Always...Patsy Cline' at Caperton Center

The second production of the 2006 Town & Gown summer theatre season, "Always Patsy Cline", reprises last season's popular performance to the Gaston Caperton Center in Clarksburg. Stephanie Adlington and Cathy O'Dell bring to life an incident that might have happened during the a concert given by the legendary singer and attended by one of her most ardent fans

Performances are June 23-24 at 7:30 p.m. and June 25 at 2 p.m. at the Gaston Caperton Center, 501 W. Main St., Clarksburg. Ticket prices are $10, general admission; $8 seniors; and $6, students with ID. Call the Box Office for reservations: (304) 367-4240.

Starring Stephanie Adlington as the late country singer Patsy Cline and Cathy O'Dell as Louise, a fan, the show revolves around the music of Patsy Cline. Originally produced as a 45-minute cabaret performance, the show has been expanded to include most of Cline's most memorable songs. The character Louise, a fan of the singer, acts as the narrator of the events presented for the audience.

The music of Cline probably needs no introduction to the audience, but Louise is another story. A Texan who discovers Patsy Cline on the radio, she cannot seem to have enough of the singer's songs and she hounds the local DJ to play ever more recordings. Louise goes to a Cline performance and caps her experience by providing the singer with room and board after the show. The central feature of "Always" Patsy Cline consists of 27 Cline songs, brilliantly performed by Adlington.

Adlington is currently Artist Teacher with Fairmont State's Community Music Program and a vocal coach at West Virginia University. A Grafton native, her musical talent has taken her far away from her roots--and returned her to them, as well. Trained early at WVU and Carnegie-Mellon's summer music program, one of the best, she began her formal college studies at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., where she studied classical voice.

After her sophomore year, Adlington moved to London where she attended the Royal Academy of Music. There, she graduated with a bachelor's degree in music and post-graduate degree in musical theatre. While there, Adlington had many opportunities to perform. While at the academy, she met Michael Dunford of the folk-rock band Renaissance. (For those of you not completely on top of the folk-rock game, Renaissance was "formed from the ashes of the Yardbirds" Adlington cut several albums with Renaissance "The Other Woman", "Ocean Gypsy" and "A Trip to the Fair"--replacing Annie Haslam as the band's vocalist.

Adlington began, during this time, to write her own music. Returning to the U.S., the vocalist pursued her music in Seattle, New York and Los Angeles, but it was in Nashville that she was most productive. Although one might imagine that West Virginia would prove to be the time most relaxing for her, the singer-song writer has more than 40 students between her WVU and FSU studios.

Cathy O'Dell, who plays Cline fan Louise, received her M.F.A. in Acting from WVU and her undergraduate degree in Theatre and Speech from FSU.

O'Dell has acted professionally at the American Contemporary Theater Festival in Shepherdstown where she portrayed Mary Mallon (aka Typhoid Mary) in "Forgiving Typhoid Mary". She has also acted at the Las Vegas Little Theater where she received the Best Actress in the State of Nevada award for her portrayal of Rose in "The Woolgatherer".

Her directing credits include 2001's Town & Gown production of "Wait Until Dark". Cathy has also directed several MT Pockets theater productions including "The Quest For Three Onions", "Graceland" and "Parallel Lives". She also acted in both "Graceland" and "Parallel Lives". She appeared in Fairmont State's production of "Everyman" and, most recently, in "The Country Wife".

O'Dell's other professional experience includes on-camera acting in several national commercials and training films and extensive regional and national voice-over work. She teaches voice and speech classes and other theatre classes for Fairmont State University and she also teaches Introduction to Theatre and Movement/Acting for Opera students at WVU.