Always...Patsy Cline reviewed at Phoenix Theatre

The American musical theater is alive and well, nay positively thriving, at Phoenix Theatre. This past season has seen some of Broadway's best quickly come and sadly go on this venerable theater's main stage. Each show has equaled, if not surpassed, the New York original.

Last night Phoenix Theatre closed its 89th season with the opening of Always...Patsy Cline, a musical by Ted Swindley about the legendary, crossover country singer. Swindley's intimate two character show spotlights an endless hit parade of famous Cline songs, twenty-seven in all, placing them front and center-stage to the delight of a most appreciative audience.

Kelly Carpenter as Patsy in Always...Patsy Cline

Always...Patsy Cline was suggested by a section of Ellis Nassour's Cline biography, Honky Tonk Angel. Nassour told the story of Patsy's chance meeting with Louise Seger, a devoted fan, in Houston, Texas in 1961. The two women met in the Esquire Ballroom where Cline was scheduled to perform that night. Patsy and Louise instantly bonded and started a long distance friendship that was to last until Cline's untimely, tragic death in a plane crash in 1963.

Swindley's flimsy plot is an obvious excuse to dramatically incorporate a truly scintillating array of Cline classics. Seger's character is our narrator, retelling how she and her idol became friends. While Louise is entertaining us with her memories, Patsy is on stage singing her glorious repertoire. Seger's presence is meant to humanize a legend. Cline was tragically taken from us at the ridiculously young age of thirty, the very peak of her career. She died nearly fifty years ago. Older and younger generations know her only from the remarkable collection of memorable recordings she left behind.

Kelly Carpenter as Patsy in Always...Patsy Cline

Cathy Dresbach plays friend Louise. Dresbach shows Seger to be full of life, gregarious to an exhausting degree. Her breathless, over-the-top performance tends to get on one's nerves. Considering that Valium was also introduced in 1961, it's too bad that Louise, as written, was not an original test subject. Dresbach does her best with what she is given to play, and doing her best is better than most.

On the flip side, when compared to Dresbach, Kelly Carpenter appears almost sedated as Cline. Her Patsy, is quiet, centered and positively glorious. This is a woman we would all like to know.

Swindley gives his singer very little dialog. Patsy's physical interactions with Seger are kept to a minimum. Her sole purpose is to react in song and Carpenter happily dominates the evening with her phenomenal voice and presence. Ms. Carpenter has opened her heart and soul to the spirit of Patsy Cline. She is an angel singing all those great songs, one after another, endlessly. Judy Garland famously said at her historic 1961 Carnegie Hall concert, “Let's stay all night and I'll sing them all.” (Wow, 1961 again) That's exactly how the opening night audience felt at Phoenix Theatre listening to the wonderful Ms. Carpenter. 

Until last night, my only knowledge of Patsy Cline and her music was Beverly D'Angelo's performance in Coal Miner's Daughter. Ted Swindley's Always...Patsy Cline and, most particularly, Kelly Carpenter have given me a renewed appreciation for all things Patsy. Listening to Carpenter serenade us last night, I had no doubt that whatever ails you, country music has the cure.

Graphic art and production photos courtesy of Allenberry Playhouse and Phoenix Theatre.