Always, Patsy Cline
My thoughts on Always, Patsy Cline or…good times with Louise and Patsy
Always, Patsy Cline is not so much a play as it is a concert with a story line. But whatever it is, in the hands of the ONSTAGE in Bedford team, it is enormously entertaining as anyone attending Sunday’s sold-out matinee performance will attest.
Director Bill Sizemore and Music Director Sydney Barber, who also plays piano in the Grand Ole Opry ready band, have crafted a perfect little gem of a musical. Oh, I forgot. This is country music. Make that gem the shiniest rhinestone ever.
It’s the late 1950’s and Houston resident Louise Seger is obsessed with the emerging country singer Patsy Cline. Patsy’s music “speaks” to her. Louise meets Patsy at a concert and the two women become fast friends and stay close for the remainder of Patsy’s short life.
Director Sizemore has found the two ideal actors to portray Louise and Patsy and they both embody the characters so thoroughly that the audience quickly develops an affection for the duo.
You’ll recognize Louise immediately. She’s the woman in front of you in line at Walmart with a ready smile and a witty remark. Sherry Etzel’s Louise is a phenomenon. The petite Etzel with her teased hair, western blouse, and tight jeans makes Louise a country style Energizer Bunny. She’s all over the stage, laughing and dancing and never at a loss for words. Louise narrates the play and addresses the audience directly. It is her memories we are sharing. The exceptionally skilled Etzel creates a warm and irresistible rapport with us and makes those memories engaging, often hilarious, and ultimately touching.
I am a huge Stephanie Felton fan and have enjoyed her performances all over the Metroplex for the past six years. I knew her Patsy Cline would be great, but her Patsy is somewhere beyond great. It’s in that realm where actor and character become indistinguishable. With the aid of Logan Coley Broker’s costumes and Nick Lynch-Voris’s wigs, Felton and Cline are one and the same. Felton takes Cline from a tentative and vulnerable country girl just starting out to Cline’s days as a major country star . Felton has Cline’s vocal style down pat, and both her beautiful ballads and up-tempo tunes are dynamite ear candy. The songs are almost nonstop here and Felton delivers every time, doing Patsy proud.
The intimacy of the ONSTAGE in Bedford venue and Rich Wiltshire’s stage design with Louise’s kitchen on the floor stage right just steps from the audience and a night club on stage left create the world that Louise and Patsy share. There is a microphone front and center where Patsy performs, and the terrific band is always on stage behind her. Michael B. Winters provides the lighting and Kevin Brazil provides the sound.
Director Sizemore has the show perfectly paced and scenes flow into the musical numbers smoothly. The story of Patsy Cline is both joyful and melancholy. Who knows how many more classic songs we would have had she not died in a plane crash at age 30? This play is a tribute to her. Always, Patsy Cline is first rate entertainment. Don’t miss this one!
