'Always...Patsy Cline' Comes To The Harbor Theatre

“Always…Patsy Cline” returns to Suisun City’s starting tonight as a Solano College Theater Production. The play, one of the most produced off-Broadway shows in America, is directed by Joseph De Lorenzo and includes a musical revue of 27 songs including Crazy, Shake Rattle and Roll, Walkin’ After Midnight, and On Your Mind.

De Lorenzo said one of the challenges he met when putting the play together was finding an actress who had a voice rich enough to sound like Cline’s and at the same time be as young as she was. 

 “Most of us have a very vivid image of Patsy Cline and we know her music," he said. "It’s very distinctive music...I know in the past a lot of the cast has been older ladies, more mature so they can handle the singing, however, as we know, Patsy Cline died when she had just turned 30.”

Based on actual events, Cline’s story is told through the eyes and memories of her friend, Louise Seger, played by Jessica Salt. Seger, a Texas divorcee, meets Cline, played by Katie Winchell, in a Dallas bar while touring various Southern venues from country bars to the Grand Old Oprey.

As the two become close friends almost immediately, they share “a whirlwind evening of song and dance.” They remained friends after they met and kept in contact through letter for the following six years, until Cline's death in 1963.

“Underneath it all Patsy Cline was one of us,” said De Lorenzo. “So I tried to accentuate that relationship besides the fact that, of course, it’s a revue, there’s a lot of music, it’s fun for the audience, there’s a lot of comedy, a lot of humor, and there’s a live band. It’s quite a fun evening and with, I would say, a little bit of sentiment. There’s some touching moments.”

Winchell and Salt are both award-winning actresses that have graduated from Solano College’s Actor Training Program. This professional production is also produced and managed by ATP students and graduates, from set to costume to sound design.

During the performance beer and wine will be served. Audience members willing to pay a bit more will have a chance to sit on stage at cabaret tables, as if they are part of the  play watching Cline and Seger perform in the bar.

“Always…Patsy Cline” will open on Thursday, September 22, and will run every weekend until Sunday, October 9. For more information, or to buy tickets, visit the website or call (707) 864-7100.