When the coronavirus pandemic hit in March 2020, Broadway actress Felicity Finley decided to “do a deep dive” into Patsy Cline to honor her father’s memory. Before her father died, he had requested that she play the role of the legendary singer.
In October 2021, Finley made her father’s wish come true at the Timber Lake Playhouse in Mt. Carroll Ill., where she performs as an actor. Her husband also serves as the artistic director of the Playhouse. Now, from May 25-June 19, she’ll perform the lead role in “A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline” at Meadow Brook Theatre in Rochester Hills—the last show of the theatre’s 2021-2022 season.
The musical, written by Dean Regan, transports audiences through the iconic singer’s life, from her hometown of Winchester, Va. to the Grand Ole Opry and Carnegie Hall. Little Big Man (Chip DuFord of Grand Blanc), a disc jockey from Cline’s hometown, uses the singer’s greatest hits, including ”Walkin’ After Midnight,” “Crazy” and “I Fall To Pieces,” to tell her story. Considered one of the 20th century’s most influential vocalists, Cline died tragically in a plane crash in 1963 – she was 30 years old. The Jordanaires group (Geoffrey Besser of Detroit, Tyler Bolda of Armada, Sam VanKampen of Zeeland and Mikey Vultaggio of New York and Center Line) will sing with Patsy on stage. The original quartet sang with Patsy Cline and Elvis Presley.
“Patsy Cline was honest, real – what you saw is what you got,” said Finley. “She was a survivor, and she brought everybody with her. If you were with her at the beginning, you were with her at the end. She changed the game for women. She allowed women to have voice.”
Finley said Cline had brushes with death earlier in her life. “She was in an oxygen tank at 13, and her voice was completely gone. She had influenza — she almost died very young. It changed her life mentally. She didn’t think she was going to live. She became obsessed that her time on earth was very short. She would ruminate that she didn’t have much time. It’s why she was a lightning bolt.”
Cline, who only finished the eighth grade, started singing in clubs as a young woman to make money. She also was a prolific seamstress, like her mother, Finley said. “We’re seeing a fleshed out picture, not a cardboard cutout.
“She was one of the first women to wear pants on stage,” Finley said. “She got a lot of flack for that. She was a trailblazer.”
The musical follows Cline’s life story until her death. “She was on a tour to promote the song ‘Sweet Dreams’ – it had just come out – maybe two weeks before she died. She just wanted to get home. She was snuffed out. ‘Sweet Dreams’ became a huge hit.”
A 25-year Broadway veteran, Finley studied Cline’s vocals. Finley was raised on 250 acres of farmland near Asheville, N.C., a place where “there are no stoplights.” Like Cline, she said she grew up yodeling. The yodel, she noted, is the backbone of Cline’s vocals.
“It’s very old-timey,” she added. “I learned how from my great-grandmother. She never cut her hair — she braided it around (her) head like a crown. I come from brilliant gospel singers. I’d be on the porch stringing beans, shucking corn, and singing gospel music.
“There’s one song that always breaks my heart –‘Put my Little Shoes Away,’” Finley said. “My great-grandmother sang that. We sang it a cappella, sometimes with spoons, washboard — sometimes somebody would bring a guitar. On Sundays, we’d have piano. My grandmother is 91 and can still play piano.
I grew up with ‘love the Lord’. You cooked, gave till it hurt, helped your neighbors. Patsy lived like that.”
A native of Charleston, S.C., Finley performed in several Broadway shows, including “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” “The Wedding Singer,” “Mamma Mia!”, “Aida,” “The Life” and “Smokey Joe’s Café.” She’s also performed in many Off-Broadway and regional theater shows. “In ‘The Wedding Singer,’ I originated Linda – a very fun character. I starred in ‘Aida’ as Amneris,” she said.
Finley, who lives in Chicago and has an apartment in New York, said theater-goers will literally feel like they’re experiencing a “closer walk with Patsy Cline” in the Meadow Brook show.
“A Closer Walk With Patsy Cline” runs through June 19 at Meadow Brook Theatre, 2200 N. Squirrel Rd., Rochester Hills. Tickets range from $36 to $46 and are available by calling the Meadow Brook Theatre box office at (248) 377-3300 or online at ticketmaster.com.
