Always...Patsy Cline!

Originally published in the Sonoma Index Tribune, July 13, 2018.

The United States of America did a lot of growing up in the years after World War II. By the mid-fifties, America was humming right along; moving West, building interstate highways, and watching TV, among other new-fangled things.

The musical soundtrack of those boom years includes the many hit records by Patsy Cline. Cline first appeared on TV on the “Grand Old Opry” in 1955.  She went on to record “Walkin’ After Midnight”, “I Fall to Pieces”, “She’s Got You”, and many other hits, all of which made her a huge star.  Cline was the first female country music star to headline her own show and receive billing above the male stars with whom she toured.  She was also the first female solo artist inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

A story of her life, created by Ted Swindley and directed by Michael Ross, is called “Always… Patsy Cline”. The Sonoma Arts Live Theater Company is presenting this musical at Andrews Hall in the Sonoma Community Center, beginning July 13 through July 29.

This true story is told through the letters and remembrances of Louise Seger, a fan who met Cline outside a honky tonk.  Louise became one of Cline’s closest friends. During the ten years of their friendship, which ended with Cline’s tragic death in an airplane crash, the two spent many hours sitting at Seger’s kitchen table chatting about life and love. The two were so close, and Cline trusted Seger so, that Seger became President of the Patsy Cline Fan Club.  And those kitchen table chats were so important that a kitchen table is the focal point of the production at Andrews Hall.

“Always…Patsy Cline” stars Danielle DeBow as Cline, and Karen Pinomaki as Louise Seger. DeBow will be familiar to attendees as she portrayed Gypsy Rose Lee is last summer’s “Gypsy”.  Pinomaki also appeared in “Gypsy”, as well as “Spitfire Girl”.

DeBow has said that this is a dream role for her. “This amazingly talented woman left a legacy with just 8 short years in the industry. You could hear her heart when she sang. She was taken from us far too early.  My goal is to let her truth and raw emotion come through in this show.”

Pinomaki says, about the chance meeting of the two women, “That it would lead to such a meaningful and caring friendship is the heart of this story.”

Cline met Elvis Presley in 1962; she had long been a great admirer of The King, whom she called “The Big Hoss”. She often recorded songs using Elvis’s backup singers, The Jordanaires. A new incarnation of the Jordanaires, featuring Sean O’Brien, Michael Scott Wells, Ted von Pohle, and F. James Raasch, will round out the vocals for the Sonoma production. Of the quartet, Sonoma Arts Live Theater Company Executive Artistic Director, Jaime Love, says, “These guys are super talented and we are thrilled to feature them on the Rotary Stage.”

Much of the dialogue between Cline and Seger will take place at a kitchen table in the center of the floor of Andrews Hall.  A live band, fronted by DeBow, will be on the stage and will perform 26 songs, some done in medley style.  The cast has been rehearsing the production for about six weeks, and there will be a total of eleven shows over the run.  

Sonoma resident Moira McGovern has an important role in the production, that of Stage Manager. She worked on a show three years ago, and fell in love with the task of being a stage manager. Now, working it as a full-time gig, she is very excited about presenting “Always…Patsy Cline.”

“Last night, we had a sitzprobe,” she explained, “.. the first time the band and singers work together live.  It was amazing.”  McGovern went on to say, “There are some 26 songs in the show.  A lot of them were songs I knew, but didn’t know they were Patsy’s.” Aside from the phenomenal performances by the band and Debow, the show, “… lets you see Patsy as a human being.  All of us would want to be friends with her.”

As an added bit of fun, and in a nod to the County flavor of the evening, professional choreographer Michella Snider will be leading interested dancers in Line Dancing lessons just before the Opening Night curtain raises.  The dancing starts at 6:30 in Room 110 of the Commmunity Center. 

After taking the lessons and seeing this show, there will no doubt be many people “Line Dancin’ After Midnight” on East Napa Street tonight!

Tickets are available at sonomartslive.org and at the Sonoma Community Center office, (707) 938-4626.