Review: I Fall to Pieces Over the Wonderful Heather Krueger and Diana Rogers in ALWAYS...PATSY CLINE at the Straz Center's Jaeb Theater

"Oh Lord, I sing just like I hurt inside." --Patsy Cline

No one could sing about heartache like Patsy Cline. No one. Oft imitated, never duplicated, she had the rare combination--hearty, rough yet velvet lovely vocals, coming at you all at once. She was tough as nails, but her voice could be smooth and pillow-soft. Although rock was my music of choice growing up, it was country star and ultimate tragic figure, Patsy Cline, who would capture my imagination and become my favorite female singer (tied with the queen of soul, Aretha Franklin). With her gruff alto, she could make any love song soar. And in Ted Swindley's Always...Patsy Cline, presented by the Straz Center and currently playing at the Jaeb, Tampa treasure Heather Krueger captures that voice, Cline's distinct vocals, remarkably well.

If you are a fan of Patsy Cline, then you will be in "Sweet Dreams" heaven here. If you don't know her, then this is the perfect place to start. We not only hear the classic Cline hits--"Back in My Baby's Arms," "Walkin' After Midnight," "Blue Moon of Kentucky," "I Fall to Pieces" and "Crazy" (the #1 jukebox song of all time)--we experience versions of lesser known songs like "Faded Love," "Gotta Lotta Rhythm," and "Come On In (And Sit Right Down)." It's a brisk two-hour Patsy Cline Hit Parade, based on a true story, and it's not to be missed.

In this musical memory, Texas housewife Louise Seger (the hilarious Diana Rogers) recounts the moment she first heard Patsy Cline on the radio. "That voice!" Louise tells us, mesmerized by the sound of Patsy. "It stopped me in my tracks!" Years later, when "I Fall to Pieces" becomes a hit, Louise harasses a radio station dj to play the song and its flip-side every hour and learns that Patsy is coming to Houston. Louise soon meets Patsy at a honky tonk and the two become fast friends. There is a bond between these two women, a true chemistry, and their friendship exists through letters over the last years of Cline's life, each ending with "Love Always, Patsy Cline." "She's us," Louise says. "She's no stranger to us." On "the day the country music died," Louise tells us about Patsy's death in a plane crash and how she will forever cherish those letters.

As Louise, Rogers must connect with the audience, and boy does she ever! At one instance, she even "distance dances" with an audience member (socially distant, the person still in his seat), and the man (a guy named Rich from Kentucky on the day I saw it) had an obvious blast. "We fit like a glove," Louise says in her over-the-top drawl, and Rich spontaneously called out, "I like it!" There's an obvious rapport between Louise and the audience, and she even throws in a mask joke or two for good measure ("In our day, we put bags over our heads," she said). The audience is on her side, and we see Patsy as she sees Patsy: In total love.

Heather Krueger is marvelous as Patsy, especially her chill-inducing vocals. I've seen Krueger several times and she's always awe-inspiring. In Bright Lights, Big City at freeFall, as a mother dying of cancer, she broke my heart. In Lizzie: A Killer Rock Musical at Jobsite, she proved to be a rocker with a voice that could match Ann Wilson of Heart. And here, she's a nonstop singing machine, showcasing good-time feet-pumping songs and intimate heartbreakers. Her "Crazy" was off the charts, with members of the audience singing along.

In Patsy's first song, "Back in My Baby's Arms," she dons black, almost like she's dressed for a funeral (a bit of foreshadowing here), but she sings like she's leading a party. Krueger, like Cline, has a way to take a song to a near intimate whisper and then to a thunderous ending, showcasing that INCREDIBLE voice. She captures Patsy's cadence, that gravely ferocity at times (such as in the song "Lonesome Blues"), and the audience rewarded her (and Rogers) with a much-deserved standing ovation.

Krueger is a force of nature with a to-die-for voice that captures the essence of Patsy in song. She certainly sounds like her, but I never got a sense of the rough-and-tumble Cline, the rugged country girl and hard drinker. It's always more interesting having that voice of an angel in the body of a rural homebody unaffected by stardom. Fabulous as she is, Krueger sometimes comes across too refined, on the verge of loose regality instead of a good ol' country gal. Patsy should be a pick-up truck instead of a Cadillac, a brown bottle of Schlitz instead of a glass of champagne, a countrified Rizzo instead of a Sandy. It makes the part far deeper, far more interesting. When Louise says "She's us," she means that Patsy had zero pretenses. The charistmatic Krueger stands onstage with her head high, a princess from the right side of the tracks, more debutante than brawler; she should be a shot glass of country sunshine, an authentic jolt of dixie lightning. (To get an idea of what I'm talking about, Patsy used to be employed to slit chickens' throats at a meat-packing company and clean Greyhound bus seats; she was as unpretentious as they come.) Yes, Krueger captures Cline's spirit during each of the rousing songs--Krueger's voice has never sounded better; we just want the other side of the story and personality when she's not singing.

The direction by David Jenkins is wonderful; you get the feeling he smartly lets these two powerhouse performers find their own way. Both Krueger and Rogers connect, and that's main thing in a show like this; if they don't connect, if we don't feel their comaraderie, then why are we watching when the music doesn't play? The only stage business that didn't work for me was Louise trying to flick a cigarette lighter during the song "Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray." The lighter didn't work, and I didn't know if it was purposely not meant to light the cigarette or if the whole business was a mistake.

Katrina Stevenson's costumes, including Patsy's iconic cowgirl outfit, work well, and Jo Averill-Snell's lighting once again helps underscore the story without taking away from the action. And when we need to feel like we're at a celebration--during the encore, "If You've Got Leavin' On Your Mind," for instance--the lighting comes through: swirling prom night bubbles of light flood the Jaeb. It's fun. Brian Smallheer's minimal set gets the job done, with areas for Louise's home, the honky tonk, a jukebox, and center stage for Patsy. And the onstage band (they play behind the action), led by music director Alan Blake Conley, works wonders; you'll be tapping your toes whether you want to or not.

If you are skeptical during the pandemic, then please know that the Straz Center has done everything in its power to keep you safe: temperature checks, social distance between tables, required masks, hand sanitizer everywhere, and the most helpful staff of volunteers in all of Tampa Bay. There wasn't one false move here.

The show's program is found online with the Straz To Go app, but I would not know this if I didn't inquire about it. This information needs to be part of the opening announcements. The online program itself is wonderful, but there must be a simpler way to get it. Harry Potter had an easier time in the Triwizard Tournament than some folks have had trying to find the program on the Straz app. Since there are no paper playbills for health reasons, this should be readily available, easy to view, without jumping through online hoops and apps.

Always...Patsy Cline is the fastest two hours I can remember in a long time. It runs at the Jaeb through December 6th (although the show will take a break for the week of Thanksgiving). After the Saturday matinee, I was humming the Patsy Cline tunes on the way home and even listened to some of her songs from my playlist. This is a testament to the power of the show, of Krueger's interpretations. Call me crazy, but even after hearing Patsy's tunes nonstop for two full hours, I couldn't get enough. She's my go-to country crooner and she will continue to be. Always.

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