Post by Bill on Mar 6, 2009 15:10:50 GMT -5
During a Press Conference at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, yesterday morning, the official announcement that Always. . . Patsy Cline would be returning to the Ryman stage for a 6-Week run was announced.
I was honored to be able to attend the Press Conference. WSM Announcer, Eddie Stubbs, was the emcee of the afternoon, plus Mandy Barnett was on hand to perform "Crazy" and "Faded Love." Charlie and Julie were also in attendance, and it was good to see them again after nearly four years.
Below are web news stories from GACtv.com and CMT.com:
I was honored to be able to attend the Press Conference. WSM Announcer, Eddie Stubbs, was the emcee of the afternoon, plus Mandy Barnett was on hand to perform "Crazy" and "Faded Love." Charlie and Julie were also in attendance, and it was good to see them again after nearly four years.
Below are web news stories from GACtv.com and CMT.com:
GACtv.comBill
Patsy Cline Tribute Resurrected
March 6, 2009 — Thursday marked 46 years since Patsy Cline died in a horrific plane crash, and the anniversary provided an appopriate moment for a renewal of her legacy. Officials with Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, the home of the Grand Ole Opry at the time Patsy was a member, announced the six-week return of Always ... Patsy Cline, a two-person musical that leans on the singer’s life story and classic songs.
Mandy Barnett, who’s taken the role of Patsy many times, will portray her once again when the production opens April 15. Always features 20 of Patsy’s songs, including "I Fall To Pieces," "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" and "Sweet Dreams." Mandy appeared at the announcement, performing two titles with piano player Tony Migliore: "Crazy" and "Faded Love," a Bob Wills song Patsy recorded just four weeks before her death. Mandy’s clear and powerful voice is similar to the Country Music Hall of Fame member, and she invested the material with some of the same glides and dramatic phrasing that Patsy typically used.
Patsy, WSM announcer Eddie Stubbs said, had "one of the most special voices that ever appeared on this stage."
The Ryman has a distinct connection to Patsy. She gave her first Opry performance at the Ryman in July 1955 after an introduction by Ernest Tubb and became a member of the Opry in January 1960. She received three standing ovations when she sang "Crazy" at the venue for the first time in 1961. The Ryman was also used for location shooting during production on the 1985 biopic Sweet Dreams. Husband Charlie Dick and daughter Julie Fudge were both on hand at the Ryman for the Always announcement.
During the run, the concert hall will also exhibit a collection of Patsy’s memorabilia, including autographed black-and-white photos, the front page of The Tennessean from 1963 with a story about the discovery of the wreckage and the playbill from her final performance in Kansas City. Always ... Patsy Cline will be featured four times weekly at the Ryman from April 15 through May 23.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CMT.com
New Exhibit at Ryman Coincides With Always ... Patsy Cline
March 6, 2009
A new Patsy Cline exhibit will be unveiled at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on April 15 to coincide with the first night of a six-week run of the musical, Always ... Patsy Cline. The artifacts and memorabilia come from the collections of three of Cline's fans -- Theresa Shalaby, Bill Cox and Mark Willix. The musical was first staged at the Ryman in 1994. Mandy Barnett will reprise her role as Cline, and Tere Myers will return as Louise Seger, a fan who met the singer at a concert and often corresponded with her. The new exhibit was announced at a press conference at the Ryman on Thursday (March 5), the 46th anniversary of the plane crash that killed the singer and fellow Grand Ole Opry stars Hawkshaw Hawkins and Cowboy Copas. Barnett sang two songs from the production at the press conference, "Crazy" and "Faded Love." Guests included Cline's husband, Charlie Dick, as well as their daughter, Julie Fudge