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by Alex Bridges

WINCHESTER — Country music legend Willie Nelson is slated to perform in Winchester next month at the dedication of the John Handley High School auditorium.

The venue — now called the Patsy Cline Theater — bears the name of the late singer who lived in the city and eventually went on to record numerous hits, including Nelson’s own “Crazy.”

Former state Sen. H. Russell “Russ” Potts announced the naming of the theater during a press conference Thursday morning inside the recently renovated auditorium. Potts serves as fundraising director for the multimillion-dollar renovation and expansion of the school.

“When you look at the community, the history of this wonderful community, we’ve been blessed with a lot of famous people who have gone out and have become great successes, and none of them has exceeded the accomplishments of Patsy Cline,” Potts said.

Cline was born Virginia Patterson Hensley in Winchester on Sept. 8, 1932, and her roots in the city remain.

At 15 years old, Cline performed on the school’s theater stage for a talent contest held by the American Legion, Potts said. He noted that the singer performed at Carnegie Hall and the Grand Ole Opry and her life became the subject of at least two movies.

Potts also used the press conference to announce that Nelson will perform at the school Oct. 29 at 8 p.m. for the dedication of the theater. Net proceeds from tickets sales for the event will go to benefit the Winchester Education Foundation, Potts said.

“So there’s a wonderful promotional tie-in to these two, absolutely great hall-of-fame entertainers,” Potts said.

As Winchester Public Schools Superintendent Rick Leonard noted, the auditorium served as a venue for numerous events held by the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival, including the coronation of the queen.

This brings up another connection: Nelson appeared as a guest at the festival in 1966, Potts noted.

Charlie Dick, widower of Cline, spoke with Potts at the press conference by telephone from his home in Nashville. Dick also attended Handley.

“My family is very pleased and very tickled,” Dick said of the naming of the theater.

Dick and members of his family plan to attend the concert, he said.

Landing an entertainer such as Nelson to play in Winchester takes connections and hard work, said Potts, himself a sports promoter. He credited longtime friend Tom Rooney, president of Rooney Sports and Entertainment, as well as community leaders Christian Schweiger and Cody Dearing. Rooney is a member of the family that owns the Pittsburgh Steelers and also promotes country music performer Kenny Chesney, Potts said.

“These smaller venues [are] exactly the kind of things that really flourish and we’re seeing a great comeback with theaters, with demographics a little older … they want more intimacy and want to be closer to the artist,” Rooney said by telephone. “I think it’ll be the beginning of great events for the Patsy Cline Theater.”

Rooney said he hoped the concert date would appear on Nelson’s Web site soon.

“Keep in mind the caliber of an entertainer like Willie Nelson, if you think it’s easy to make this happen, then I’ve got news for you,” Potts said. “This is a very singular accomplishment for our community.”

Organizers also tapped the help of Darrell Royal, a close friend of Nelson and legendary coach of the University of Texas Longhorns football team, Potts said.

Handley Principal V. Douglas “Doug” Joyner said his family shares connections to Cline. But he spoke in general about those people who have come through Handley.

“What makes it special are the people who have passed through these halls who have made it such a place of excellence, and we’re so very happy for this type of recognition for our school building we are rededicating. But most importantly for the Handley family — what it means to the people who count this school as changing their lives in many ways,” Joyner said.

The Patsy Cline Theater serves as the largest such venue in the area, according to Dearing, of Charles Ricketts Construction. He worked with Schweiger to bring Nelson to the city.

The auditorium has 1,327 seats — nearly 200 more than Shenandoah University’s Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre, Dearing said. The Handley theater also has updated sound and lighting, he said.

Tickets to the concert go on sale through Ticketmaster on Sept. 21, according to Schweiger.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 13th, 2009 at 10:59 am and is filed under Shows. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.