Maureen Collins will salute Patsy Cline with two shows

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Maureen Collins, co-founder of Easy Street Productions, has added a Friday performance to her Patsy Cline tribute show next weekend at the DeYor Performing Arts Center, downtown.

“Wine and Dine with Patsy Cline” will now be presented at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the Flad Pavilion, in the DeYor Performing Arts Center.

The show will be presented in a cabaret setting, with table seating and a wait staff serving a variety of beer, wine and specialty cocktails. A small plate menu will also be available, prepared by Chef Jeff Chrystal.

Special guest Todd Hancock will add to the shows with a salute to Johnny Cash. Hancock will perform classics such as “I Walk the Line,” “Ring of Fire,” “Folsom Prison Blues” and “A Boy Named Sue.”

Providing music will be Jeff Bremer on bass, Lake Baum guitar, Rich Yocum on piano and Easy Street Musical Director Don Yallech on drums.

Collins’ tribute to the late queen of country music was performed last summer to two sold-out houses. She added a second performance to the coming

run to again meet demand.

The concert salutes Cline by sharing songs and treasured moments from her brief, but iconic career.

Collins’ one-woman show includes more than 20 of Cline’s hits, including “Crazy,” “I Fall to Pieces,” “Walking After Midnight,” “Sweet Dreams,” “She’s Got You“ and “Always.”

Collins is no stranger to Patsy Cline’s music. Easy Street Productions was among the first theatrical companies in the country to produce and direct the musical “Always, Patsy Cline,” with Collins in the lead role.

Permission to perform the musical was granted by the estate of Patsy Cline due to Collins’ uncanny ability to recreate the artist’s unforgettable vocals. The musical had two successful runs at Powers Auditorium and another at W.D. Packard Music Hall in 1996 and 1997.

In more recent years, Collins has begun performing her current show, a personal tribute to the artist that focuses solely on her music.

In a 2018 interview, Collins talked about her favorite Cline songs.

“My list of favorite Patsy songs is pretty huge,” she said. “I love singing her up-tempo classics “Bill Bailey,” “Gotta Lotta Rhythm in My Soul” and “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” but it’s the heartfelt songs that tell simple stories like “She’s Got You,” “Sweet Dreams” and “Always” that are my favorite to perform.”

In doing research for her show, Collins unearthed many interesting but little-known facts about Cline’s career, and she will intersperse them throughout her performances.

Asked why Cline’s music has endured over the decades, Collins pointed out that she was one of the first “crossover” artists – those whose songs achieved popularity in more than one pop genre.

“I think her music is still being played today because it is so heartfelt,” said Collins. “The songs were great, but it was the way that she sang them that has made her music so timeless.”