Wildhorn is best known in the theater world for the music to the smash Broadway musicals Jekyll & Hyde, The Civil War and The Scarlet Pimpernel, which earned eight Tony nominations combined. All three shows ran simultaneously in 1999, making Wildhorn the first American composer in two decades to achieve this success. But his musical scope goes well beyond Broadway, and his songs have been performed by such diverse stars as Whitney Houston, Liza Minnelli, Trisha Yearwood, the Moody Blues, Hootie and the Blowfish and Dr. John.

BMI Tony Award winning composer Maury Yeston, BMI President and CEO Frances Preston and Frank Wildhorn

BMI's Frances Preston, singer/performer Linda Eder (and Frank's wife), Wildhorn, Songwriters Hall of Fame President Linda Moran and BMI's Jean Banks

photos: Gary Gershoff

But Broadway is still the center of a certain universe - if you can make it there, well . . .

In 1999, Wildhorn became the first American composer in more than two decades to have three shows running simultaneously on Broadway: Jekyll & Hyde, The Civil War and The Scarlet Pimpernel. Inspiring a legion of devoted fans - to put it mildly - these productions yielded eight Tony nominations, national tours, a cast and a concept album from each, and a reputation for Wildhorn as the man who brings a contemporary passion and voice to the grand staging of classic tales.

Songs from Jekyll & Hyde (music by Wildhorn, book & lyrics by Leslie Bricusse) such as "Someone Like You," "A New Life," and "This Is The Moment" have been featured at the Olympics, the Super Bowl, the World Series, the Miss America Pageant, the 1996 Democratic National Convention and the Inauguration of President Clinton.

The French Revolution adventure The Scarlet Pimpernel (music by Wildhorn, book & lyrics by Nan Knighton) yielded the Top 40 AC hit "You Are My Home," a duet recorded by Peabo Bryson and Linda Eder, Wildhorn's "wife and muse." A star of the original production of Jekyll & Hyde, Eder has released four albums, all written and co-produced by Wildhorn.

His music has been performed by artists of an astounding variety of styles: a representative sample includes Whitney Houston (the international hit "Where Do Broken Hearts Go"), Natalie Cole, Kenny Rogers, Sammy Davis Jr., Liza Minnelli, Julie Andrews (new songs for Broadway's Victor/Victoria), Trisha Yearwood, Travis Tritt, Patti La Belle, Bebe Winans, Betty Buckley, Ben Vereen, the Moody Blues, Jeffrey Osborne, Jennifer Holliday, Molly Hatchet, John Raitt, Hootie and the Blowfish, Blues Traveler and Dr. John.

Wildhorn's new theatrical projects include next year's Broadway-bound Dracula (book lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton), which premiered last fall in California, as well as the still-developing Camille Claudel (to star Eder); Bonnie & Clyde; Cyrano; Scott and Zelda; and a full-length ballet, Natasha.

Those musical and personal extremes are reflected on Hank III's second album, Lovesick, Broke & Driftin', on which the brashly charismatic upstart sticks to a stark, stripped-down sound that enhances the swagger of honky-tonk tunes like "Whiskey, Weed and Women" and "Mississippi Mud," while spotlighting the darker lyrical edge of such numbers as "Walkin' with Sorrow" and "Cecil Brown."

The third-generation iconoclast launched his country-music career in a characteristically unconventional manner. Although he'd been raised on hard rock and played in a variety of teen punk combos, he accepted an offer to perform as the featured act in a Hank Sr. tribute show in Branson, Missouri.

Hank III quickly proved himself a natural. After winning a deal with Curb Records, he released his 1999 debut album, Risin' Outlaw, which he now dismisses as over-produced and unrepresentative of his musical vision. For Lovesick, Broke & Driftin', Williams took hold of the creative reigns, co-producing the album and writing 12 of its 13 songs. The remaining tune is a manic reworking of Bruce Springsteen's "Atlantic City."

"Most of the songs on Lovesick were written at times when I was feeling vulnerable and a bit blue," Williams says, "so I had no qualms about writing what I felt at the time. For some reason, in my songwriting I've always been attracted to gloomy, darker scenarios and this one is no different."

Although Curb has marketed him as a country artist, Hank III's live shows offer an unpredictable mix of honky-tonk and raw, propulsive rock, delivered in varying proportions depending on the venue. He's played the country circuit as well as sharing stages with such left-of-center rock acts as Beck, the Melvins and the Reverend Horton Heat, and has recorded a rock album that he hopes to release later this year.

"As far as songwriting goes, I'll never compete with Hank Williams Sr.," Hank III concludes. "I just try to do my own thing. But I totally respect the legacy and am well aware of its place in history and what it means to people. Hell, it means a lot to me."