Once upon a time, when Arthur Godfrey was big on TV and folks' tastes for country rhythm and blues, and grand ol' opry were just a bit simpler...a great lady of the era arose. Someone has said the gentle songstress from Virginia made "her emotions leap up from the deepest recesses of her heart" and at her final 1963 performance in Kansas City, Kansas, just before her tragic death in an airplane accident, "her emotions were never more aglow."

That was a long time ago, but folks just can't quite forget Patsy. "Always...Patsy Cline" was done here 13 years ago but now is playing to nearly full houses.  Folks just seem to have a taste for the simpler times that were perhaps warmer and heartier.

Here is a collection of 27 songs, such as "San Antonio Rose, "Walking After Midnight," "Honky Tonk Merry Go Round," with folks clapping, singing, and crying just a bit. But "Always...Patsy Clne" is anything but a mere song recital. As the show proceeds, we see Patsy, played wonderfully by Becky Barta, hooking up with her friend, Louise, (the local Cathy Barnett). Louise provides a needed comedy contrast and many scenes that are simply hilarious. Barta does "reach out and touch" and brings a special  kind of heart so important to Cline's style.

The audience joins in with "Bill Bailey" at show's end, just plain whooping it up. And, not all blue and white hairs there--enough young folks to bring more back.

"Always...Patsy Cline," American Heartland Theatre,
2450 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Mo., Phone
816-842-9999. To August 10