Review: Bri Sudia shines in ‘Always… Patsy Cline' at Drury Lane Theatre
Cowboy hats and Nashville-style dresses proliferated Thursday night in Oakbrook Terrace. Not the first time I've noticed that fans of country music are more common in Chicago's western suburbs than many people think.
All had assembled at the Drury Lane Theatre for 'Always … Patsy Cline,' a remarkably resilient revue by Ted Swindley that now has enjoyed a longer life than did the actual Patsy Cline herself. (Cline died in a Tennessee plane crash in 1963 when she was just 30 years old.)
Based on the real-life friendship between Cline and one of her fans, Louise Seger, the revue has a long and auspicious history in Chicago. It was a massive, late-1990s hit for Northlight Theatre with folk singer Megon McDonough appearing in the title role, before the late Hollis Resnik took over when the show moved into a commercial run at the Apollo Theatre. I've reviewed this two-person (plus live band) show several other times, too, most recently about five years ago when it was staged in an intimate setting by Firebrand Theatre.
Over the years, I've found that its simplicity is its biggest asset. 'Always… Patsy Cline' avoids the usual jukebox tropes of record label suits and managers who don't understand and focuses instead on delivering Cline's greatest hits within the context of a simple female friendship. Louise tells the singer's story from a fan's perspective and Patsy delivers 27(!) of the hits, mostly in honkytonk-style settings. And at less than two hours with an intermission, the show doesn't outstay its welcome.
All that said, and despite my familiarity with this material, I really had an uncommonly great time on Thursday night, mostly because of the presence of Bri Sudia in the role of Louise.
Sudia, recently back from appearing on Broadway for a year in the Neil Diamond musical 'A Beautiful Noise,' is far and away the best Louise I've seen. She's funny, empathetic and just so very warm; it's easy to condescend to Louise, as to all superfans, but Sudia simply refuses to do anything like that. She honors her character's obsession — at one point, she leans so far and lovingly toward Aja Alcazar's Patsy that Sudia's body occupies a diagonal plane — but also never takes her character too seriously. As a result, she feels both like Cline's great protector and also one of us. I don't exaggerate when I say this is a truly fabulous performance, a piece of acting that wrestles with this little show and makes it seem so much more than it has felt in the past. Clearly, Sudia has learned that even jukebox revues need to have stakes and they have to be able to drive the action forward, too. On the night I was there, the audience simply adored her goofiness.
Alcazar is the ideal foil for that: elegant, honest, and rich of voice but also self-protected and slightly unknowable, as is the case with all stars. I suspect the skilled director, Scott Weinstein, had a lot to do with that. He knew who the real star of the piece was, even though her partner is essential to the enterprise.
Colette Pollard's set is like an A-frame, a lovely evocation of small-town Tennessee, even if the band (under the lively direction of Ellie Kahn) looks a bit scrunched. And Lee Fiskness knows where to shine the kinds of lights Cline never knew.
I suspect lots of my readers already know and have seen this show and, if choosing whether or not to lay down the credit card and go and bathe once again in the pleasures of 'True Love,' 'Crazy' and 'Walkin' After Midnight,' perhaps with a sweetie on hand, will merely want to know that their affection for the piece will be protected (guaranteed) and that they'll have some fresh fun (yup).
Aside from admiring the straightforward artistry here and enjoying the pleasure of others, I kept thinking about Taylor Swift's famously close relationships with her fans, turning up at their bridal showers and whatnot; maybe Patsy and Louise were far ahead of their time.
Review: 'Always Patsy Cline' (3.5 stars)
When: Through Aug. 3
Where: 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace
Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes
Tickets: $75-$150 at 630-530-0111 and drurylanetheatre.com
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Maren Morris Says She Realized Divorce Is 'Weird' When Her Mutual Friends with Ex Ryan Hurd Chose 'Sides'
Maren Morris opened up about friends picking "sides" after her divorce from ex Ryan Hurd Morris said their mutual friends had to choose out of "respect for each other" and she figured it would be "weird for the first few years" The "Girl" singer filed for divorce in October 2023Maren Morris is opening up about the intricacies of divorce. During an appearance on Therapuss with Jake Shane on Wednesday, June 18, the "My Church" singer got candid about going through a divorce in a "small town" like Nashville — where she and ex Ryan Hurd have mutual friends. 'In Nashville, you know I've been divorced for a little over a year now. It's a small town, and we're all friends, and we all work together, and the music industry is very tiny there," Morris, 35, said of Hurd, 38. Though the exes are "really friendly," she said it's "weird" because their friends had to "pick sides." "Just in terms of respect for each other," she said. "I saw a really close friend of my ex's at a bar a couple months ago, and I was with my best friend. We all used to hang out together for a decade or more and then it's like, 'Damn, it's just going to be kind of weird.' Maybe it's just going to be weird for the first few years." Morris and Hurd — who share 5-year-old son Hayes — met in 2013 when they wrote "Last Turn Home" for Tim McGraw, but their romance didn't blossom until a few years later. They married in March 2018. Morris filed for divorce in October 2023, and the exes reached a settlement agreement three months later. They finalized their divorce in January 2024. On Therapuss, Morris said that as she got older, she realized people who aren't "energetically aligned" started to "fade away" from her life. "I have these people who have been my ride or dies but I feel like COVID changed a lot of people, when I had my son I could feel people fall away," she continued. "I think when you have kids sometimes... I think as a new mother it's already such a lonely time and you're very isolated plus it was COVID. But I certainly made friends who are moms through the process." Morris' comments come after she made an appearance on the Dear Chelsea podcast and revealed she and Hurd were able to move past a lot of their problems to put their son first. "We're over a year out now ... we get along now and have moved past a lot of it," Morris said. "We're neighbors, and I'm just so fortunate that we have put our son above each other's s---, and it's better for the two of us if we're getting along." "I'm lucky that we love each other so much still," she said. "We have the highest respect, but also there is that devastation that two people [who] love each other that much can't make it work in the real world. It's always going to be multifaceted." Read the original article on People
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
With new album out soon, country star has already ‘got ideas' for next one
Cole Swindell will release his newest album later this month and the chart-topping country music star is already starting to think of material for his next project. 'We had room on this album for some love songs, but no dad songs or baby songs,' the 41-year-old, who will welcome his first daughter with his wife, Courtney Little, in August, told MassLive. 'I can already tell you I've got ideas in my phone ready to write those, and I feel pretty confident the next project will definitely have some songs about my little girl and just being a dad,' Swindell said. 'The pressure of writing my wedding song was a lot, but writing a song for my little girl is going to be next level.' When Swindell isn't singing or writing songs, he is usually playing golf just outside his Nashville home. The musician recognizes that once his daughter arrives, he may be spending more time in the nursery than on the course. But before Swindell trades in his golf clubs for baby bottles, the singer will celebrate the release of his fifth album 'Spanish Moss' on Friday, June 27. The album's release date coincides with a stretch of summer shows, including one at Indian Ranch in Webster on Sunday, June 15. After returning from Cody Johnson's Australian and New Zealand shows in March, Swindell is ready to 'kick off the summer in one of my favorite areas in the country.' 'I definitely love Mass. I just love the area,' Swindell said, adding the energy he gets from the state's crowds is 'just unmatched every time.' 'Mass. has always been good to me, so it's going to be cool to play some of these songs for the first time up there,' he said. A Georgia native, Swindell burst onto the country music scene with his 2013 multi-platinum song 'Chillin It.' The hit single topped the U.S. Country Songs chart before Swindell's platinum-certified, self-titled debut album arrived in February 2014. The singer saw further success with the hits 'Ain't Worth The Whiskey' and 'Let Me See Ya Girl,' which charted at No. 1 and No. 2 on the U.S Country Airplay Chart, respectively. Swindell rounded out a whirlwind of a year when he won the ACM New Artist of the Year Award in April 2015. As Swindell's career progressed, he tapped into his songwriter abilities by crafting more emotional ballads such as 'You Should Be Here,' 'Middle of a Memory' and 'Break Up In The End.' The tracks — all of which charted and were certified at least double platinum — appeared on Swindell's second and third albums, 'You Should Be Here' and 'All of It,' respectively. 'As a songwriter, this is kind of how I get to tell my story and things I've been through or going through, or whatever that may be,' Swindell said of his deeper cuts. 'For a guy like me that puts my feelings on paper and out to the world, I just think there's going to be a lot of people out there that are going to already know exactly how it feels.' By April 2022, Swindell had released his fourth album, 'Stereotype.' The project contained the powerhouse hit 'Never Say Never' with Lainey Wilson and the Top 40 smash 'She Had Me At Heads Carolina.' The track won Swindell three ACM Awards in 2023 and remained in the Top 5 at country radio for 23 consecutive weeks. Overall, Swindell has racked up 13 No. 1 singles as an artist and 14 as a songwriter in the 11 years since his debut on Warner Music Nashville. He returned with the heartfelt 'Forever To Me' in April 2024, which served as the lead single for 'Spanish Moss.' In addition to 'Forever To Me,' Swindell has already released seven racks from the upcoming project, including the title track, 'Bottom of It,' 'Dirty Dancing,' 'Kill A Prayer,' 'One Day' and 'We Can Always Move On.' The latter, which is actually Swindell's wife's favorite on the album, is about taking advantage of the time couples have together before calling it quits. 'I just thought the angle of that was unique,' Swindell said. 'It definitely, I think, grabs you at the very beginning and doesn't let you go. It's a jam for sure and I hope it's a lot of people's favorite song this summer.' With 21 tracks, 'Spanish Moss' is Swindell's longest project to date. The album is mostly inspired by Swindell getting engaged and marrying his wife over the past two years. The couple formally announced in March that they were expecting their first child. All these life happenings brought the musician back to crafting emotional songs that make up a majority of the tracks on 'Spanish Moss,' even those inspired by less joyous times. '[While] I'm in this season of my life — one year married, a kid on the way — that doesn't erase the fact of my past and the tough things I've been through whether it's relationship-wise or whatever,' Swindell said. 'To be able to sing about where I'm right now and kind of where I've been, I think is what's important about this album and I think it's going to be something that people can relate to.' Swindell is mostly excited to play these songs — new and old — live given all he has been through recently. He is especially looking forward to performing in front of crowds who are 'passionate about everything in life,' specifically those in Massachusetts. 'If I'm going to be anywhere playing a show, I'm excited that it's up there,' Swindell said. Once he wraps up his summer shows, Swindell will officially embark on his 'Happy Hour Sad Tour' on Sept. 4. The tour will include 20 shows and feature supporting acts Priscilla Block, Logan Crosby and Greylan James. Tickets for the tour can be found on Swindell's website. Country music star's son calls him 'lamest man to ever walk planet earth' Country singer involved in pedestrian crash that killed 77-year-old woman Country singer fulfills young fan's unusual request: 'Well this was a first' 'I need a break': Country star taking time to 'figure out what's next' Country music star's wife has had it with IVF treatments after 'hellacious' side effects Read the original article on MassLive.
Chicago Tribune
4 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
From the Farm: Patsy Cline music and memories entice, both on stage and recipe of rocket stardom
Country western music icon Patsy Cline was born just one year after the birth of my own mom Peggy. Patsy was born Sept. 8, 1932, and mom Peggy, Aug. 17, 1931. Tragically, Patsy died at age 30 in March 1963 in a plane crash. She had just finished a 1962 five-week sell-out engagement in Las Vegas at The Mint Casino, which is now owned and operated as Jack Binion's Gambling Hall and touts as its splashy cash claim-to-fame that guests can stand behind a real pyramid of stacked bills amounting to $1 million as a free photo op in the hotel lobby before entering the casino. Cline ranked as the first country music female headliner act to star as a hit Las Vegas headliner. Drury Lane Theatre is now sharing Cline's short but everlasting career story with a new run of one of my favorite stage tales, and also a top pick of my parents, titled 'Always…Patsy Cline, created and originally directed by Ted Swindley. This new run, a stage love letter directed by Scott Weinstein, continues until Aug. 3 at Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace. 'Always…Patsy Cline' is based on a true story from the accounts of Houston, Texas, fan Louise Seger. The moving and memorable musical has both humor and a folksy country charm set to a fast-paced 90-minute (including one intermission) tale entwined with 27 of Patsy's unforgettable hits such as 'Crazy,' 'I Fall to Pieces,' 'Sweet Dreams' and 'Walking After Midnight.' The show's title was inspired by Patsy's letters to Louise, which were consistently signed 'Love ALWAYS… Patsy Cline.' The real-life Seger died at age 72 at her home in Texas in November 2004. The story opens with Patsy meeting 'her biggest fan' at a honky-tonk Texas stage space in 1961, and the two struck up a friendship that continued via letter-writing until the singer's sudden death years later. Aja Alcazar, who was last seen as June Carter Cash in Drury Lane's hit production of 'Ring of Fire,' harnesses the pipes of Patsy to play the title character while the always versatile Bri Sudia stars as her pen pal, fan and friend Louise. During the stage tale, the two gals gather around the kitchen table to enjoy scrambled eggs and bacon, fresh-brewed coffee, ice cream and swigs of booze. Tickets to 'Always…Patsy Cline' range from $75 to $150 by calling (630) 530-0111 or By 1961, Cline was a crossover music radio play favorite and household name, the latter thanks to her repeated appearances as a discovery of Arthur Godfrey on his daily live morning television show on CBS. On April 1, 1961, she made her first singing appearance at The Grand Ole Opry, sharing backstage dressing room moments with the late great Dottie West. But Cline never lost her hometown roots of Winchester, Virginia, including frequent nods to her mom Hilary, who sewed and designed all of her trademark bangled, tasseled and beaded country western threads for concerts and TV appearances. (Her later crossover pop music radio play appeal inspired her to transition to sequined gowns and wardrobe choices associated with nightclub attire.) Cline's nearest and dearest friend in the music industry was the wonderful Loretta Lynn, who died at age 90 at her Hurricane Mills home in October 2022. I was able to interview Lynn a few times throughout the years, including her theater appearances in Branson in the 1990s and a July 2012 concert appearance at Drury Lane Theatre. Loretta always said she shared the same love of Patsy with 'homemaker duties' such as cooking, recipes and shopping. When the Lifetime original television cable series 'Patsy & Loretta' debuted in October 2019, starring Megan Hilty as Cline and Chicago's own hometown Broadway Tony winner Jessie Mueller as Lynn, the TV project paired the singer's children, Cline's daughter Julie Fudge and Lynn's daughter Patsy Lynn Russell as the series co-producers. During interviews, the daughters admitted some of the scenes were fictionalized, such as a hospital room moment after Cline's June 1961 near-fatal car crash, when she is shown convincing Loretta to sneak her out of the hospital to a nearby diner for a cheeseburger and fries. While this incident never happened, according to Patsy Lynn Russell, she does acknowledge that her mom did sneak her favorite homemade food to hospital bed-confined Cline. As I've written before in my columns and cookbooks, Cline's mom would do the same for her favorite recipe craving, famous daughter. Cline's mother, Hilda Hensley, was a wonderful cook as well as a seamstress. She died at age 82 (she was only 16 when she gave birth to Patsy in 1932) in December 1998. After Cline's death, Hilda helped Patsy's husband Charlie Dick raise the singer's daughter Julie and son Allen, who both lived with her for several years in Winchester, Virginia. In 2012, the Winchester-Frederick County Visitor's Center and the Patsy Cline Historic House, the latter where Cline lived until 1957 and continued to visit until her death, released a cookbook filled with the favorite recipes of Patsy and her mother Hilda. Cline loved homemade fried chicken, and her mom found a more practical way to capture that same flavor but in an easier food form for transporting to her daughter, whether in a hospital bed or on tour. Fried Chicken Salad with Mustard Greens and Boiled Dill Dressing is a star-worthy recipe to tempt any taste buds. Salad: Vegetable shortening or oil for frying Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 4 pounds fresh chicken, cut up 1/2 cup flour 10 to 12 Romaine lettuce leaves and curly mustard greens, washed and dried, the larger leaves torn into 2 or 3 pieces 2 -3 radishes, washed, trimmed and cut into slivers Boiled Dill Dressing: 1 tablespoon corn oil 1 tablespoon flour 1/4 cup pan drippings, reserved from frying the chicken 1 cup whole milk 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard 2 teaspoons honey 1 teaspoon wine vinegar Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste Pinch of cayenne to taste 1 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice to taste 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill, or 1 teaspoon dried dill 1 tablespoon sour cream 1/4 cup buttermilk Directions: Place a large heavy skillet over medium heat and add the shortening or oil (there should be about 1/8 inch of fat in the pan for frying). While the pan is heating, salt and pepper both sides of the chicken. Toss the chicken in the flour mixture until all the pieces are evenly coated. When the oil is hot (a piece of chicken should begin to sizzle gently when placed in the pan), add the chicken and fry it for 20 to 25 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces and the actual temperature of the oil. Turn the chicken several times as it cooks; for very juicy white meat, remove the breasts 3 or 4 minutes before the dark meat. The chicken should be medium golden brown when it is done (if you cook it too quickly, it will be too dark). Remove the chicken from the pan to cool, pressing each piece with a pair of tongs and shaking it briefly over the skillet to remove any remaining oil. Pour off the fat from the pan, reserving 1/4 cup of the browned pan drippings at the bottom to use in the boiled dressing recipe that follows. When the chicken has cooled, pull the skin and meat off the bones and shred it into more or less bite-size morsels (do this with your fingers). Place the chicken in a large bowl with the lettuce leaves and mustard greens, To make dressing, heat the oil over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and stir in the flour and cook it for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the reserved pan drippings, stir in the milk and whisk the dressing until it comes to the boil and has thickened slightly. Stir in the mustard, honey, vinegar, seasonings and lemon juice. Remove dressing from the heat and allow to cool to lukewarm. Add the dill, sour cream and buttermilk as needed to obtain a good consistency (dressing should not be too thick). If made in advance, set aside or refrigerate, then reheat gently just before using. Add 1/2 cup of warm dressing and toss to coat the ingredients evenly. Correct the seasoning with the salt and pepper. Arrange the salad on a platter or individual plates, and sprinkle with the slivered radishes. Serve with the remaining dressing passed on the side.
