Country & Pop Music shines in "Always...Patsy Cline"

--- Theatre review

From the mellow "How Great Thou Art" and "Sweet Dreams" to the foot-stomping "San Antonio Rose" and the twisting, bopping "Shake, Rattle & Roll," the Candlelight Pavilion´s new musical rocks with the songs that made Patsy Cline a "shooting star" of country music.

The response is enthusiastic applause, shouts, and whistles as the talented Lisa Layne (with an uncanny resemblance to Cline) performs over two dozen songs in that distinctive, velvety, alto voice. (Lisa Layne has traveled the country performing as Patsy Cline for over ten years.)

But "Always…Patsy Cline," created by Ted Swindley in 1988, is more than a musical review. Woven around the famous songs is the true story of an unlikely friendship between the singer and a loyal fan that lasted until Cline´s premature death in 1963.

The story is told with broad humor (and a thick drawl) by Louise Seger (Beth Mendoza), a Houston housewife whose instant devotion began the moment she first heard Cline sing on the Arthur Godfrey TV show in 1957.

Using only minimal props to suggest setting (a chrome kitchen set, a restaurant table and chairs, a large jukebox, a Grand Ole Opry microphone) on a stage that is dominated by a glitzy, marquee-lighted raised platform for the live band, Mendoza begins her story.

"The first time I heard Patsy Cline sing, I was in the kitchen doing dishes and the kids were watching Arthur Godfrey…"

Layne´s red and white cowgirl costume, complete with neckerchief, fringe, and boots, is right off the old playbills. Her "Honky Tonk Merry Go Round," "Back in Baby´s Arms," and "Anytime" flowed twangy and smooth and captivated Seger. "It´s how I always wanted to sing," she says. "I´ll never forget how her voice made me feel."

Seger watched the show faithfully for two weeks, and when Cline moved on, Seger hounded the local radio station to play her songs.

Seger´s life went on, her marriage ended, she got a job, and then suddenly she heard that voice again. The mournful "I fall to pieces," made her feel alive. She called the station requesting that song or its flip side four or five times every day. One day, DJ Hal Harris called her. "She´s coming to town, Louise, to the Esquire Ball Room."

Mendoza, a Candlelight patron favorite, who encourages audience participation and isn´t afraid to come down among them to get the responses she wants, tells how Seger drove her boyfriend (hilarious impersonation), and her boss and his wife, in her long, pink Cadillac convertible named "Sexy Dude" to the big barn that night to hear Cline sing.

After "Honky Tonk Angels," Seger approached the star to say hello. Before long they were chugging beer and chatting and laughing like old friends. When Cline asked for help to keep the band from rushing her songs, Seger took over, claiming to be the singer´s "new manager."

Layne´s remarkable ability to imitate Cline´s distinctive octave-jumping, syncopated style (that almost sounds like a slow yodel) is unmistakable in the popular, "Your Cheatin´ Heart" and "Stupid Cupid."

After her performance Cline spent the night at Seger´s house. They talked about kids and husbands and broken hearts, revealed secrets, and giggled like old school pals. "She was like the sister I never had," remembers Seger. When Cline confessed that, although she missed her kids, she "had a great life," and that she "never wanted to be rich, only to live good," it seems like a premonition of the tragedy to come.

In the morning, after a surprise visit to the radio station, Seger finally puts Cline on a plane for her next gig. "I don´t want to lose contact," Cline says and they exchange addresses. The friends corresponded regularly over the next two years until the singer´s tragic death in a plane crash on her way home from Nashville. She was 30.

Clines many letters (one is read at the performance) are all signed, "Love always…Patsy Cline."

The upbeat "Bill Bailey" at curtain call sends the audience home from this magical tribute to an unforgettable singer, feeling good and humming a song.

Dining at the Candlelight is always elegant; the food is generous; the wait staff is attentive and gracious. Pre-show entertainment features the talented, lightning-fingered, acoustical guitarist, Michael Ryan, whose music ranges from the romantic "Autumn Leaves" to the rousing South-of-the-boarder "Malaguena." www.michaelryanmusic.com

"Always…Patsy Cline" plays Thursday-Sunday evenings, plus two weekend matinees through February 7, 2010. Rates for the meal & show range from $48.00-$60.00. Rates for groups and the show only are also available. For information and reservations call (909) 626-1254 ex.1, or visit online at www.thecldt.com or at www.candlelightpavillion.com