Always... Patsy Cline

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More About

• Patsy Cline
• Monica Heuser

I suppose it's somewhat forgivable, in mid-July, to take for granted a show that's running through the end of October. But in looking over the landscape, pre- and post-Fringe, a standout emerges in the form of a show I saw several weeks ago: Always . . . Patsy Cline. The storyline, based on a real-life friendship the country chanteuse formed with a regular gal in the years before her death, is equal parts charm and treacle. But when Monica Heuser unleashes her pipes as Patsy, goosebumps result, as well as a renewed appreciation for Cline's playful, knowing, sexy, and sophisticated way of interpreting a song. A great singer can impart a novel's worth of information in a three-minute ditty. Cline could, and Heuser channels her with phenomenal facility and grace. You'll leave knowing Cline as a frail, hopeful human being, who had the gift of expressing the longing of eternity in a handful of throwaway lines.
Tuesdays-Saturdays, 6 p.m.; Sundays, 5 p.m. Starts: April 16. Continues through Oct. 31, 2009