Always, Patsy Cline
If you are a fan of Patsy Cline’s music, you should definitely go see Always, Patsy Cline at Cinnabar in Petaluma. Chances are you’ll get to hear your favorite song. The production packs an impressive 26 songs into the musical, while weaving in the story of Louise Seger, a woman marked by a short encounter with the country music legend.
As a musical production Always, Patsy Cline could hardly be more entertaining. Mary Gannon-Graham imitated Cline’s voice with skill and care. Though she fell slightly short on some notes in the beginning, she throughly overcame that problem as the night went on. The six-member band The Bobcats added weight to the live performance. The result was an incredibly close replication of Patsy Cline’s music--a fan’s dream.
Liz Jahren was energetic, funny and confident in her portrayal of the doomed country icon’s devoted fan Louise Seger. Her funny, over-the-top characterization counterbalances the inherent sadness to most of Patsy Cline’s songs. That said, Ted Swindley’s story has one big problem. The drama only skims the surface as to just who was Patsy Cline. She remains a mystery from beginning to end.
This is a structural problem. The chance to explore Patsy Cline as a character was bypassed in the writing for some inexplicable reason. All we get is that Cline was very open with her fans, rather mild in temperament, had some marital problems and died in a plane crash at age 30. A minimal effort at depicting Cline’s inner life struggles would have added dramatic depth to the production.
But don’t get me wrong. As musical entertainment, Always, Patsy, Cline, delivers. The production is highly-polished and well-directed. It feels fresh despite being an encore presentation as part of the Petaluma Summer Music Festival. Songs like "She’s Got You," "Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray" and "Gotta Lotta Rhythm," to name a few, combine the right atmosphere, acting and song in the best musical tradition. It runs at Cinnabar Theatre through Sept 13.
