Small cast telling story of ‘Always … Patsy Cline’
“Always…Patsy Cline” is a real show about real people. When the production opens this Friday at the Little Theatre of Tuscarawas County, it will feature only two major cast members, country music legend, Patsy Cline, and her closest friend, Louise Seger. The musical is based on a series of real letters written by the two before Patsy’s untimely death in 1963.
Shannon Mitchell, portraying Patsy Cline, will present 27 of Cline’s famous songs, complete with nine costume changes and interspersed with dialogue featuring Kathy Bergstrom’s loveable, talkative character, Louise.
Shannon, who is well-prepared for the role, was raised in the small town of Ottoville, where she was active in the arts through high school. Her mother was a dance teacher and her grandparents owned a bar where they often persuaded her to sing her favorite Patsy Cline song, “Crazy,” on Karaoke nights.
She earned her degree in musical theater and education at Ohio Northern University and spent two and a half years singing, dancing and acting on the theater circuit. After teaching music for 13 years in Louisville, Kentucky, Mitchell moved to the area with her husband, David, and children, son, Gaven, and daughter, Cadence. The entire family has been involved with area theater. David serves as General Manager of The Kent State University Performing Arts Center, Shannon is an adjunct professor of theater at the university, an instructor at LACEYPAC in New Philadelphia and owner/instructor of Studio S Stage and Performing Arts. Gaven can often be found in the light booth at Little Theatre, and Cadence performs at school and dances 18 hours a week.
“It is quite terrifying to play a celebrity like Patsy Cline,” Shannon said. “The audience has expectations that are hard to live up to. I’ve never had the opportunity to portray a person who actually lived before. It has required a lot of research, and during that research I learned what an amazing singer Patsy Cline was, and saw, for the first time, how she moved back and forth from country to elegant with ease. It makes you wonder what her musical style might have been had she lived past 30.”
“She spoke very little on stage or in interviews,” Shannon said. “I got the impression that she was shy unless she was performing. When I first read the script, I began to realize that her friend, Louise was leading the kind of life that Patsy would have liked. Their friendship was an escape, and of great value to her.”
Shannon said that singing with a live band instead of with tracs, as nearly everyone does now, has been a wonderful experience. “This whole experience with the director, Rex Huffman’s help and the supportive cast and crew has made me feel like a real rock star up there.”
Kathy Bergstrom has hardly left the theater since last October. After finishing directing the music special, “All Together Now,” she jumped right into rehearsals for “Almost… Patsy Cline.” She too, comes well prepared for the role. Raised in Buffalo, New York, she graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in Advertising. A classically trained singer, she performed with the Buffalo Opera Company, the Buffalo Philharmonic and more recently, the Tuscarawas County Philharmonic. While living in Orlando, Florida, she was Vice-President of Creative Services for a large real estate company. She has been an art director for several magazines, and has won national awards for design and layout.
Since moving to Dover, Bergstrom has continued to pursue her many talents as owner and editor in chief of “Ohio Family Magazine,” a docent at the Reeves Museum, and a cantor, Elder and youth choir director at Dover First Moravian Church. She currently works at Cleveland Clinic Union Hospital, the Reeves Home, and maintains her printing business, Blair Graphic Design and Printing.
Bergstrom became involved with the Little Theatre in 2002, and has played an active part ever since. Having created all posters, programs and banners since then, she also served as editor of the theater newsletter, “Curtain Call,” and a three-year membership on the board of trustees. She is a member of the theater’s Original Productions Group and organized the recent “Sounds Like Radio” show when the theater was dark during the pandemic
After assistant directing in “Willy Wonka,” “Arsenic and Old Lace,” “The Addams Family” and “Shrek the Musical,” Bergstrom directed “Sabrina,” for which she designed the award-winning set in Ohio Community Theater Association’s competition, “Junie B in Jingle Bells Batman Smells,” along with writing and directing the accompanying production of “A Visit With Mrs. Claus.” She has been seen in numerous plays and musicals on stage. Her family includes husband, Bob, and daughter, Danielle Blair
“I auditioned for this show because it is different from any shows we’ve done here,” Kathy said. “It was an opportunity to tell the real story of real people in an intimate setting. The characters required research and interpretation. There has not been a lot written about Louise, other than an article she herself wrote about her friendship with Patsy. I read that her daughter left the theater in tears after one production that used Louise as comic relief and made her look foolish.
“I am so grateful that our director, Rex Huffman’s vision of Louise did not portray her as silly. His direction led us to work toward making the characters real. There has been a lot of creative license written into the show.”
“From what I can tell,” Kathy said, “Both Louise and Patsy led difficult lives. Louise was divorced several times. She lost a son when he was 29. Patsy had an unhappy marriage. I think Louise had a big heart and cared about Patsy as a true friend, rather than because of her celebrity. It seemed that each of the friends fulfilled in the other, what was missing in their own lives.”
“Always…Patsy Cline” runs Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, Jan. 7, 8, 9, 14, 15 and 16, with evening performances Fridays and Saturdays, and matinees Saturdays and Sundays. Evening shows begin at 7:30 p.m. and matinees at 2:30 p.m.
Tickets may be purchased from Kent State PAC Box Office, online at TheLittleTheatreOnline.org or at the door. They are $15. For adults, $10. for students and children. “Always…Patsy Cline” is sponsored by Levco Striping Services.
Read More: Small cast telling story of ‘Always … Patsy Cline’