THE FRIDAY FIVE (on Wednesday): PATSY CLINE's Simmons and LeMoine-Reed

Inspired by BroadwayWorld.com's Friday Six, welcome to BroadwayWorld Nashville's latest installment of The Friday Five: five questions designed to help you learn more about the talented people you'll find onstage throughout the Volunteer state. Today, in a special edition of The Friday Five (on Wednesday), we introduce two actors from The Gaslight Dinner Theatre's upcoming production of A Closer Walk With Patsy Cline: Linda Sue Simmons (my favorite Miss Chattanooga of all time) and Curtis LeMoine-Reed. Directed by Greg Frey, the musical - filled with some of Patsy Cline's best-loved hits that will transport you back to her starry heyday in the 1960s - opens Thursday afternoon at The Renaissance Center in Dickson.

Linda Sue Simmons

What was your first "live onstage" taste of theater? I was a chorus and band geek, and didn't grow up in or around theater. Our high school always did one musical a year, so playing Lucy (I am well aware it was type casting) in You're A Good Man Charlie Brown my senior year was my first real taste of theater and it was delicious. However, when Opryland opened, I was 9 years old and seeing those shows gave me a burning desire to be onstage. Our family always made the trip up from Chattanooga several times each summer just to see the shows. I don't even remember riding a ride. Did they have rides? We'd get there when the gates opened and carefully plot out our day so we could see each show at least once. Showboat was my favorite, but I loved them all - the live orchestras and all those beautiful costumes - Sigh. As corny as it might sound, I was starstruck. I just knew that I could die a fulfilled and happy woman if I were ever lucky enough to sing in one of those shows. (I did finally get onstage at Opryland, in 1993, when I moved to Nashville, but am not ready to die quite yet and now have a bigger bucket list.)

What is your favorite pre-show ritual? I am not very chatty and just like to check my presets, take my time getting ready and have something good to eat. I hate going onstage hungry.

What's your most memorable "the show must go on" moment? Going on stage for the first time during a nudist charter cruise and forgetting my lines. Even though I knew they were going to be naked, I still got the giggles and had to start the song over.

What's your dream role? Mama Rose.

Who's your theatrical crush? Crushes plural. I know I am going to leave someone out but this is who comes instantly to mind. Tyne Daily as Mama Rose, Robert Morse as Truman Capote, Kathleen Turner and Alec Baldwin as Maggie and Brick. (Oh, they were so hot together.) My biggest crush of all time? Gilda Radner in her one woman show, Gilda Live. She was brilliant. I also have a big crush on Jenny Littleton, our local theatrical goddess.

BONUS ROUND QUESTION: Tell us something about you that would surprise people! No way, my mama is still alive and now I have a daughter to hide sordid things from as well. You'll have to get me drunk before I share the good stuff.

Curtis LeMoine-Reed

What was your first "live onstage" taste of theater? I was two and a half years old, I had on glasses that were two sizes too big for my face, and my mother was a dance teacher at a local studio. I was placed on stage, the live band started to play a song, and I started wiggling my hips and bobbing my head like Stevie Wonder. From that moment on, I was always on stage and looking for the spotlight.

What is your favorite pre-show ritual? I'm always fond of saying a quick prayer with the full cast, and I always warm up at the top of my lungs several times to get all the jitters out and make sure my voice is fully warmed up and top notch. I'm also a hugger, so most of the time the cast gets a hug from me before we start the show!

What's your most memorable "the show must go on" moment Aside from the usual fly unzipped during a dance number, or music going out mid- song, my favorite show must go on moment was when I had to jump in as an understudy for Sir Robin in Spamalot, with only a few rehearsals before opening. I was so nervous about forgetting the big Song and Dance number that I didn't even realize the cast had brought on my husband as a gag to try and throw me off. They walked right past me and I didn't even notice!

What's your dream role? I've had the fortunate pleasure of playing several of my dream roles. But a role I've yet to play and have dreamed of playing since I was eight is the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Weber's Phantom of the Opera.

Who's your theatrical crush? Female: it's a tie, Kristen Chenoweth and Bernadette Peters; Male: Hunter Foster.

BONUS ROUND QUESTION: Tell me something about you that would surprise people! I can perform on a stage in front of thousands of people, but put me in a room with a Karaoke machine and I become petrified!

About the show: Linda Sue Simmons stars as country icon Patsy Cline as Gaslight Dinner Theatre continues its 15th Anniversary Season with its 69th show with A Closer Walk With Patsy Cline - a musical about the legendary country singer by Dean Regan. The show opens Thursday, June 4, at The Renaissance Center in Dickson, running through June 13.

From small-town Virginia to the bright lights of Carnegie Hall, Patsy Cline's legend is a monument to ambition, grace and talent. Featuring Simmons (White Christmas; 9 to 5; Sound of Music; Hello, Dolly!; Honky Tonk Angels; Noises Off) in the title role, A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline is a tribute to her spirit and a celebration of the music of her life. Combining flashbacks from WNIC's Little Big Man, played by Curtis LeMoine-Reed (The Andrews Brothers; Memphis; Legally Blond; Spamalot; Little Shop of Horrors), and visiting various venues from Patsy's climb to stardom, the show blends theatre, music and comedy into a magical evening for all audiences.

"This moving piece features 20 of Cline's best-known songs and no one can sing them like Linda Sue," says director Greg Frey. "Combine that with Curtis LeMoine-Reed's comedic antics and you get a fun-filled evening for all."

The cast is joined by some of Nashville's hottest musicians as Patsy's band members and backup singers featuring Alex Spann, Adam Wooten, Alec Newman, Tom D'Angelo, Dale Herr, Stephanie Wright and Zane Jordan.

Although she can never be replaced, A Closer Walk With Patsy Cline is a tribute to her spirit and a celebration of the music of her life. One of the all-time legends of country music, Patsy Cline was born Virginia Patterson Hensley, September 8, 1932, in Virginia. Always spunky and devoted to music, she quit school at the age of fifteen to work in a drug store and help support her single mother and younger brother and sister. In return, her mother dedicated her spare time to helping Patsy's career, and drove her to Nashville when she was only sixteen for her first Grand Ole Opry audition. Patsy was never shy about self-promotion and impressed everyone the moment they heard her.

Ironically, her musical talent was never really rewarded until "Walkin' After Midnight," which was recorded ten years after she began singing professionally. Her rendition of the song on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts in 1957 not only won the contest, but finally set her on the road to the acclaim she deserved. It was followed three years later by the memorable "I Fall to Pieces." Then came "Crazy" (written by Willie Nelson), "She's Got You," "Leavin' on Your Mind," "Sweet Dreams" and "Faded Love." Her last single release was "A Closer Walk with Thee."

Patsy Cline died in an airplane crash March 5, 1963, while hurrying back to her family after a benefit concert in Kansas City. Patsy's enduring musical legacy is witnessed by the fact that she is the number one juke-box play in the world. Her Greatest Hits album has sold over nine million copies, and has been in first place for over 200 weeks of her 700 weeks on Billboard's "Top Country Catalog Albums." On March 1, 1995, Patsy was memorialized with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 1999 she was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Delicious luncheon and dinner buffets begin one hour before show time at the Gaslight Dinner Theatre. Price includes buffet, desserts, beverage and show. Gratuity not included. For reservations, call (615) 740-5600 or go online at www.gaslightdinnertheatre.org.

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