Not only do we experience the presence of Hank Williams, we are engrossed in a great actor like Brumlow recreating the life and loves, pains and accomplishments of a legendary country singer who left this world at the young age of 29.

The Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Stackner Cabaret’s "Nobody Lonesome for Me" gives its all from start to finish. It exhausts as it exhilarates.

Susannah M. Barnes has created a very realistic set for a gas station, complete with pay phone, dirty windows, a cash register, a coke machine and a lot of junk on the shelves.

The time is New Year’s Eve, 1952, and the upstage door leads to the service garage. Through the murky windows, we see the ghost guitarist (Peter Silbert) who joins Brumlow in his strumming.

Brumlow tells stories replete with Southern imagery, homespun humor and a whole lot of booze and frenetic movement.

Williams is an Alabama boy, white trash, whose talent catapulted him into fame before he knew what to do with it. Despite his shaky relationships with his mother Lily, his sister Irene and his estranged wife Audrey, he kept "those checks coming" with his success. At the end, it seemed that is all they wanted from him.

We soon learn to love this man, despite his temper, his excessive drug use and his occasional abusive behaviors. His simplicity, his sincerity and his heart-wrenching music that embodies his woes - all draw us to empathize with him, just another human being whose life mirrors the imperfection of the human condition.

As he reveals himself to the gas station’s owner (whom we never see or hear) and to us, we want that phone to ring. We want someone to make a comforting connection. But the only voices on the other end of the line are ours, futilely trying to tell him that we hear him and his visceral music and we recognize his talent and his contributions. But he is gone, and we are left with "Nobody Lonesome for Me" and "Cheatin Heart" and wonder how many other songs he might have written if he had lived past 29.

Williams’ childhood was rough. His alcoholic father left the family, Hank was born with spinal bifada, and Audrey, the love of his life, eventually kicked him out because of his drunkenness.

Probably the greatest joys of his life were creating songs and being well received by fans at the Grand Ole Opry and other less auspicious venues. When Williams was a kid, a black troubadour and his faithful dog paid him some attention and got him started on the guitar. It was probably the most satisfying human connection he ever made.

Scriptwriter Lanie Robertson said that in writing this piece, he hoped to create an "emotional portrait." He also hoped that patrons would think his show was worth the price of the ticket. Robertson accomplished both objectives.

Kudos to Director Sandy Ernst for this moving, authentic experience.

Even if you’re not into country music, you’ll enjoy this show.