- Sun. July 25

Like everybody else in the world who's not, say, 70, I came late to the Patsy Cline party and she was long dead. I was a kid and had really yet to discover the Beatles in 1963, she died at 30. Airplane crash like the Big Bopper, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens. Along about the early '80s, as some punks were starting to look back and create cow-punk, Patsy Cline was one of those who were rediscovered and, well, almost deified. I did my digging and could only agree. The woman had an amazing, aching voice. "Walkin' After Midnight," "I Go To Pieces," and, of course, "Crazy." She was one of the first country artists to have a pop crossover hit, one of the first country women to take hold of her career. That career lasted but eight years, but her mark was indelible. Reportedly, Cone told her friends June Carter Cash and Loretta Lynn that she felt a sense of impending doom and didn't expect to live much longer in the months leading up to her death. Cline was known for he generosity, but that accelerated as she begn giving away personal items to friends, writing out her own last will on Delta Air Lines stationery and asking close friends to care for her children if anything should happen to her. She was wary of flying, but after a Kansas City, Kansas gig, she spurned an offer to drive home to Nashville and told pal Dottie West: "Don't worry about me. When it's my time to go, it's my time." 

Well, it's Cline time again. The Stoneham Theatre is putting up "Always ... Patsy Cline," a musical created by Ted Swindley, directed by Joy Hawkins withmusic direction by Jim Rice (no, not the ex-Red Sox.) The final show is today, Sun. July 25 with a matinee at 2. 

"Always ... Patsy Cline" is based on a true story about the legendary country singer's friendship with a fan from Houston named Louise Seger, who befriended Patsy in a Texas honky-tonk in 1961. The show's title was inspired by Patsy's letters to Louise, which were consistently signed "Love Always Patsy Cline."  The LA Times' take on the show: "A song-filled valentine."

Barta is perhaps best known for her long run with the national touring company of "Les Miserables." But she's been stepping into Cline's heels since 1995. (Cline's plane crash in the woods happened not far from Barta's home.) In an interview in Pitch Music, Barta taled about her fascination with Patsy: "You wouldn't be able to portray the character without inherently loving her music.  Patsy's appeal was that she was such a storyteller in the phrasing and timbre of her voice.  She could take a really horrible song and turn it into a really good song."  Barta has won praise and many awards for performing the role of Patsy in productions that have toured nationwide, including off-Broadway.  Barta had performed "Always ... Patsy Cline" in Stoneham to sell-out audiences back in July 2004. Director Joy Hawkins, currently the Artistic Director of Key West's Red Barn Theatre, will portray Patsy's pen pal Louise, who she also portrayed at Stoneham Theatre in 2004.  Author Ted Swindley, who directed the 2004 production, has many credits under his belt, but he is best known for creating "Always ... Patsy Cline," which by 1998, was one of the top ten shows produced across the country.  Locally based music director Jim Rice (keyboard) will conduct the 6-piece band which includes Matt Ambrose (bass), Mike Ihde (steel guitar), Mick Lewander (drums), Steve Marchena (guitar), and Adam McOwen (fiddle). 

Tickets: $48 regular admission, $42 for seniors, $20 for students;

395 Main St,, Stoneham, 781-279-2200 www.stonehamtheatre.org.