Morning Edition goes a little 'Crazy' for ‘Always… Patsy Cline.’

What this episode covers

Christina Rose Hall stars in 'Always... Patsy Cline' at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival.(Idaho Shakespeare Festival) Where do you begin with Patsy Cline? Well, for one, you go a bit “Crazy,” as in the 1961 song that turned pop and country music on its proverbial ear. It is likely that there are not many people in the Western World who don’t sing along when they hear the four-bar piano introduction. The original record rocketed up the Billboard charts and before the year was out, Patsy Cline performed it at the Grand Ole Opry and Carnegie Hall. Sad to say, Cline’s legend was also solidified in her way-too-early passing when she died in a plane crash at the age of 30. Which brings us to ‘Always… Patsy Cline,” the season-ending showstopper at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, which ends on Sept. 29. Its star, Christina Rose Hall visits with Morning Edition host George Prentice to talk about the legend … and much more. Read the full transcript below: GEORGE PRENTICE: It's Morning Edition. Hi. I'm George Prentice. It is a given that the voice and style of Patsy Cline was among the very best. It is also fair to say that she quickly became a legend. She did leave this world too soon. She was only 30 when she was killed in a plane crash. “Walkin After Midnight.” “I Fall to Pieces.” “Crazy.”  She is certainly, more than just part of the American songbook. She was the first female to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. She performed everywhere from Carnegie Hall to the Grand Ole Opry. And here comes the show, “Always… Patsy Cline,” a theatrical event about Patsy Cline and her close friendship with Louise Seeger. Christina Rose Hall is here, and she has toured in the national company of Les Miserables, and her theatrical resume includes the classics Wonderful Town, Kinky Boots, The Little Mermaid, Sweeney Todd, and so much more, and now this is her first season with the Idaho Shakespeare Festival. Hi. CHRISTINA ROSE HALL: Hi. Thank you so much for having me. PRENTICE: Um, and I want to make sure I get this right, because, as you say on social media. “Dear everyone. My first name has an A on the end of it. It has three syllables, the last of which is pronounced, ‘ah” like Miss Ricci, as in Christina Ricci. Miss Applegate as Christina or Miss Aguilera. Christina. . Has that been.an issue? HALL: My whole life. You know, and no shade to anybody, because there's so many of us around my age who are named Christina, Christine, Kristen, Kirsten, Christian, my little brother's name. So, I have sympathy for it, but it also is, you know, my brand as an actor. So, getting that last little letter in there matters. PRENTICE: I see a lot of your work in and around Chicago, but where did you grow up? HALL: I grew up in, the Houston area. In Texas. PRENTICE: Was this always your dream? Were you always going to do this? HALL: Yes. I really wish I, you know, I consider myself a creative. I've wanted to be a performer, a singer, since I was 2 or 3. I started singing before I really regularly spoke, so it's kind of always been there. That drive and just desire to share with people and delight people. And you know, I got the bug early and she just keeps, you know, you got to keep scratching. PRENTICE: Let's talk about Patsy Cline. HALL: Mhm. PRENTICE: This is not your first relationship with this production. HALL: This is actually my fourth time. PRENTICE: Oh, my goodness. Do you grow into Patsy Cline? HALL: Yeah. I mean, something that is really remarkable about Patsy in general is the emotional availability in her voice. She taps into something really special and haunting, and it just touches people in a way. And she. She died so young at 30 years old., I started playing the part at that age. Now, more than a decade later, the amount of living I have done and life experience, particularly heartbreak that has, uh, I guess would, I would say, enriched my overall human experience, I think has actually opened up a lot more in terms of the storytelling. I feel able to tell the heartbreak that I'm trying to convey. Like, I actually really know what that feels like now PRENTICE: In life and so personal and professional? HALL; Yes. Yeah. Yes. PRENTICE: Wow. And so, it is amazing that these particular songs were a reflection of her life. And I think if I remember someone asked her about how she sings or what she sings, and I think she once said something like,  “I…, I sing what's  inside me or what I'm feeling.” When I hear “Crazy,”. I mean…who doesn't go there? HALL: There is nobody who I've ever heard…and I grew up in the 90s where this was a big thing in vocalizing…, but nobody can work a vocal break like Patsy Cline. I mean, she just knows how to make it. That vocal break will break your heart. It's really incredible. You know, I do feel in this production, especially having done the show so many times now, that I really have kind of allowed myself to surrender thinking about that. I do think I've just sort of been able to find it in my body, and I just kind of drop into it. And so, I do very much try to honor her vocal mannerisms. I very much try to honor the spirit of her being someone who… while she made it in country music… she really is like the original crossover star, you know? And so, I feel like as long as I'm tapping into the roots of country music, which I have, in my background, just growing up in the South, I try to honor that and, just really try to like…there are tones that people are looking for. There are sounds. Luckily, she does have more of, like, a classical kind of crooner sound. And as someone who grew up listening to her and Judy Garland …there's actually a lot of vocal space that is similar. So, yeah, just accessing that sort of back of the vocal chambers. PRENTICE: And when are you, Christina? And when are you Christina Rose? HALL: Ah, my middle name that I never had in my name professionally up until I went through some pretty tremendous hardship. I had always thought of it in a wonderful way of this homage to my great grandmother, Mama Rosa. My niece: her middle name is Rose. My dear friend named her child. I just have loved like the blooming thought of it. But when coming out of some tremendous hardship, I actually started to hear it differently, as though, like “Christina rose up,” “Christina got back up.” And so, I put Rose in my professional name as a way to forever imbue myself in a “dust yourself off, girl. Get back up. Get back out there.” PRENTICE: Yeah. That's working. HALL: Thank you. Okay. PRENTICE: I am so glad I asked. She is Christina Rose Hall, and the show is, “:Always… Patsy Cline.” And at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival until the end of September, specifically September 29th. Thank you so very much. And all the best to you and to your costar and safe journey. HALL: Thank you. I really appreciate it. Find reporter George Prentice @georgepren Copyright 2024 Boise State Public Radio