Nelson Mandela opera comes to Johannesburg (AP)

JOHANNESBURG – The refined strains of Western opera and traditional Xhosa song and a sexy dose of jazz drive a new opera that opens Saturday in Johannesburg about South Africa's former president and anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela.

Writer and director Michael Williams said in an interview before a dress rehearsal on Friday that the range of musical styles reflects South Africa's mix of cultures.

The sweeping production shows Mandela cheating on his wife, making political missteps and struggling with the burden of holding others' lives in his hands.

Aubrey Lodewyk, who plays an aging Mandela in the opera, says ordinary people can draw an important lesson from Mandela's life.

Lodewyk says: Mandela "was a human being, he had his faults. But yet he came out as great a man as he is."

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Willie Nelson pot plea still not hashed out (Reuters)

LUBBOCK, Texas (Reuters) – Time's slipping away on a deal for iconic U.S. country singer Willie Nelson's misdemeanor drug charge.

County Judge Becky Dean-Walker said on Friday she wouldn't sign off on a plea deal that reduced the charge to the same as a speeding ticket.

"I'm not going to be guilty of signing something because someone is a celebrity," Dean-Walker told Reuters.

The Texan troubadour famed for hits such as "Crazy" and "Always on My Mind" ran into trouble last November when his tour bus stopped for an immigration checkpoint.

A Border Patrol agent smelled marijuana and summoned deputies. Officials first reported enough marijuana was found to charge the singer with a felony, but County Attorney C.R. Bramblett told Reuters in early June that less than two ounces were found, making it a lesser criminal offense.

Nelson agreed in June to plead no contest to a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia, pay a $500 fine and court costs of about $280.

Nelson's attorney, Joe Turner, mailed in all the paperwork after striking the deal with Bramblett and expected it to be over by the end of June, he said.

"Normally, that's a done deal," Turner told Reuters on Friday.

But Dean-Walker said she considered it a more serious offense, and would not approve the deal. She signed it, then scratched her name out when she realized it was such a small punishment, she said.

The judge said she had nothing against the singer, but that any other person in the same situation would face a tougher penalty. Nelson's case remained pending on Friday.

"Everybody should be treated the same in my court," Dean-Walker said.

Bramblett could not be reached for comment on Friday. His office said he would be unavailable until Tuesday, after the Fourth of July holiday.

Turner said the issue is now in Bramblett's hands.

It wasn't clear Friday whether Bramblett would bring the case to another court or simply let it die.

(Editing by Corrie MacLaggan and Jerry Norton)

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Willie Nelson off the hook on pot charge (Reuters)

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) – When Willie Nelson is on the road again, he will be traveling without a Texas drug charge hanging over his head.

A West Texas prosecutor said on Wednesday that the legendary singer and songwriter has pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia and has agreed to pay a $500 fine plus court costs of about $280.

"I have given him the option to do it by mail," said C.R Bramblett, the county attorney in remote Hudspeth County, where Nelson was charged with marijuana possession last November.

A Border Patrol officer smelled pot inside Nelson's tour bus when it was pulled over at a checkpoint on Interstate 10.

Bramblett said he has spoken with Nelson's attorney, and the singer has agreed to the plea deal. Bramblett expects the case to be settled within two weeks.

"All he has to do is sign the papers, and get me a cashier's check for the money," Bramblett told Reuters.

Bramblett said the case will be dismissed entirely if Nelson stays out of trouble for 30 days.

He says officials have determined that there was a "little bit less than two ounces" (56 g) of marijuana inside the bus, which allows the case to be treated as a misdemeanor. Officials had initially reported that as much as five ounces of pot was discovered, which would have made the case a felony.

"He got the same thing I'd give to anybody," Bramblett said of the settlement.

(Editing by Corrie MacLaggan and Greg McCune)

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Willie Nelson off the hook on pot charge (Reuters)

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters Life!) – When Willie Nelson is on the road again, he will be traveling without a Texas drug charge hanging over his head.

A West Texas prosecutor said on Wednesday that the legendary singer and songwriter has pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia and has agreed to pay a $500 fine plus court costs of about $280.

"I have given him the option to do it by mail," said C.R Bramblett, the county attorney in remote Hudspeth County, where Nelson was charged with marijuana possession last November.

A Border Patrol officer smelled pot inside Nelson's tour bus when it was pulled over at a checkpoint on Interstate 10.

Bramblett said he has spoken with Nelson's attorney, and the singer has agreed to the plea deal. Bramblett expects the case to be settled within two weeks.

"All he has to do is sign the papers, and get me a cashier's check for the money," Bramblett told Reuters.

Bramblett said the case will be dismissed entirely if Nelson stays out of trouble for 30 days.

He says officials have determined that there was a "little bit less than two ounces" (56 g) of marijuana inside the bus, which allows the case to be treated as a misdemeanor. Officials had initially reported that as much as five ounces of pot was discovered, which would have made the case a felony.

"He got the same thing I'd give to anybody," Bramblett said of the settlement.

(Editing by Corrie MacLaggan and Greg McCune)

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Willie Nelson clan hosts Country 'Throwdown' party (AP)

By CHRIS TALBOTT, AP Entertainment Writer Chris Talbott, Ap Entertainment Writer – Tue May 24, 7:57 am ET

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Lukas Nelson clearly remembers the conversation that launched him on the path to playing guitar for a living.

Nelson was 10 or 11 and his father, Willie, was showing him a few things on the guitar. The son asked his father what he'd like for his upcoming birthday and the answer changed Lukas Nelson's life.

"He said, `I want you to learn how to really play guitar,'" Lukas Nelson remembered. "I said, `OK,' and I did. I fell in love with it. "

Lukas Nelson threw himself into learning the guitar and his progress will be on display this summer when he joins his famous father and a host of rising country music stars on the "Country Throwdown Tour". Willie Nelson headlines the traveling festival that kicks off Friday in Philadelphia.

Jamey Johnson, Randy Houser, Lee Brice and Brantley Gilbert among others will join the Nelsons on the 25-city tour. And while the iconic Country Music Hall of Famer is looking forward to seeing those guys, he's really excited to spend the summer touring with his son. No offense.

"Oh, I can't wait," Willie Nelson said. "I'm looking really forward to it. We have a lot of fun together and I'm so proud of him that he's doing so good. Whenever we're on shows together I want him to come back and play, him and his whole band, and we just set up and jam for a couple of hours."

Lukas Nelson released his first self-titled album with his band, Promise of the Real, last year and expects to play 250 or more shows in 2011. There are times when he looks, sounds and plays like his dad, but the 22-year-old guitarist is clearly attempting to cut his own path.

The album is filled with rock `n' roll, from flaming electric Texas blues rock to spacey and spiritual psychedelia. He covers deep influences Neil Young and Jimi Hendrix on the album and at times sounds more like the offspring of Stevie Ray Vaughn than the heir of the Nelson clan.

That Lukas Nelson picked up the guitar and hit the road shouldn't come as a surprise. It's the way he was raised. Lukas and his six siblings were regulars on their father's tour bus, thanks to homeschooling, and some played and sang on stage with Nelson's band as they grew up.

"We can really have more family time out here than we can on a day off somewhere at home because it really gets so hectic," Willie Nelson said. "Really we're able to connect better out here going up and down the highway. We are traveling musicians. I guess we like it. It's kind of like a gypsy."

It was an idyllic upbringing for a young musician and Lukas and his brother Micah dove into the life. Lukas played the guitar 10 hours a day and entered the family business of songwriting. He remembers his father being a handy resource, but one who kept it positive. If Nelson liked one of his Lukas' songs, he might record it, as he did with "You Were It" on 2004's "It Always Will Be." And if he didn't like a song, he kept it to himself.

Locked away in his bedroom, Lukas chased the sounds made by iconic figures in rock `n' roll who were personal friends — Young, Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp among them.

Eventually, though, he felt the pull to step out on his own. In his late teens, he decided to quit school and moved to Southern California, starting his own band there.

"I just knew I wanted to play, that I loved to play and that's what I wanted to do with my life, whether I was going to make money at it or not," Lukas Nelson said. "By my own decision I dropped out of school and lived in my car for a year and busked on the street. I toured in a van when we first started. I didn't ask my parents for any money financially. I tried to do it on my own and I'm proud I did it on my own."

While Lukas' father is the obvious main draw on the "Country Throwdown Tour," promoter Kevin Lyman thinks acts like the younger Nelson will be the focus of ticket-buyers. Lyman's original concept was to pair Willie Nelson with a young act like a Dierks Bentley who could serve as a bridge between generations, and he's mostly succeeded with that premise in the festival's second year.

Lyman believes the Throwdown has the same kind of potential as his "Warped Tour," which has been on the road for 17 years. There's a definite outlaw flavor to the lineup and Lyman believes the unique grouping could help secure the future of the event.

One thing's for sure: With the Nelson family along it's going to be one heck of a party.

"I'm looking forward to hanging out with them," Lyman said. "Everyone's asking me what's the difference between the `Warped Tour' and the `Throwdown' and the only thing I could figure out was brown liquor. And that's not a good thing sometimes."

___

Online:

http://www.countrythrowdown.com

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