Special to 1812Blockhouse
The Renaissance Theatre’s popular production of Always…Patsy Cline, starring Kelly Knowlton, is set to be filmed by the new division of the Renaissance Theatre, Ren Studios, for at-home streaming. The musical will premiere Saturday, March 13th with additional performances on Saturday, March 20th and 27th.
Since its premiere at the Renaissance, Always…Patsy Cline has proven to be a sold-out hit, time after time. It has been revived three times since the original production in 2010. Starring Kelly Knowlton as Patsy, and Miss Ohio 2020, Caroline Grace Williams as her “biggest fan”, Louise Sager, the show contains such Patsy Cline standards as I Fall To Pieces, Sweet Dreams, Walkin After Midnight, You Belong to Me, Back in Baby’s Arms and the immortal, Crazy.
The story takes place between 1961 and 1963 and follows the friendship between Cline and Seger, who maintained a correspondence until Cline’s death in 1963. Notoriously guarded and with few close female friends, Cline chose to share her joys and woes with Seger, though the two had only briefly met one time.
“After the success of filming and streaming Cinderella and Dreamgirls, we wanted to continue to offer our patrons the opportunity to enjoy our productions from the safety and comfort of their own homes,” says Renaissance Artist Director, Michael Thomas. He adds that to capture the magic and intimacy of a live performance, the Ren would need to go beyond just setting up a video camera at the back of the theatre and hitting “record.” “It’s more than simply filming a stage performance. It is beautifully shot and edited just as a film would be – and the audio is engineered so that every word and lyric is crystal clear.”
The creative team at Ren Studios include Executive Producer and Second Unit Director Ryan Shealy, cinematographer and editor Ryan Shreve, Sound/Lighting Design and Sound Editor Aaron Nicolas, Production Manager Abe Swanger, Costume Designer Linda Turske, Technical Supervisor Nik Demers, Sound Assistant Brien Carpenter and Director/Musical Director Michael Thomas.
For tickets to stream Always…Patsy Cline the theatrical film, visit rentickets.org. Tickets are $10 and the stream is available to watch all day on March 13th, 20th, and 27th.
Source, Photo: Renaissance Performing Arts Association