BY LIBBY DORNBUSH
In A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline, the opening show of the
2006/7 season, Sudbury Theatre director George Pothitos has
brought a very different opening show experience to Sudbury. To
audiences accustomed to starting the season with the wit and
beauty of Games of Love and Chance or the glorious tragedy of
Romeo and Juliet, Patsy Cline seems an odd choice.
Part of Pothitos' mandate, however, is to bring new audiences
to the STC. Two years ago, he brought in a new group with the
riotous Hockey Mom, Hockey Dad, and from the look of the
opening night audience this year, he has done the same with
Patsy Cline.
Only the box office knows if these new people will be
inclined to return to some of the other productions, but
Pothitos' announcement that his contract has been renewed for
another three years certainly indicates he's doing something
right.
A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline is half singing revue, and half comedy. With this theatre's production of Ain't Misbehaving several years ago, I questioned its legitimacy as a play. Patsy Cline, while still focusing solidly on Cline's musical performances, attempts to avoid this criticism by providing a narrative in the form of a radio disc jockey doing a musical tribute to Cline in 1963.
To this reviewer, who is not a Cline fan, the Little Big Man
role, played with enormous enthusiasm and skill by Sheldon
Davis, is the heart of the show. He introduces Cline's numbers,
performs (literally!) old advertisements, and doubles as the
host for the Grand Ole Opry and Carnegie Hall performances. The
Sudbury audiences know Davis from his hilarious performances in
Little Shop of Horrors, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way
to the Forum, and he is equally as entertaining in his multiple
roles here. I question, however, this role's value. If the
Little Big Man character is written to introduce Cline and to
give information about her life, these asides, actually all the
bits of the show I most enjoyed, are really part of a secondary
production.
And really, aside from the straight facts of her life, and
some very superficial mention of her growing character, we
learn very little about who Cline actually was. The breakup of
her first marriage and a terrible car crash go by very quickly.
I am inclined to think any woman who had to break into the
rough, male dominated world of country music in the 1950s while
helping to support her single mother would have been an
interesting enough character that a show about her could
concentrate entirely on that life, and not have to keep the
audience's attention by the use of old radio commercials and
the worn-out monologues of moldy stage hosts.
Margot Sampson who portrays Cline the singer does just that: she sings. She sounds like Cline, I assume she looks like Cline, and the Cline-knowledgeable audience loved her. She is a veritable fashion show of stage costuming through the 50s and into the 60s, including a Las Vegas costume that wouldn't look out of place on Celine Dion.
Apparently these costumes are all authentic.
The band is live and includes two local musicians, Andrew
Chandler and Kevin Closs. The music, which never moves beyond
basic country accompaniment, provides a steady background to
Sampson's singing.
Geoffrey Dunwiddle, with one of his most minimalist sets,
together with the lighting of Renee Brode, cleverly combines
stage, band and radio announcer's booth, and the changing
venues and emphasis are clear and striking.
The rather maudlin ending is entirely in keeping with the country music genre and had the Sudbury audience leaping to its feet for the ubiquitous standing ovation, a gesture which completely lost any meaning 50 standing ovations ago.
Critics complain that the same thing is happening in New
York now, so at least we know we are in auspicious company when
we leap up after every show.
A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline will delight any Cline enthusiast, and we hope it will bring some new viewers to the rest of the Sudbury Theatre Centre productions.
Libby Dornbush writes about theatre for Northern Life.
