I’ve never been a big fan of country music, but maybe I like it more than I realized. I figured I wouldn’t know most of the songs in the engaging cabaret show “Kings of Country” at Florida Studio Theatre, but it turned out I knew more than I thought, and actually liked them, for the most part.
Eric Scott Anthony, left, created and stars with Jon Brown and three other musicians in "Kings of Country," a cabaret show that traces the history of country music. PHOTO PROVIDED BY FST
Of course, the show created by singer and musician Eric Scott Anthony, features some of the biggest hits written and performed by its major stars, so t’s likely they’ll be familiar to most in the audience.
Anthony has put together a fast-paced musical history lesson from the beginnings of country with Jimmy Rodgers in the late 1920s through the reign of Garth Brooks, who sold more albums than any other artist in the United States.
Anthony shares the stage with an impressively talented group of musician-singers, many of them familiar from past FST cabaret shows — Emily Mikesell, Jon Brown, drummer Tony Bruno and FST newcomer Ben Hope, who starred in the Broadway production of “Once.”
They sound great together, switching off on a variety of string instruments, and providing some sweet-sounding, occasionally growly harmonies. Along the way, they provide a little historic perspective about the artists and their songs.
Emily Mikesell, left, and Ben Hope play a variety of instruments and sing 90 years of country music in "Kings of Country" at Florida Studio Theatre's cabaret. PHOTO PROVIDED BY FST
The show begins with John Denver’s lively “Thank God, I’m a Country Boy,” which may not fit the focus on historic musical milestones, but it gets the program off to a rousing start, and you could see many in Friday night’s audience mouthing the words along with the cast.
As you’d expect, there are songs of broken love affairs, boozing, gambling and jail stints, and the hardships of life, and you get a sense of how country has shifted and adapted over the years to include rockabilly, honky tonk and outlaw styles. Some are more twangy, while others have more of a rock or pop beat.
From Rodgers’ “In the Jailhouse Now,” recorded in 1928, the show moves through such stars as Roy Acuff, who, we’re told was “was bigger than Frank Sinatra on some charts,” Merle Travis (“Sixteen Tons") and a medley of Hank Williams that includes “Lovesick Blues” and “Jambalaya on the Bayou.”
There are touches of George Jones (solo and with Tammy Wynette), several songs by Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Charlie Daniels, George Strait, Dwight Yoakam, Brooks and Dunn and Garth Brooks. Hope also performs the lively and fun title song from his album “Ragged and Ready” (for sale after the show) when he’s introduced by Anthony as one of the “new voices of country.”
Emily Mikesell, left, Eric Scott Anthony and Jon Brown in "Kings of Country" at Florida Studio Theatre's Court Cabaret. PHOTO PROVIDED BY FST
Bruno gives the show a driving rhythm that is matched by the often fierce instrumental virtuosity on guitars, mandolin, banjo, and particularly Mikesell’s fiddle. After a rousing version of Daniels’ “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” with its famed fast-paced fiddle solos, Hope jokingly uses his cowboy hat to help cool the instrument down.
THEATER REVIEW
KINGS OF COUNTRY
Created by Eric Scott Anthony. Reviewed July 17, Florida Studio Theatre Court Cabaret, 1247 First St., Sarasota. Through Aug. 16. Tickets are $32-$36. For more information: 366-9000; floridastudiotheatre.org
