Of course, this was 60 years ago, before entertainers had security, a ‘team’ and ‘people.’ It was just two women bonding at a kitchen table. She’d be singing in some town wanting a friend to talk to.” “I often would receive calls at 1:00 in the morning. But within two weeks, Louise received her first in what was to be many letters and phone calls they would exchange. Louise rushed Patsy to the airport, expecting never to hear from her again. We sat there and smoked and sang until 4:00 in the morning.” “We both sang and harmonized old Gospel songs and hillbilly tunes. It was just two people baring their souls. “We talked about her troubled marriage and the pain she endured being away from her children. We discussed loves lost, loves found, loves yet to be. “She told me about her life, her hopes, her dreams. She took her shoes off and wore an apron I gave her. There was Patsy Cline in my kitchen helping me fix bacon and eggs. Patsy joined Louise and her friends and after the show accepted an invitation to Louise’s home for a late-night breakfast. Zoe Vonder Haar as Louise Seger, photographed by ProPhotoSTLįrom Seger in “Country Weekly”: “The person inside me recognized the person who lived inside her. It is licensed by Cline’s family and estate. Playwright Ted Swindley fashioned the interviews Seger did for the biographies “Patsy Cline: An Intimate Biography” and “Honky Tonk Angel: The Intimate Story of Patsy Cline” into the source material for his 1988 two-woman tribute revue, “Always…Patsy Cline,” which is the epitome of a crowd-pleaser. Seger, a colorful Texas housewife, was a devoted fan who first saw Patsy on “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts” in 1957, when she won after singing “Walkin’ After Midnight.” Living near Houston, she attended the singer’s show at the Esquire Ballroom in 1961, and they connected as friends, writing letters and talking on the phone until the singer’s tragic death at age 30 in a plane crash in 1963. Louis Theater Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for the first time (and would go on to win that same award for Stages’ “The Full Monty” two years later). She has a dynamic chemistry with feisty firecracker Vonder Haar, the veteran fan favorite who has played Louise twice before. She has fun changing tempos with the more down-home numbers, such as “Stupid Cupid” and “Shake Rattle and Roll.”ĭeGarmo projects an elegance, which is enhanced by Brad Musgrove’s gorgeous vintage costume designs, and she is exquisitely lit by lighting designer Sean M. The vocals on the ballads “Crazy,” “I Fall to Pieces” and “Sweet Dreams” are particularly lush, tugging on your heart strings. She is poised and commanding as she interprets one hit song after another, showcasing her range and control. (She met Young, who was on American Idol’s fifth season, when they were cast in “Hair” and have been married since 2013). Louis, she was impressive as Doralee Rhodes in the first national tour of “9 to 5: The Musical,” which stopped at the Fox Theatre in February 2011, and also at the Fox in 2014 as the Narrator in the revival tour of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” Her husband, Ace Young, was Joseph. Diana DeGarmo as Patsy Cline, Photographed by ProPhotoSTL DeGarmo emulates Cline’s richly textured, emotive voice, and effortlessly delivers 27 numbers, including five with Vonder Haar, who plays Cline’s fan-turned-friend, Louise Seger.ĭeGarmo, who was the runner-up on Season 3 of “American Idol” at age 16 in 2004, which Fantasia Barrino, 19, won (a total of 65 million votes were cast for both), has since pursued a music and musical theatre career, appearing on Broadway and in national tours. She sleekly inhabits Cline, who is considered the most popular female country singer in recording history. Raised in Georgia and now living in Nashville, DeGarmo has returned to her country music roots in a thoroughly engaging performance. Patsy Cline was that rare artist who made a deep connection with anyone who listened to her sing.Ī similar effect happens with actresses Diana DeGarmo and Zoe Vonder Haar, who are a delightful combo of sweet and salty, smooth and sassy, silky and spirited, in the jukebox musical “Always…Patsy Cline,” now playing at Stages St.
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