Review: Arts Center of Cannon County's ALWAYS, PATSY CLINE

Savannah Gannon makes a startling - and, no doubt, star-making - debut as country music superstar Patsy Cline in the Matt Smith-directed production of Ted Swindley's play with music Always, Patsy Cline, now onstage at Woodbury's Arts Center of Cannon County through June 18.

Gannon's welcoming smile and bright eyes easily capture your attention from the moment she steps onstage to sing 27 of the songs best identified with songstress Cline - there's everything from "Walkin' After Midnight" to "Crazy" to "Sweet Dreams" to "She's Got You" (which remains my favorite Cline recording) - and some that might surprise you still, no matter how many times you've seen Always, Patsy Cline. But clearly, it's her ability to sing Cline's songs with a heartfelt rendering that recalls the spirit and the very soul of the original singer that will likely make you sit up and take notice.

Gannon's phrasing is on-target and her rich vocals recall the timbre and resonance of Cline's own singing voice to ensure that you will be captivated during the show's two hours and beyond, as she moves seamlessly from one scene to the next, embodying the events in Patsy's life with grace and affection.

But it may be after the show before you realize something else about Gannon that is staggering: She is 15 years old and a student at Murfreesboro's Riverdale High School, where her director Matt Smith and her co-star Mary Ellen Smith (who plays Cline's loyal friend and longtime fan Louise Seger in ACCC's fifth mounting of the show) are her theater instructors.

Gannon's stunning onstage maturity and, quite frankly, the very fact that she can hold an audience of several hundred people in her thrall for two hours is impressive. While she still has work to do to bring her acting skills up to the level of her superb vocal performance, something seems apparent: she is a star in the making and, without question, she has a bright future ahead of her.

Of course, Always, Patsy Cline is the show that first introduced a wide audience of fans to the supremely talented Mandy Barnett, another Tennessee girl (Crossville is her hometown) who seemed to come out of the hills, blessed with a voice and carriage that so effectively brought Cline back to life for her legions of followers both now and "back in the day." Barnett, who first starred as Patsy Cline when she herself was a teenager, has a voice of unmistakable beauty and clarity that sets her apart and which proves with great power that a stellar voice needs no technological enhancements to create musical memories.

Therefore, it seems that Gannon is following in Barnett's footsteps, both literally and figuratively, as she takes on the role of Patsy Cline in Woodbury. Her interactions with Smith onstage are appealing and lively - the two women work so well together that it's easy to lose yourself in their performances. Smith, who charms throughout the show with her well-timed quips and wisecracks (and who is a talented musical theater performer in her own right) keeps the show moving at a good pace as Gannon's Cline moves throughout the theater to delight audiences with her exquisite recreations of all the songs that can instantly transport you to another time and place.

Case in point: I was reminded of Jessica Lange's Oscar-nominated performance as Cline in the 1980s movie Sweet Dreams, suggesting to me that today's audiences who only know her from American Horror Story should check out her performance in that film to see the real range of Lange's extraordinary talents (try to see it before next week's Tony Awards presentation, where Lange is the frontrunner for the Tony Award for outstanding leading actress in a play for her performance as Mary Tyrone in Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night - if not, I will scream and claw my face). I am also reminded of the night that Cline's plane crashed near Camden, Tennessee, back in the 1960s; I may only have been a six-year-old boy, but it remains one of those events in life that is etched in my memory.

It's the personal connection with the two actors onstage bringing Cline and Seger to life that engages you so completely, but it's Cline's catalogue of songs that stir your heart to flights of wonder and wandering through time that helps you remember so very much and helps to transform the world in which you live.

Matt Smith's direction is fluid, moving the play's action along at a good clip and the production's design aesthetic is pleasant, and though there were some rather discordant moments when the sounds emanating from the onstage band sounded rather unlike anything I'd ever heard on a Patsy Cline record (seriously, what was that about?), they nonetheless added to the show's overall authenticity.

• Always, Patsy Cline. By Ted Swindley. Directed by Matt Smith. Musical directed by Mary Ellen Smith. Presented by Arts Center of Cannon County, Woodbury. Running through June 18. For details, go to www.artscenterofcc.com. Running time: 2 hours (with one 15-minute intermission).

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