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LIGHTNING REVIEW: 'Always ... Patsy Cline' stays true to country

Jacqueline Petroccia stars in 'Always ... Patsy Cline' at Flat Rock Playhouse. [PHOTOS BY SCOTT TREADWAY/TREADSHOTS]

By Bill Moss, Published: May 14, 2015

When it comes to a tribute show, the first question is how good is the music it honors? Patsy Cline? Good.

Because my Pandora and Spotify settings tilt overwhelmingly to classic country, I get plenty of Patsy.
The next question is does the singer have the vocal chops and stage presence to do justice to the original artist? In Jacqueline Petroccia, that’s a big yes. By the time she's hip-swayed to the end of “Back In Baby’s Arms” we're confident that she’s channeling Patsy heart and soul.
Finally, does the narrative bridge between the music give us a reason to care not just about the songs but the person who sang them? As well as “Lost Highway,” the Hank Williams tribute, and better than the Marty Robbins show a few years ago, “Always … Patsy Cline” delivers.
So, in the end — actually, right from the beginning — the show is fun, easy to hum along to and musically fulfilling. That last is thanks to the work of the on-stage band, which cranks right in at the top with "Honky Tonk Merry Go Round" and keeps up the pace throughout the two-hour show.
Led by music director Alex Shield on the piano, the band is made up of Bill Altman on pedal steel, Paul Babelay on drums, Casey Cramer on lead guitar, Ryan Guerra on acoustic guitar and fiddle and Sam Sherwood on bass.

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“She doesn’t sound like she’s from New York City,” says the first note in my pad. My ear being sensitive to bad Southern accents in plays, I had to dash off a quick text to the Playhouse marketing director to find out where Miss Petroccia is from. Winston-Salem, came the answer. She graduated from UNC Greensboro.
The show opens with Louise, a divorced mom in Houston, first hearing Patsy Cline on the Arthur Godfrey morning show and falling in love with her singing style. “The first time I heard Patsy Cline I was in the kitchen and she was in the living room,” Louise says. The new country singer, Louise says, sings those songs exactly like Louise would sing them if she could.
The rapport of Louise, played by 25-year Playhouse veteran Linda Edwards, and Petroccia is one of the keys that makes “Always … “ work so well. The two actresses truly seem to be having fun not only in their own roles but playing opposite the other. Nailing the Southern thing, they make it a “g” droppin’ night at the theater.
When Louise learns that Patsy Cline is coming to perform at a big music hall in the city, the story, based on real events, takes shape. Together, Edwards and Petroccia narrate their friendship, which blooms the night they meet at the concert and lasts through Cline's tragically truncated lifespan.

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Cline mastered many more songs than she wrote.
“I ain’t done too bad for a country girl that can’t even read notes and don’t know what key she’s singin’ in,” she says. Not bad at all. It’s notable that of the 25 songs Petroccia performs, none was written by Cline. But she sure knew how to interpret one and through empathy amplify its message.
“It’s been said that Patsy would get so emotionally involved with the lyrics that she would cry through most of her recording sessions,” Lisa K. Bryant, who directed the show, writes in the director's notes.
A halo of sadness hangs over a show like this. Like Hank Williams and Keith Whitley, Patsy Cline left us at the beginning of a career that by all lights would have produced hundreds of memorable songs. Yet, as Bryant observes, it’s her death in a plane crash at age 30 “that draws many in to the legend that is Patsy Cline.”
The writers of the songs comprise a constellation of country music creators — Hank Williams, Bob Wills, Don Gibson, Bill Monroe, Charles Calhoun, Cole Porter and Webb Pierce — meaning we’re treated to a hit parade of late ‘50s and early ‘60s country tunes.
The music will be recognizable even for someone who is not a regular country music listener. “You Belong to Me” was a highlight but there was no letdown in Petroccia's serve-up of country gold, including “I Fall to Pieces,” “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “San Antonio Rose,” “Lovesick Blues,” “Sweet Dreams,” “She’s Got You,” and “If You’ve Got Leavin’ On Your Mind.”
Even though we know the hero dies, “Always … Patsy Cline” delivers a fun toe-tappin' night on the Playhouse stage, thanks to Petroccia and Edwards and the terrific musical ensemble behind them.

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'Always ... Patsy Cline' plays through May 31 on the Mainstage of the Flat Rock Playhouse. For tickets call 828.693.0731 or visit flatrockplayhouse.org.