Asleep at the Wheel Returns to The Long
Center to Take A Ride with Bob
Nine-time Grammy Award
winners Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel return to the Austin
stage when A Ride with Bob: The Bob
Wills Musical plays The Long
Center for the Performing Arts. The first-ever musical
drama about the legendary Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys
returns on September 17th at 7:30 p.m.
A Ride with Bob debuted in
the spring of 2005 with six sold-out shows at the State
Theater in Austin. It was an
instant hit with audiences and critics, garnering several
nominations from Austin Circle of Theaters Awards and fueled a
four-city tour of Texas and Oklahoma that fall. In 2006, the
show played San Antonio, Ft. Worth, San Francisco, and
Washington, DC - where President and Mrs. Bush were in
attendance at the renowned Kennedy Center.
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Since then, the play
has continued to introduce many to the legend of Bob Wills as
well as remind others of a bygone era. The show is Benson's
tribute to Wills, who inspired Asleep at the Wheel.
In 1973 after the
release of the band's first album - which paid tribute to the
music of Bob Wills - Benson was invited by his idol to Dallas
for a meeting. Upon his arrival, he learned Wills was not
feeling well, and the meeting was postponed for the next
morning.
That same night, Wills had
a stroke and went into a life-ending coma. In A Ride with Bob,
Benson finally gets to have his conversation with the Spirit of
Bob, who visits him on the
Asleep at the Wheel bus late one night.
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The fascinating and
sometimes outrageous stories of Wills' career, his contribution
to American music, and his raucous personal life unfold. The
drama includes performances of Wills' most famous songs,
including "San Antonio Rose," "Faded Love,"
"Cherokee Maiden," "Take Me Back to Tulsa,"
and many more.
The two-act play features
Ray Benson(as himself, Asleep at the Wheel members - including
fiddler Jason Roberts as "Young Bob Wills" - and
actor Marco Perella as "Old Bob Wills." The play was
co-written by Benson and Hollywood screenwriter Anne Rapp (Cookie's Fortune, Dr. T & the Women).
Tickets are $ 20 to
$61.50. For tickets and information, call (512) 474-LONG
(5664) or visit www.TheLongCenter.org.
(Photos courtesy Asleep at the Wheel)
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