‘Always, Patsy Cline' opens Tri-State season April 13

| 29 Sep 2011 | 08:02

    Sussex - Preparations are under way at Tri-State Actors Theater for their first main stage production of 2006, Always, Patsy Cline, which will open April 13 and run through April 30. Auditions will be held early this month for the role of Cline, and members of her band, the “Bodacious Bobcats.” Rehearsals will begin in March. Musicians who play standup bass, guitar, steel guitar, drums, or violin are also being sought. The musical has enjoyed success, including a run off-Broadway. It has been one of the most produced musicals in America, according to American Theatre Magazine, and has been seen internationally by audiences in Canada, Great Britain and Australia. The show is based on a true story about the legendary country music singer’s friendship with a fan from Houston named Louise Seger, who befriended the star in a Texas honky-tonk in l961, and continued a correspondence with her until Cline’s death in a plane crash in 1963. The show includes many of Cline’s hit songs, such as “Crazy,” “I Fall to Pieces,” “Sweet Dreams” and “Walking After Midnight.” The show’s title was inspired by Cline’s letters to Seger, which were consistently signed “Love always, Patsy Cline.” Music director Jessica Arnold, who directed interns last summer in the musical version of Narnia, will guide the band and cast. Suzanne Hays, who played Louise Seger in a 2003 production, will recreate the role of Louise. For information, call 973-875-2950 or log on to tristateactorstheater.org. The box office is open from noon to 6 p.m. in the Crescent Theater, 74 Main St., on Fountain Square, in Sussex.