Always, Patsy Cline slated at C.C. Playhouse
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The Playhouse has again cast country music royalty Kellye Cash, Johnny Cash’s niece, in the role of Patsy Cline. Kellye Cash, Tennessee’s most recent Miss America and Christian recording artist, sang with her famous uncle for many years, performed with Lee Greenwood, was in the USO Show with Bob Hope. She performs annually in professional concerts, professional and regional theater productions, as well as concentrating in her chosen field of Christian music. She has appeared on The Today Show, Good Morning America, The David Letterman Show, and still makes guest appearances on the televised Miss America Pageants. She starred as Cline in the Playhouse’s successful 2004 run of Always, Patsy Cline.
Cumberland County Playhouse royalty Patty Payne, beloved for 12 years by regional and national Playhouse audiences as June Sanders in Smoke on the Mountain (“I don’t sing; I sign.”) and Sanders Family Christmas, will again star opposite Cash as Louise Seger, Patsy’s friend and biggest fan.
“In addition to the fabulous Miss Cash, it is irresistible to have Louise Seger played by the wonderfully funny and moving Patty Payne, Playhouse resident company member. “This is such an exciting pairing,” said Jim Crabtree, producing director. “Both women have such terrific followings,” he said. “?as does our national tour veteran and playhouse leading lady Weslie Webster who has appeared in the leading role of Julie and other roles in Carousel as well as Grizabella in 2004’s CATS (“Memory”), Mrs. Potts in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, and more. Weslie will again star as Patsy Cline when Kellye Cash has previously scheduled commitments,” he said. “Last year’s sold out houses and waiting lists told us to bring back this deeply moving musical with this same wonderful cast,” he said. “We left people wanting more and it is nice to be able to give them that in our 40th Anniversary year,” he said.
Based on the life of Patsy Cline, the woman who epitomized country music in the late ’50s and ’60s, Always…Patsy Cline focuses on the endearing, true life friendship Patsy shared with star-struck, Texas housewife Louise Seger. Seger, and most of the nation, fell in love with Patsy’s voice after seeing her perform “Walkin’ After Midnight” on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts in 1957. Seger followed Cline’s career devotedly through radio and television and finally got to meet the singer at a Houston concert in 1961. Seger provided room and board for the star after the show. The two became pen-pals up until the 1963 plane crash that claimed Cline’s life. The play’s title refers to the manner in which Cline would close each of her letters: Love always … Patsy Cline.
Always … Patsy Cline is an intimate look at the woman behind the legend: Patsy, the mother who missed her children on the road; the wife who worried about her husband; the real story of what it meant to be one of Nashville’s first “girl singers” and the sacrifices it took to maintain that stardom on the road. This is the insider’s story as only a true friend could tell it. The show will feature a live band and more than 20 country standards including Cline’s hits “I Fall to Pieces,” “Crazy,” “Back in Baby’s Arms” and “She’s Got You,” and more.
Tickets to all performances are on sale now. The Playhouse offers free Spotlights, in depth, color newsletters that explain every musical and every concert of the entire season plus dates and show times. Spotlights are sent through the mail three times a year. To become a free Spotlight member just call the Box Office at 931-484-5000 or email your name, address, zip, and phone number to [email protected].