Creative Cauldron presents Always…Patsy Cline, written and originally directed by Ted Swindley and based on a true story. This musical play follows the unlikely friendship between Patsy and a devoted fan, Houston housewife Louise Seger, through their letters, and features 19 of Cline’s timeless songs. Always…Patsy Cline is performed live outdoors in Cherry Hill Park in Falls Church, Virginia.
Always…Patsy Cline comes with down-home country humor, true emotion, and even some audience participation. Audiences will revel in a tour-de-force of Patsy’s heartfelt songs including unforgettable hits such as “Crazy,” “I Fall to Pieces,” “Sweet Dreams,” and “Walking After Midnight.” American Theatre magazine has deemed this crowd-pleaser the most produced musical in America.
For all performances, super fan Louise Seger will be played by Erin Granfield, and to celebrate Cline’s Virginia roots and the universal appeal of her music, four different Patsys will take the stage, each with a signature interpretation of her timeless musicianship.
This show is something of a homecoming for director Matt Conner, a native of Patsy’s hometown, Winchester, Virginia: “Growing up, it seemed like everyone had a story about Patsy Cline and wanted to be like her or even meet her.” Matt lived just blocks away from her home on Kent Street, and his great uncle, Ralph Lamp, was one of the guitarists who had the honor to play in Patsy Cline’s band.
Always…Patsy Cline runs through June 20, 2021, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 7:00 pm, in Cherry Hill Park, 312 Park Ave, Falls Church, VA. Tickets are $35 and available online. Parking is free in the community center lot. Social distancing protocols in place, vaccination and/or masking required. In the event of weather cancellation, the show will be rescheduled.
Ted Swindley (author) is internationally known as a writer and director of the popular musical Always…Patsy Cline. He is the founding artistic director of STAGES REP in Houston. He was also named to the Esquire Magazine’s register of outstanding Americans in arts and letters. Mr. Swindley was the recipient of the Los Angeles Dramalogue award for outstanding direction of CARNAL KNOWLEDGE by June Feiffer. Currently he is the president of TED SWINDLEY PRODUCTIONS, INC., a theatrical licensing and consulting company, and continues his 30 year career writing play sand musicals, consulting and mentoring playwrights, as well as directing plays for various theatres throughout the U.S. and abroad. Mr. Swindley is an active member of the DRAMATISTS GUILD OF AMERICA and STAGE DIRECTORS AND CHOREOGRAPHERS.
Matt Conner (Director) has been performing, composing, teaching and directing in the DC area for twenty years. He was the recipient of the 2008-2009 AMERICAN MUSICAL VOICES PROJECT: THE NEXT GENERATION. His Produced Commissioned Works Include: Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA; Nevermore (2006), Partial Eclipse (2009), The Hollow (2011), Crossing (2013) and Silver Belles (2016). Matt was also commissioned for a Five Year Initiative at Creative Cauldron in Falls Church, VA. They include Turn of the Screw (2015), Monsters of the Villa Diodati (2016), Kaleidoscope (2017), W.I.T.C.H. (2018) and ON AIR (2019). Matt was awarded the Helen Hayes Award for Best Direction (Helen) for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast produced at Creative Cauldron (2020).
Refiye Tapman (Musical Director) Refiye is a pianist hailing from the U.K. and is now working in the DMV area. She trained at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and at the University of Reading.She is a collaborative pianist and coach for an arts school vocal department, and multiple choirs (youth and adult) in the DC area. She has worked with these institutions/ organizations: Creative Cauldron, VA; Hub Opera Ensemble, MD; British International School Of Washington, DC; Arlington Public Schools, VA; Fairfax Public Schools, VA; Prince George’s County Public Schools, MD; Children’s Choir of Washington, DC; Arts Fairfax, VA; Friday Morning Music Club, DC; M Institute for the Arts, DC; American University, DC. Recent Performances have included these venues: Toulouse Lautrec, London; The Clarice Center for the Performing Arts, MD; Calvary Baptist Church, DC; Church of the Epiphany, DC; The Willard Intercontinental DC; Synetic Theater, VA. She was nominated for a 2020 theatre Washington Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Music Direction for her work in On Air at Creative Cauldron.
Erin Granfield (Louise Seger) is a National Young Arts Foundation Award winner, most recently seen at Creative Cauldron in the Helen Hayes Award nominated ensemble of On Air as the wife of Dr. Harry P. Davis, Agnes Davis/Ensemble. Granfield also performed at Creative Cauldron in the 2019 Holiday Cabaret Series and as Elmira in Nevermore. She also played the role of Francesca Johnson to critical acclaim in the DC/Baltimore regional premiere of The Bridges of Madison County (Red Branch Theatre). Other credits include Pallas Theatre Collective: Crazy Mary Lincoln (Mary Harlan Lincoln), Lost in Wonderland (March Hare), and a national tour of The Music Man (Marian).
Sally Imbriano (Patsy Cline) has performed locally and internationally, with credits ranging from sacred music to new musical theatre works to mime. Recent credits include her original cabaret George’s White Hot Scandals (Creative Cauldron) Hua Mulan, Pocahontas, Badroulbadour in Disenchanted! (Creative Cauldron), for which she was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award in Outstanding Ensemble-Helen. Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh (ATMTC) and directing What it Means to Choke with Keegan Theatre. She received her MAMT from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and her BMus/BSci from UNSW Sydney.
Candice Shedd-Thompson (Patsy Cline) recently appeared at Creative Cauldron as Snow White in Disenchanted! and in Beauty and the Beast as Babette, where she also understudied Belle. DC area credits include Esmeralda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Ensemble/Sophie u/s in Mamma Mia (Riverside Center), Monica P. Miller in Rooms: A Rock Romance (MetroStage). REGIONAL: The Rocky Horror Show, High Society (Winnipesaukee Playhouse), Wide Open Country (HersheyPark), Percy in The Spitfire Grill, (Highland’s Playhouse), Bird Woman/Ensemble in Mary Poppins (West Virginia Public Theatre), and more.
Kanysha Williams (Patsy Cline) was last seen on the Cauldron stage in her holiday cabaret. Other recent credits include Ensemble in Gun & Powder (Signature Theatre), Woman of Jerusalem in Love Sick (Theater J), Crystal in Little Shop of Horrors (Arts Centric) and Celie in The Color Purple (Riverside Center for the Performing Arts). She is a Music Director with Not Just Dance. Kanysha’s theater education began at Duke Ellington School for the Arts and she studied voice at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and George Mason University.
Katy Benko (Patsy Cline) is a two-time World Champion Vocalist at the World Championship of Performing Arts in Hollywood, and has opened for acts like Kenny Rogers, Brad Paisley, Brooks & Dunn, and Alan Jackson and has sung the national anthem for every professional sports team in the DC area. Recent credits include Patsy Cline (performer and musical direction) for Fauquier Community Theater’s Always, Patsy Cline. Additional credits include Martha in The Secret Garden, Winifred Banks in Mary Poppins, and Ida in HONK!
Angelica Miguel (Pasty Cline u/s) recently appeared as Erica Vargas in Uncommon Experts (Hanger Theatre) Squirelle in Elephant and Piggies We Are in a Play (Adventure Theatre), Beth Spencer in Merrily We Roll Along (Mason Players Theatre Co.) and Annie Cannon in Silent Sky (City of Fairfax Theatre Co.) in addition to numerous theatrical and film credits. Angelica received her B.A. in performance and directing from George Mason University.
