A timely retelling of the story of one of country music’s greatest stars gets off on the right note, with a young Patsy Cline (Kelley Faulkner) warbling one of her songs. The Milwaukee Repertory Theater is reviving its hit show of 2012, when Faulkner first channeled the unforgettable Patsy Cline in Always … Patsy Cline. In the same month as the production debuts, A PBS-TV documentary on Patsy Cline also airs. This March marks 54 years after Cline died tragically in a private plane accident. (For details about this remarkable singer’s life, the documentary reveals far more information than this cabaret show, created by Ted Swindley in 1973.) Patsy Cline … Always opens in Nashville’s Grand Ol’ Opry, a stage that was very familiar to Cline. Backed by a three-piece band, Cline begins a cavalcade of hit country tunes with “Honky Tonk Merry Go Round.” Faulkner is wearing a red and white-fringed outfit (credit to costume director Jennifer Vinent) and a white cowboy hat. It is the last time we see her in the gaudy style of “traditional” country-western style clothes. Patsy’s mom, who made all of her outfits during Patsy’s early years, took some professional advice to heart and made the young Patsy look older and more sophisticated. Always …. Patsy Cline is drawn from the memories of Cline’s fan-turned-friend Louise Seger. Louise, who lives outside of Houston, is about the same age as Cline and sees far more similarities in their situations than the facts attest. Louise may have Patsy’s spunk, but surely not her beauty nor her voice.
Louise is transfixed when she first sees Cline sing on Arthur Godfrey’s TV show. From then on, she harasses a local country radio station DJ to play Cline’s songs for her every morning. Louise’s bits with the (unseen DJ) are only a tiny sliver of Tami Workentin fine-tuned comedy as Louise. If Faulkner does little but sing throughout the show (imagine – 27 tunes!), then Louise makes up for the lack of dialogue. She even breaks the fourth wall occasionally and has some back-and-forth conversation with the audience. One of the show’s most heartfelt scenes is Louise and Patsy’s first meeting. Louise has dragged her boyfriend, her boss and his wife to the local performing hall hours before Patsy’s showtime. The sight of Patsy Cline, walking in all by herself in this backroad “joint,” as Louise calls it, seems like a dream to Louise.
Do note that these were days before entourages and roadies and managers and light/ sound technicians were common. So it is just Patsy Cline, walking into a strange place alone, looking around and getting familiar with her surroundings. She welcomes an invitation to sit with Louise and her friends until showtime.
Faulkner, who doesn’t look a spit like the real-life Cline, delivers the goods with her precise rendition of Cline’s famous tunes. This show is a definite must-see for fans of early country music. Along with a few lesser-known tunes, Faulkner charms the crowd with “Walkin’ After Midnight,” “Crazy” (which was written by a then-unknown Willie Nelson), “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” and “Shake, Rattle and Roll.” Cline was known for her songs of heartache, cheating husbands and so forth. Many of the songs she made famous were re-recorded by other artists.
It’s a bit disappointing that younger audience members may see Always…Patsy Cline without recognizing Cline’s amazing history. Only Cline’s last letter to Louise hints at the trajectory of her stardom.
Before her death at age 30, Cline had been married twice and had two children (only the baby is mentioned in the show). She racked up 102 recordings in eight years, and only released three albums in her lifetime. Yet, the woman born Virginia Patricia Hensby had one of the most influential careers in country music, inspiring modern stars like Reba McIntire and Maron Morris. Also, Patsy was the first female artist inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. For those facts (and many more), a viewing of the PBS-TV documentary is required.
