BALDWINSVILLE — After two years on the sidelines, Baldwinsville Theatre Guild is returning to the stage for its 80th anniversary season. The first production of the 2022 season is the country jukebox musical “Always … Patsy Cline.”
‘Always … Patsy Cline’
WHAT: “Always … Patsy Cline” is the story of the unlikely friendship that developed between the country superstar and one of her biggest fans over the course of a few years before Patsy’s untimely death at the age of 30 in a plane crash. The story interweaves 22 of Cline’s hits and Louise Seger’s telling of how they met and became friends.
WHEN: March 25, 26, 27; April 1, 2, 3; 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays.
WHERE: Presbyterian Education Center, 64 Oswego St., Baldwinsville
TICKETS: Standard $26; student/senior (over 65) $22. Visit baldwinsvilletheatreguild.org/alwayspatsycline or call 315-877-8465.
While many BTG players took part in the “All Together Now!” concert revue last fall, “Always” Producer Kathryn Woods said the BTG team is “just so thrilled” to be back in front of a live audience.
“In the 80 years that we’ve been around, 2021 was the only year that not a full production was done,” Woods said.
Woods said “Always … Patsy Cline” is a favorite of director Colin Keating, who also directed “All Together Now!”
“Since it’s our 80th anniversary, obviously we wanted to do something big, but with COVID we wanted to start with a small cast,” Woods said.
With just two principal actors — Briana Jessie as Patsy Cline and Kristina Marie Abbott as Louise Seger, Cline’s fan-turned-friend — “Always” fits the definition of a small cast. But the production was not immune to the obstacles COVID posed.
“We originally planned to do this in January and then the Omicron variant squashed that,” Woods said. “The girls were disappointed. It was hard to put a pause on things.”
Rehearsals started back up after the February school break.
“The energy is electric right now,” Woods said. “I think it’s setting in that we really get to do this.”
Woods praised Briana Jessie’s portrayal of Cline.
“If you close your eyes, she sounds just like her,” she said. “[My favorite Cline song] is actually ‘Walking After Midnight’ and Briana just kills it every time I hear her.”
When the show was pushed to March, Jessie realized there was a strange new parallel with her character: Jessie’s 30th birthday would coincide with the production, making her the same age Patsy Cline was when she was killed in a tragic plane crash in 1963.
After the curtain closes on “Always … Patsy Cline,” BTG will begin rehearsals for its May production, “The 39 Steps.” The play is a madcap retelling of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 film, which was based on a 1915 novel by John Buchan.
To learn more about Baldwinsville Theatre Guild, visit baldwinsvilletheatreguild.org.
