Cline musical a sweet dream for theater

Richard Carter, for the Times Record News
Friday, October 10, 2008


Love and drama and humor and sometimes even great music are the stuff of great friendships.

Such was the case with the unlikely friendship between a divorced Houston woman and the legendary country and western singer Patsy Cline. After Louise Seger met Cline in Houston one evening in 1961, they kept their friendship alive through the phone and mail until the singer's death in 1963.

That friendship is brought to the stage in Ted Swindley's 1988 musical, "Always…Patsy Cline."

Backdoor Theatre will present the colorful and heartwarming tale beginning tonight for a three-weekend run. It will wrap up Oct. 25.

The production is directed by Larry Sharp and stars Elizabeth Speer as Cline and Jennifer Wicker as Seger.

The first challenge of presenting the musical, said Sharp, was casting it — "finding two dynamite actresses, and we accomplished that."

It was a competitive casting session; 15 women tried out for the roles.

Wicker saw the musical at Fort Worth's Bass Hall eight years ago. But, at the time, she didn't see herself in either of the roles. "I saw Elizabeth as Patsy and our other friend, Amy Morgan, as Louise."

Speer has wanted to take on the role of Cline since learning about the musical from Wicker. "My father is a huge Patsy Cline fan and, therefore, so am I," she said. "I cannot even describe how excited I am to do this."

During the musical, Speer sings 26 Cline songs, or parts of songs, with at least 11 costume changes ranging from dressy to Western to casual. She will perform with live accompaniment, including a steel guitar and fiddle.

"I've been listening to Pasty Cline nonstop for several months on my iPod," Speer said, although she has actually been listening to her music, in one way or another, since she was born.

The musical is set in two acts over two hours with a short intermission.

Seger is the focal point of the play and is on stage the entire time, as she relates the friendship between the two women.

After their meeting one night, they continued to exchange letters and phone calls up until Cline's death in an airplane crash. Their friendship was based on the personal connection they made, even though, at first, Seger is a little star struck meeting Cline. But she soon realizes that, "Pasty is just a gal too," Wicker said. "And Patsy realizes she can just be a gal, too, with her."

Wicker said she really enjoys Seger's character and how she is written.

"In so many ways, she has let her hair down. She's just comfortable, she's up there, she's cool. She's really honest with the crowd. She's a little brassy, she has some 'tude. She's vulnerable. She loves Patsy, and she lets everyone know about it."

The musical is like a sisterly friendship, which is easy for her and co-star Speers to convey, since the actresses are best friends.

Neither is intimidated by being the only two performers on the stage for the entire show.

Sharp said the fact that this is a cast of two created the second challenge of producing the musical.

The Louise character, as a storyteller, drives the show, and it's up to her to keep the audience entertained, he said. Not only does she have to be a good storyteller, she has to tell the story in different voices, inflections and tenses.

"We did that by interpreting what part of the storytelling was her telling the story, what part she was repeating what Patsy said, what part she was editorializing what happened, and what part of the story she was imitating other people," Sharp said.

They also had to pay more attention to blocking and the movement of the characters to keep the stage dynamic.

"We also have a dynamite singer who we have to move around to keep it visually interesting for the audience, too. The songs are varied and go from fast to slow and different tempos and genres of Patsy Cline songs, which helps."

Both Sharp and Wicker know this is a big production. "It's a lot for both of us," said Wicker. "It's a whole lot. We love it."

This will be the first time that Backdoor will be producing the musical, and the actors think people will want to see it several times.

"It's a show where people don't just see it once," Speer said. "They want to come back two, three, four times. It's just a feel-good show."

Just the facts

What: "Always…Patsy Cline"

Where: Backdoor Theatre, 501 Indiana

When: Tonight and Saturday, as well as October16-18 and Oct. 23-25. Thursday shows begin at 7:30 p.m., while Friday and Saturday shows start at 8 p.m.