Amanda Gremel is a bit terrified.
The actress is about to portray someone she loves.
Gremel is the title character in Live Theatre Workshop’s production of “Always ... Patsy Cline.”
It not only draws from the great country singer’s life, it gives us some of Cline’s greatest hits.
“During the process, I have wanted to run several times,” Gremel says with a laugh. “I’m having a blast and at the same time I’m terrified.”
Gremel was a young girl when she was first introduced to Cline’s music.
“My grandmother was a diehard fan, and she passed that love on to my mom,” she says. And her mother passed her passion for Cline on to Gremel. “We use to sing her in the car together.”
“Always ... Patsy Cline,” is based on a true story about a fan who met the singer at a concert. The two spent hours together and became fast friends. They corresponded for the next two years, until Cline died in a plane crash in 1963. She was just 30.
The play opens as the Cline fan, Louise (played by Samantha Cormier), learns of the singer’s death. She then regales us with stories about Cline, who floats in and out to help re-create moments. A live band will be on stage with the actors and 27 of her songs are incorporated into the script. Tunes such as “Crazy,” “Walkin’ After Midnight” and “I Fall to Pieces” will waft out over the audience.
Gremel was offered the part about a year ago. Right after accepting it, she started preparing.
“I was just listening to her all the time,” she says. “I have a long drive into work and I listen to her in the car and hear and feel her voice. I watched as many documentaries about her as I could. She sounds like a hoot. I wish I could have met her in person.”
Gremel’s goal isn’t an imitation of Cline.
“If I can somewhat sound like her, bring that essence of her, I’ll have done my job,” she says.
In the process of preparing, Gremel found that the experience of falling in love with Cline while singing with her mother in the car was repeating itself with her 6-year-old daughter.
“I was playing her music in the car and my daughter says, ‘Mama, will you turn that up? Who is this? This is real music.’ Even a 6-year-old knows this is great music,” Gremel said.
