Always…Patsy Cline Opens Wednesday, October 25 Blowing Rock Stage Company Wraps Up Dairy Queen Days This Weekend By Jeff Eason Not many fans get to interact with their favorite singers. A Houston housewife named Louise Seger did. She first heard Patsy Cline sing on the Arthur Godfrey Show in 1957. She became an immediate and ardent fan, going so far as to hound Texas disc jockeys to play Cline’s songs as often as they could on the radio. Actress Cindy Summers stars in the title role of the Blowing Rock Stage Company production of Always...Patsy Cline. Photo submitted In 1961 Patsy Cline and Louise Seger met by chance prior to Cline’s concert in Houston. The unlikely pair struck up a genuine friendship with Seger getting to spend a night at Cline’s house one evening. The two women remained friends until the fateful night in 1963 when Cline died in a small plane crash. That friendship is the basis for the unique musical Always…Patsy Cline, conceived and originally directed by Ted Swindley. The Blowing Rock Stage Company will present Always…Patsy Cline at the Mariam and Robert Hayes Performing Arts Center in Blowing Rock from Wednesday, October 25 through Sunday, November 12th. Tickets are on sale now. The musical is the Blowing Rock Stage Company’s second offering in its new “Leaf Season” of dramatic works at the Hayes Center. Always…Patsy Cline focuses on the fateful night at Houston’s Esquire Ballroom when Seger first learns of Cline’s untimely death. Seger supplies the narrative of the play while Cline sings many of her signature songs. The show combines humor, sadness and nostalgia as the audience finds their own memories to add to the proceedings. The show features over 20 songs including the classics “Walkin’ After Midnight,” “I Fall to Pieces,” “Crazy,” “Sweet Dreams,” “Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray,” and “She’s Got You.” The BRSC production of Always…Patsy Cline is directed by Kenneth Kay and features Cindy Summers as Patsy Cline and Kim Cozort as Louise Seger. Steve Sensenig is the musical director of the show. Production staff and designers for Always…Patsy Cline includes production stage manager Lisa Lamont, scenic and lighting designer Mike Winkleman, sound designer Gary Smith, costume designer Cheryl Hart, producing artistic director Kenneth Kay, general manager Robert Miller Jr., and technical director Tim Billman. Always…Patsy Cline runs from October 25th through November 12th at the new Hayes Performing Arts Center in Blowing Rock. Shows are at 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday with additional 2 p.m. matinees on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets for this musical are $28 for adults and $14 for children and students under the age of 25. The Hayes Center Box Office is open Monday through Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets can also be purchased at www.blowingrockstage.com. Dairy Queen Days The Blowing Rock Stage Company is currently presenting the world premiere of Dairy Queen Days from now until Sunday, October 22nd at the Hayes Center. Dairy Queen Days, based on Bob Inman’s novel of the same name, has been called a “rich and evocative tale of a teenage boy’s struggle to forge his own identity beneath the searing Georgia summer sun.” The play deals with living in a town where your family has a less than ideal relationship, and how to come to grips with a family member’s mental illness. Dairy Queen Days is directed by Blowing Rock Stage Company’s producing artistic director Kenneth Kay and stars Gary Lee Smith as Joe Pike, Ben Mack as Trout Moseley, Gwen Edwards as Keats, Jessica K. Peterson as Alma, Joe Tomko as Cicero, Ed Pilkington as Herschel and Mindy Lee Franks as Grace. For more information on these two BRSC productions, visit www.blowingrockstage.com or call (828) 295-9168.