PicksInSix Review: ALWAYS... PATSY CLINE Firebrand Theatre
PERFORMANCES SHINE IN FIREBRAND’S “PATSY CLINE”
If you are a fan of country music a la Grand Old Opry, then the heel-stomping band and fine feature performances by Harmony France and Christina Hall in the Firebrand Theatre production of “Always…Patsy Cline” is the show for you.
Set on a multi-level roadhouse stage replete with club seating in The Den’s Bookspan Theatre, the Brigitte Ditmars-directed show, based on a true-to-life meeting between uber-fan Louise Seger and Cline in Houston, is part hootenanny, part jukebox-musical. Seger, as storyteller, unwraps a touching personal story of the two women, who bond around the life of Cline, a life depicted in the more than two dozen hits that roll out over the course of the evening.
France and Hall alternate roles at each performance. On the night I attended, France delivered a warm, radiant and engaging Cline, in step with Hall, who shined as she portrayed a woman whose exuberance for the singer and her songs turns into a lasting friendship over the course of several hours and through letters that followed until Cline’s untimely death at the age of 30 in a plane crash.
That part of the story, though well-known, is more an ultimate destination for the musical journey through such hits as “Back In Baby’s Arms,” “I Fall To Pieces,” “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “Sweet Dreams,” and “Crazy,” that mirror an aspect of the singer’s life story from early success on the radio, to her marriages, to motherhood and finally to the path of country music icon.
Christina Hall as Patsy Cline
PHOTO|Michael Brosilow
The band—Andra Velis Simon (keyboard/conductor), Steven Romero Schaeffer (electric and lap steel guitars), Emma Sheikh (fiddle and acoustic guitar) and Tina Muñoz Pandya (drums)—rips through the arrangements, and with seating on three sides of the Lauren Nichols-designed roadhouse, there are opportunities for the audience to join in the action on the dance floor and drop in on conversations at the club, and even, later that evening, at Seger’s kitchen table.
It all feels like a step back in time with Cline’s classic ensembles—the fine work of costume designer Steph Taylor and wig designer Keith Ryan—which allow France and Hall to seamlessly weave the era and the heartfelt story of the brief, yet life-changing, meeting that frames a night of superb music from one of country music’s greatest stars.
PHOTOS|Michael Brosilow
FIREBRAND THEATRE
Presents
ALWAYS…PATSY CLINE
through December 15
THE DEN THEATRE
1331 N. Milwaukee Ave.
(773) 697-3830
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