Naples Dinner Theater - “Always, Patsy Cline”
Soon there will be no more opportunities in Naples to see a live dinner theatre show, so we booked our tickets for “Always, Patsy Cline” at the Naples Dinner Theatre and we were not disappointed. The food was good but the performance was outstanding. Tia Charles as Patsy delivered a “goose-bump” producing performance with the ever-hilarious and always entertaining Debi Guthery as Louise.
The play takes place at Louise’s kitchen table and other locations from Patsy’s short, but well-lived, life. The time is 1957-1963 from various places such as The Grand Ole’ Opry, The Arthur Godfrey Show and The Esquire Ballroom along with a Houston Radio Station. Louise shares her memories of her first meeting with Patsy and the subsequent friendship that ensued until her death, just a short two years after their initial meeting. Some very poignant memories were shared through letters that were written to Louise from Patsy.
Tia Charles’ smoldering rendition of 27 of Patsy’s recordings left us wanting more. If you closed your eyes and put yourself back to 1959 you would swear you were listening to Patsy herself, and who knows, maybe there was a little Patsy in Tia or vice versa. Tia was honored when asked to resurrect this role that she had successfully performed three years ago at the NDT. This last performance of “Always, Patsy Cline” will put the final ribbon on the gift that has brought so many patrons enjoyment through the years.
Naples surely will miss this theatre. A developer has bought the land and rumor has it that he will build storage rentals on the property. One can only hope that some smart-minded businessman will see the need for local dinner theatre and build a new home for this highly talented group of actors.