Creative Cauldron Presents COUNTRY & CABARET: A SUMMER OF CELEBRATION

Creative Cauldron is revving up for our 20th theatrical season with a summer celebrating all things musical theater. Up first, Creative Cauldron will revive its production of Always...Patsy Cline, that played to sold out houses in Cherry Hill Park last summer.

Based on a true story, this musical play follows the unlikely friendship between Patsy and a devoted fan, Houston housewife Louise Seger, through their letters, and features 19 of Cline's timeless songs. Creative Cauldron Artistic Associate, Matt Conner (Director) reunites last year's stellar cast: Sally Imbriano (Patsy) and Erin Granfield (Loiuse). Always...Patsy Cline performances are July 8 through 17, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 4:00 pm.

From July 27 through September 17 (Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30 pm), Creative Cauldron presents its annual Summer Cabaret Series, running the gamut of songs and styles and featuring some of the best talent the DMV theater scene has to offer. Always...Patsy Cline and Summer Cabaret Series are presented in Creative Cauldron's cabaret setting, with options for tables and wine. Press tickets for both series are available upon request.

Always...Patsy Cline, written and originally directed by Ted Swindley, comes with down home country humor, true emotion and even some audience participation. Audiences will revel in a tour-de-force of Patsy's heartfelt songs. This piece is something of a homecoming for director Matt Conner, a native of Patsy' hometown Winchester, VA: "Growing up, it seemed like everyone had a story about Patsy Cline and wanted to be like her or even meet her." Matt lived just blocks away from her home on Kent Street and his great uncle, Ralph Lamp, was one of the guitarists that had the honor to play in Patsy Cline's band.

Last year's outdoor production garnered rave reviews for both Sally Imbriano; "her stunning vocals alone are worth the price of admission!" (DC Theater Arts) and Erin Granfield; "This is an actor who responds to music with her entire body and is also seriously funny and infectious in her joy." (Maryland Theatre Guide). A complete country backing band joins them, guided by Helen Hayes Award nominee for Outstanding Musical Director Refiye Tappan.

Creative Cauldron's Summer Cabaret Series has something for everyone, touching all corners of the musical theater canon mixed with opera, pop, Latin, folk, rock, classics, and more! Featuring a two-part Sondheim tribute with the cast of Creative Cauldron's recent production of Into the Woods and performances from Alan Naylor, Abby Middleton, Wesley Diener, Juliet Lloyd, Kanysha Williams, Favorite Child, Susan Derry, JChris, DeCarlo Raspberry, Sarah Anne Sillers, Sally Imbriano, and Erin Granfield. Curated by Matt Conner, this series is a celebration of the ethos that has defined Creative Cauldron's 20 seasons of programming: the best quality of performance blending with the intimacy of small theater and genres across eras and disciplines of music.

Ted Swindley (Author) is internationally known as a writer and director of the popular musical Always...Patsy Cline. He is the founding artistic director of STAGES REP in Houston. He was also named to the Esquire Magazine's register of outstanding Americans in arts and letters. Mr. Swindley was the recipient of the Los Angeles Dramalogue award for outstanding direction of CARNAL KNOWLEDGE by June Feiffer. Currently he is the president of Ted Swindley PRODUCTIONS, INC., a theatrical licensing and consulting company, and continues his 30 year career writing plays and musicals, consulting and mentoring playwrights, as well as directing plays for various theatres throughout the U.S. and abroad. Mr. Swindley is an active member of the DRAMATISTS GUILD OF AMERICA and STAGE DIRECTORS AND CHOREOGRAPHERS.

Matt Conner (Director/Cabaret Curator) has been performing, composing, teaching and directing in the DC area for twenty years. He was the recipient of the 2008-2009 AMERICAN MUSICAL VOICES PROJECT: THE NEXT GENERATION. His Produced Commissioned Works Include: Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA; Nevermore (2006), Partial Eclipse (2009), The Hollow (2011), Crossing (2013) and Silver Belles (2016). Matt was also commissioned for a Five Year Initiative at Creative Cauldron in Falls Church, VA. They include Turn of the Screw (2015), Monsters of the Villa Diodati (2016), Kaleidoscope (2017), W.I.T.C.H. (2018) and ON AIR (2019). Matt was awarded the Helen Hayes Award for Best Direction (Helen) for Disney's Beauty and the Beast produced at Creative Cauldron (2020).

Details on parking, accessibility, and Covid-19 safety protocols are detailed at creativecauldron.org.

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