“Always…Patsy Cline”

Posted by Gail M. Burns - September 2011

Both times I have had Always…Patsy Cline on my reviewing schedule I have looked at it warily and with much sighing, and both times I have left the Mac-Haydn high as a kite and happy as a clam. (Shall we put a clam on a string and see if it flies?)

Somehow the idea of a show about Patsy Cline (1932-1963) is unappealing, while the reality is just the opposite. Back in 1997 Ted Swindley took a chapter from Ellis Nassour’s biographyPatsy Cline: An Intimate Biography, and turned it into a show jam-packed with wonderful tunes and laugh-out-loud comedy, with a real human story at its heart. It has played all over the world to great success, and I can see why.

Swindley was the Artistic Director of the Stages Repertory Theatre in Houston and when be came up with the idea of a musical about Cline his first question was: Had she ever played Houston? That led him to the chapter in Nassour’s biography which consisted of the author’s interview with Louise Seger (1932-2004), a Houston housewife who met and became friends with Cline when she played the Esquire Ballroom in Houston in 1961 – a friendship that continued, mostly by letter, until Cline’s untimely death in a plane crash.

I was sad to learn that, while Swindley undoubtedly purchased the rights from Nassour, who in turn had obtained Seger’s consent to be interviewed and quoted in his biography, Swindley never contacted Seger, who was unaware that she had become a character in a musical until a family member saw the show and called her. Seger and her family were apparently devastated by Swindley’s use of her name for a character completely unlike the real Louise. I hope that she and Georg von Trapp and Fanny Brice and a few other folks whose names have been applied to characters in popular musicals who bore no resemblance to them, are all sitting together in heaven sharing a Schlitz and commiserating.

However the majority of the lines the character of Louise speaks are taken verbatim from Nassour’s chapter, so while the real Louise claims she never had a Texas drawl or wore tacky pastel colored cowgirl gear, her love for Patsy Cline’s music and friendship with the performer are genuine, as is the story of their first meeting, and that is what really sells this show.

Once again I saw Rhnea Wright as Louise, and she is as hilarious as I remembered her from the 2003 production at the Mac-Haydn. It is no wonder Patsy Cline accepted this woman’s invitation to come on home for bacon and eggs after her sets at the Empire Ballroom, because she is just a hoot. Wright plays Louise as a woman with gumption and the good humor to laugh long and hard at herself. She immediately connects with and engages the audience in the fun of the show, while leaving Jacqueline Petroccia plenty of time and space to belt out one marvelous Patsy Cline hit after another.

I am not a country-western kinda gal, but who doesn’t love the music of Patsy Cline?? She was definitely a cross-over artist, with hits in several genres, including country, folk, gospel, and rock. The audience I attended with generally gasped or signed with delight as they recognized each tune. Petroccia looked like Patsy and sang like Patsy, and her powerful and pleasing voice sounded as fresh on her encores as it had on her opening number two and a quarter hours earlier. Costume designer Kyle Skillin has done a great job of creating a pile of wonderful outfits for Petroccia, many of which are dead-ringers for ensembles Cline actually wore in performance.

Petroccia is backed by the Bodacious Bobcats Band featuring Joe Bob (Josh D. Smith) on piano, Jim Bob (Matthew Rose) on steel guitar, Betty Bob (Holly Larson) on the fiddle, Jay Bob (Seth Eliser) on the guitar, and Bob Bob (Paul Reed) on drums. As the daughter of a Bob, the daughter-in-law of a Bob, AND the wife as a Bob I was a tad disappointed to discover that NONE of these talented musicians was actually named Bob, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the great music they made and the joie de vivre they brought to the stage. Set designer Kevin Gleason has placed them ON the stage, by the way, not hidden in the cave-like pit area of the Mac-Haydn, so they were an important visual as well as an aural part of the proceedings.

Patsy Cline, who was only 30 when she died, had earned her reputation as a strong and independent business woman. She stood up for her rights and her money and her artistic integrity and became the first woman in country music to headline her own shows – with billing above the male stars – and the first to play Carnegie Hall.

Swindley’s Louise is likewise a gal with cajones who is not afraid to tell the world what she thinks and wants and needs. In 1961, a time when most women stayed at home to raise their children, Seger and Cline were both working mothers. Seger was divorced and Cline was married, but of course she spent a lot of time on the road away from her husband and children, and her son Randy was only a few months old when she and Seger met.

Director Monica M. Wemitt (who made a cheerful appearance to draw the 50/50 winner at intermission in character as the great Minnie Pearl at the performance I attended) has Wright and Petroccia play these strong women to the hilt. It’s a veritable Estrogenfest! But I cam away feeling empowered and emboldened myself. I had had a great time in the theatre with no men involved, thank you very much – well, except for those Bodacious Bobcats.

Trust me, there is nothing maudlin or hokey about Always…Patsy Cline. It is a perfect combination of hilarious comedy and wonderful music, and you will get a big kick out of it whether you’re a city slicker/stubborn Yankee like me or a sweet li’l ol’ country gal like Patsy.

Click HERE to see performance photos from this production.

The MHT II production of Always . . . Patsy Cline runs September 9-11 and 15-18, at the Mac-Haydn Theatre, 1925 Route 203 in Chatham, NY. Performance schedule: first week Friday at 8, Saturday at 2 and 8, Sunday at 2; second week Thursday at 2, Friday at 8, Saturday at 2 and 8, Sunday at 2. The show runs two hours and a quarter and is suitable for Patsy Cline fans ages 10 and up. Tickets are $29 and $30 for evening performances. All matinee seats are $28. Children under 12 accompanied by an adult are $12. Call 518-392-9292 to make your reservations.

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