Review: ALWAYS....PATSY CLINE at The Weekend Theater is the show to see this summer

Oh my goodness gracious y'all! The Weekend Theater's production of ALWAYS ....PATSY CLINE is the funniest, most entertaining show I've seen in a while, and I am not the only one who thinks so, since the shows are selling out. The talent!!! Seriously!!! Even if you are not a Patsy Cline fan, this duo will blow you away with the singing and humor!

Written by Ted Swindley, Always...Patsy Cline is based on a true story about a friendship between Patsy Cline (Sarah Haman) and superfan Louise Seger (Patti Airoldi), who met at a concert in Texas and remained friends until Cline's untimely death. As told by Louise, she first falls in love with Cline's voice when she hears her on the TV show Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts and then proceeds to call her local radio station every day to hear her favorite Patsy Cline songs. She soon learns that Patsy is going to have a concert in her town, grabs her boyfriend and boss, and heads over to the barn long before people show up. While waiting Louise sees Patsy, strikes up a conversation with her and become friends before the concert starts. Lousie then gets to help out Patsy as her "manager" for the evening, leads the band, and takes care of her throughout the night. Then she convinces Patsy to come stay at her house and do an interview at the radio station the next morning before she flies off to her next concert. From then on, Patsy writes to Louise and ends her letters with "Always, Patsy Cline."

To reiterate my original comment-WOW! -- I cannot stress enough about how fantastic this show is. I do love a good impressionist, and Haman as Cline is perfection. Bless her, she sang 27 songs in two hours, which is astounding since she had to maintain the power vocals that Patsy Cline produced. However, Airoldi was equally amazing telling her story and doing the majority of the talking throughout the whole show. She was so funny! I had tears from laughing so much! Her impressions of her boss and boyfriend cracked me up.....so good!

Though it is a two-person musical, there are others that need to be mentioned. After seeing this show, I can only imagine that Director Andy Hall loved coming to rehearsal every time. Lori Isner did a wonderful job as music director and keyboardist, and if you have read any of my other articles, you will know that I prefer and appreciate a live band, so I was happy to hear Dan Schoultz on bass and Bryan Withers on percussion.

With only one weekend left, Friday-Sunday, June 17-19, I advise you go online to www.centralarkansastickets.com/organizations/the-weekend-theater and grab your tickets before you miss out. The Weekend Theater is located at 1001 W 7th St., in Little Rock. Check them out at www.weekendtheater.org or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/theweekendtheater for more information.

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