COMMERCE, Texas -- The story of Hank Williams' rise to fame
and his untimely death will come to the stage of the Performing Arts
Center at Texas A&M University-Commerce starting Thursday, Feb. 12.

"Hank Williams: Lost Highway" will also be presented at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 13 and Feb. 14, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 15.

Performances will also be at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 19-21, with a special Gala performance at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22. Texas country music singer Ray Price is expected to attend the Feb. 22 performance, which will raise funds for the Ray Price Texas Culture Award Scholarship.

This is a musical filled with Hank Williams' own music, said director Jim Anderson, who teaches in the A&M-Commerce theatre department.

"It's an archetypical American story of a young person who skyrockets to fame and doesn't know how to handle success," Anderson said of the play.

Playing the role of Hank Williams will be A&M-Commerce undergraduate student Jacob Layton of Elsa, Texas.

There will be live music with Williams' Drifting Cowboys portrayed by Boyd Hudgens of Paris, Kelly Connell of Pecan Gap, Dustin Beasley of Campbell, Gary Moreland of Bonham, Rob McWhorter of Commerce, and Dan Grobe of Cumby.

Other actors in the show are Donna Deverell of Yantis as Mama
Lilly, Lou Ann Petty of Cumby as the waitress, Harry Fullwood of
Commerce as the radio announcer, Rachel Fields of Greenville as
Audrey, Gerald Taylor II of Commerce as Tee-Tot, and R. Kevin Morris of Emory as Pap.

Tickets will be the regular price for all performances except the Gala. Regular prices are $3 for students, $8 for senior citizens, and $10 for adults.

Tickets for the special scholarship Gala are $30.