The set was minimal — a plain Formica kitchen table in center stage, two matching chairs and an old Frigidaire in the back corner next to a kitchen sink.
When Traci Lyn Thomas stepped out from the wings, dressed in a cowgirl outfit, complete with fringe, sequins and cowboy boots, and began to sing, it was as if the legendary country singer Patsy Cline had come to life.
The event was the stage production of “Always, Patsy Cline” at the Durango Arts Center in Colorado. The play is based on a true story regarding Patsy, as she was called, and a friendship she had with a sassy Houston hairdresser, Louise Seger.
According to legend, Louise and Patsy enjoyed a friendship that lasted from the beginning of Cline’s career until a plane crash in 1963 took her life.
The play is told from Louise’s point of view and opens with a bodacious performance by Mary Ellen Cerroni who brings the spunky Louise to life.
When Patsy came to Houston to perform, Louise happened to arrive early, befriended the singer and then invited Patsy to spend the night at her house. The singer accepted, and it seems odd that a performer would go home with a fan.
But back in the early days of country music, singers and musicians didn’t allow self-indulgent egos to alienate them from their fans, unlike modern singers who stay in expensive hotels and use stretch limousines and private jets to avoid their fans.
Patsy and Louise found they were more alike than different. Through letters over the years, these two women from different walks of life found they shared quite a bit — loneliness, struggles with money, a love of music and the bonds that only women forge.
Numerous songs were featured in the play, which delighted me as Patsy Cline’s one of my favorite singers. It’s impossible to stay dry eyed through “Crazy” and “Sweet Dreams,” and I found myself tapping my foot in rhythm when Thomas sang “Lovesick Blues” and “Walkin’ After Midnight.”
The audience loved the show, perhaps because Patsy’s life reflects struggles many experience — a hard-scrabble life, a rocky marriage and poverty.
My brother, sister-in-law and I loved the show, and we talked all the way home about the singers we admire and the ones whose songs have touched our lives.
The next day, I found myself humming some of Patsy’s songs, reflecting on beauty and true talent. It’s not in the movie star packaging of today’s entertainers, and beauty’s not necessarily in the skyscrapers of a bustling downtown.
Beauty is simple — a freshly picked bunch of bright red radishes, a yellow daisy growing tall in a field of green grass, a crystal-clear stream bubbling over rocks and boulders and a strong, simple voice reminding us of love, cheatin’ hearts and the blues.
And make no mistake — Colorado is a gorgeous state. The Rocky Mountains are faithful sentries on the horizon, the humidity is low and there’s a gorgeous surprise around every corner. The people are friendly, there are four distinct seasons and it seems there’s a stunning site around every corner.
That beauty’s also evident in a field of bluebonnets, the sun setting over the Comal River and days when country music’s playing on the jukebox and you’re dancing cheek to cheek with a special someone.
Like Patsy sang and Willie Nelson penned, we’re crazy about lots of things, and living in Texas — enduring the heat, humidity and more heat — might be hard to understand from time to time, but because it’s home, it’s wonderful.
This article was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.