Each year, the Texas Heritage Songwriters' Association honors troubadours who have left a mark on the Texas music industry — from homegrown Austin heroes to Nashville-based legends — by inducting them into its Hall of Fame. And this year, the organization is bringing out the big guns with some deserving inductees of legendary status.
The 2014 honorees, announced on Wednesday, are Waylon Jennings, Buck Owens and K.T. Oslin. Grammy Award-winning artist Oslin, will perform at the program, while Waylon Jennings and Buck Owens — both being inducted posthumously — will be honored with performances by some of country music's biggest icons.
In what's sure to be an intimate, touching tribute, Jessi Colter, Jennings' wife and longtime singing partner, will perform alongside their son, singer-songwriter Shooter Jennings. Kris Kristofferson, a previous inductee (and part of The Highwaymen super group with Jennings, Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson) will also pay tribute to the country outlaw.
As a tribute to Buck Owens, king of the Bakersfield sound, Bonnie Bishop and Lee Roy Parnell will perform, backed by a star-studded house band. Buck Owens, Waylon Jennings and K.T. Oslin join the esteemed ranks of Hall of Fame members that include 2013 inductees Roger Miller, Sonny Curtis and Ronnie Dunn.
The ninth annual event will be held on June 22 at ACL Live at the Moody Theater. The awards show will close out a weekend-long "homecoming" celebration featuring a host of Texas songwriters. Tickets to the event go on sale April 15.
A tribute to Waylon Jennings will include performances by Jessi Colter, Shooter Jennings and Kris Kristofferson.
Waylon Jennings Facebook
A tribute to Waylon Jennings will include performances by Jessi Colter, Shooter Jennings and Kris Kristofferson.
The musical Wicked is indisputably the biggest Broadway smash of the 21st century, having grossed more $1.6 billion in New York alone and achieving the rare feat of running for over 20 years. All of which is to say that the long-awaited movie adaptation of The Wizard of Oz prequel will most likely be a massive success whether it lives up to what longtime fans envisioned or not.
Part one — yes, this 2 hour and 40 minute film is merely the first act of the musical; part two arrives a year from now — introduces Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), the green-skinned witch who goes on to become Dorothy’s nemesis, and G(a)linda (Ariana Grande-Butera), the pink-garbed “good” witch, as they meet at Shiz University in Oz. Glinda is the ultra-popular one with sycophantic hangers-on, while Elphaba is shunned by almost everyone, sometimes including her disabled sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode), who’s desperate to make her own space away from Elphaba.
Her mistreatment by others leads Elphaba to get angry, which manifests itself in uncontrollable magic. Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) notices this and takes a personal interest in her, giving her one-on-one instruction in hopes of harnessing her power. In the meantime, Elphaba and Glinda attempt to go from forced roommates to actual friends, although Glinda’s entitled personality is more of an obstacle than anything else they encounter.
Directed by Jon M. Chu and written by original book writer Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, the film does a great job of distinguishing itself from the stage version while still remaining true to what made it so beloved. As Chu showed in his last film, In the Heights, he has an innate feel for how to tap into the essence of the source material while expanding it into something befitting the scope of a blockbuster movie.
In this case, he finds a way to give even greater emphasis to the bigotry that Elphaba faces simply because of her green skin; the fact that she is being played by a Black woman drives home the point even more. The story remains light and fluffy for the most part, but the ostracization/otherness that Elphaba feels is delivered in a powerful way, as is her empathy for talking animals like Dr. Dillamond (voiced by Peter Dinklage), who are facing their own persecution.
Of course, the highlight of the film is Stephen Schwartz’s music, and while not all of the songs are equal in impact, they still make for a cohesive whole. The number of songs and order they appear in the first act is identical to the stage musical, with the standouts remaining “The Wizard and I,” “Popular,” and “Defying Gravity.” While there is some superfluous action and cutaways added to certain numbers, it’s not enough to distract from what makes the songs effective.
Oddly, the progression of the friendship between Elphaba and Glinda works better on stage when the timeline is accelerated, but Erivo and Grande-Butera make up for this slight lack with their fantastic performances. The emotion each brings to their characters fits them almost perfectly, and there’s simply no denying the strength of each of their voices. Bode, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, and more make for a solid supporting cast.
The well-known ending of the first act of Wicked is a huge high point that is so good that it almost makes up for the fact that audiences won’t see the second film for a long time. But if part one is any indication, part two should turn out to be another great musical theater adaptation in a decade that has already seen its fair share.
