucie K. Scheuer is a former copy editor and staff writer with the Los Angeles Times, where her work included features, reviews and a column on films in production. Email her at [email protected].
