With instant success following its opening, Swine Palace Theatre’s production of “Always… Patsy Cline” will sing on for an extra week. “Always… Patsy Cline,” which opened June 13, was originally scheduled to run through July 2. The play will now run until July 9. “We already added a Sunday evening show because our ticket sales were so high,” said Vastine Stabler, director of marketing for Swine Palace Theatre. “Now we will be running for another week.” Although this year’s run of “Always… Patsy Cline” has yet to break the record for highest ticket sales in Swine Palace history – set by the first showing of the same play at Swine Palace Theatre two years ago – Stabler said more people attend the shows towards the end of its run. “The last show broke late, so we are expecting the same for this one,” Stabler said. The two stars of the show, Becky Barta and Leslie Maness, are both from out-of-state, but Stabler said the possibility of a longer run of the show was in the actresses’ contracts. Maness, who plays Louise, the fan befriended by Patsy Cline, said she is happy to be back for Swine Palace Theatre’s second run of “Always… Patsy Cline.” “I love Swine Palace,” Maness said. “They treat us like queens here.” Although Maness played the part of Louise in the first run of the play at Swine Palace Theatre, Maness said this show is not a carbon copy of the previous run. “It is a complete waste of time trying to remake the same show,” Maness said. “Anytime there is a new group of actors the mix is going to be different.” Maness said the response to the first run of the play was so positive, and she is happy to see the success of the show continue into its second run. “I just found out about the extension,” Maness said. “I just keep showing up so I am glad there is actually going to be a play.” Maness said the audience has been her favorite part of returning for a second run of the play. “The people are so fun,” Maness said. “There is a part in the play when Louise picks a guy out of the audience to dance with. I chose a Baptist pastor one time and he was a little nervous but he was so much fun.” One of Maness’ goals for this run of “Always… Patsy Cline” is to raise the most money for the large piggy bank outside of Swine Palace Theatre. The piggy bank is outside the theatre for people to make donations to benefit Swine Palace. “I wanted to make sure my show would get the pig the most money,” Maness said. “I even built it into the script to tell the audience to give money to the pig.”
_____Contact Kelly Caulk at [email protected]