Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 18, 1994 TAG: 9410180073
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KAREN L. DAVIS SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Playwright and director Ted Swindley said the two-woman show is based on real events in the true-life friendship between Cline and Louise Segar.
Segar, who lives in Arkansas and whom Swindley consulted during the play's development, was a devoted fan of Cline's who met her by chance after a concert in a Houston honky-tonk roadhouse.
The two became friends that night over a breakfast of bacon and eggs, Swindley said, and they remained pen pals until Cline was killed in a plane crash at age 31.
The show's title comes from one of the letters Cline wrote to Segar and signed, ``Always, Patsy Cline.'' The actual words from the letter are incorporated into the play and read near the end, Swindley said.
Cline was born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Frederick County, Va., near Winchester, in 1932. Her first big break came in 1957 when she sang ``Walkin' After Midnight'' on Arthur Godfrey's ``Talent Scouts'' show. The song became her first hit.
Her career lasted only about five years, but during that time, ``She was a trail blazer for women in country music,'' Swindley said.
Although she began her career in cowgirl outfits her mother sewed at home, Cline was later the first woman to appear on the Grand Ole Opry stage in a tailored suit, Swindley said. She forged a new image for country music by becoming the first female country singer to cross over into the pop charts.
Swindley describes the play as a ``storytelling piece that is very accurate in its detail and provides a lot of insight into Patsy's road life, her marriage and her family.''
Segar, played by Joy Johnson of Delray Beach, Fla., addresses the audience in the present as she begins telling her story. Then, Cline, played by Rusty Rae of California, appears from the past as Segar relives her memories on stage.
The play incorporates 23 songs from Cline's career, including ``Crazy,'' ``I Fall to Pieces,'' ``San Antonio Rose,'' ``Sweet Dreams,'' ``She's Got You,'' plus some Hank Williams tunes she performed, ``Your Cheatin' Heart'' and ``Lovesick Blues.'' Songs underscore the action in each vignette, and even Cline's lesser-known tunes, such as ``If I Could See the World Through the Eyes of a Child,'' illustrate important aspects of her life, such as her children, Swindley said.
A six-piece country band, directed by Vicki Eckard, accompanies the actresses onstage in costume and are integral to the show. For example, ``We re-create the show that Patsy did at the honky tonk where she and Louise met,'' Swindley said. ``The band appears as the house band.''
Swindley describes the set, which doesn't change throughout the two acts, as ``a nonrealistic representation of Louise's kitchen, a bandstand for Patsy, a jukebox, and some suggestive pieces of the honky tonk where they met.''
The biggest changes come in Cline's costumes, he said. There are at least a dozen, designed by Amanda Aldridge, resident costume designer at Abingdon's Barter Theatre. The costume changes convey a sense of Cline's progression and maturity as a performer, from cowgirl boots to tailored suits.
The show, which is presented in cooperation with Barter Theatre, continues through Oct. 30 on the main stage at Center in the Square before continuing on to the Barter. Other productions of the play have toured the country or played in regional theater, Swindley said, with one currently finishing a six-month run at the historic Ryman Theater in Nashville, Tenn., which was the original Grand Ole Opry house.
``Always, Patsy Cline'': 7:30 p.m. tonight, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday; 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday on the Mill Mountain Theatre main stage. Tickets cost $14 and $16 for matinees and Tuesday and Wednesday performances; $15 and $18 for Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows. Call the box office at 342-5740.
by CNB