I have not blogged in years, but after spending a week in a
writing class, I am feeling the urge to write again. I’d like to write about Ireland. Or, our week at the John C. Campbell Folk
School. Or, our new puppy. Or, our very personable (and quite beautiful)
cats. But, yesterday, I learned that one
of my childhood heroes died last spring.
Pat MacPherson of Sweet Fanny Adams Theatre in Gatlinburg,
Tennessee.
I was first introduced to this theatre at the age of nine
when our family vacationed in Gatlinburg.
My parents went to the show and left my sister and me in the hotel. They were not sure that the show would be
appropriate for children, but at intermission, my dad raced back to the hotel
and got us for the second half! We loved
it! That’s when the Sweet Fanny Adams
bug bit me.
By the time I was 12, I had not only been bitten by the
Sweet Fanny Adams bug but also the acting bug.
I was absolutely convinced that I wanted to be on stage forever and
ever, Amen! I wrote Pat a letter. Told her how much I loved her theatre. Told her how much I loved acting and singing.
In retrospect, it is entirely possible
that I told her my entire life story.
All 12 years of it. To my
delight, she wrote back! We began to
correspond. I still have her letters,
and the wear and tear on them reminds me of how often I read them.
While junior high school was a big fat drag for me, I was
thrilled when my English teacher assigned us the task to interview someone we
admired and then write about it. My dad
graciously agreed to take me to Gatlinburg (and as an FYI, he and I took
several trips together to Gatlinburg), and Pat agreed to be interviewed.
We talked after the show, and I felt enormously important. It is such a gift when an adult can help an
awkward teenager to feel important, and well, liked. She invited me to a cast party – at her
house! Two cast members drove me back to
the hotel at the end of the night. I
still cannot believe my dad let me go, but he did. Perhaps he knew that I was in the process of
finding my tribe.
By the next summer, my friend, Christy was also all about
Sweet Fanny Adams, and her mother stayed in a camper with us for a month (bless
her heart) so that we could work in the theatre. I use that term “work” very loosely. We did put on costumes and seat people each
night. Occasionally, we went out with the
cast and advertised in restaurants for the show. That summer was magic and full of junior high
giggles – not to mention, boyfriends! Pat
was kind and generous to us – always making us feel welcome and like we had
just made her day.
We kept up through the years with the occasional Christmas
card or letter. Even as an adult, I
still felt a surge of specialness when I went to the mailbox and saw her return
address.
It’s weird when a larger than life person from childhood
dies. I mean, I know people die. But, some people are like milk and bread –
staples that you believe will always be on hand. In my mind, Pat was too fabulous to die. She was this gorgeous, talented woman who
took time for me. She convinced me that
being weird was a great thing. That was
an important message for me – still is.
I am so thankful for the role she played in my life.
I am including the words of her obituary. They capture her sense of humor!
Pat MacPherson, 80 years old is dead, gone, through, is no more, pushing up daisies, kicked the bucket, shuffled off this mortal coil, danced the light fantastic, passed away, peacefully in her home, surrounded by loved ones on April 18, 2022.
Pat led an extraordinary life. Born in England, she attended the Royal Ballet Academy in London. She danced her way across Europe and all the way to the Folies Bergère Las Vegas where she met the love of her life, Don MacPherson. She starred in her own children’s TV show “Patsy and her Puppets.” They toured Europe as the Piccadilly Dancers, when they returned to Las Vegas they wrote, produced, and started in the most popular musical-comedy in Las Vegas history up until that point, “Tom Jones” based on the novel by Henry Fielding. They traveled the USA producing shows for a wide variety of dinner theatres until they moved to Gatlinburg TN and opened their own theatre “Sweet Fanny Adams” which entertained and delighted audiences from 1977-2020. Pat wrote the vast majority of the shows and could take a cloud of an idea…make it concrete and most importantly, make it hilarious.
Seeing a need in the local area, she began a charity, the one-by-one foundation, to spay and neuter pets whose owners who could not afford it. She is enormously proud to have helped over 1000 sweet pets. She was loving, kind, generous, and funny! She never stopped reading and learning. She was also an amazingly accomplished artist. Her pottery sculptures, and paintings are brilliant.
She is survived by: her children, Chris (& Alysha), Jennifer (& Laurence), and Kimberley. Her wonderful grandchildren, Max, Xander, Riley, Ella and Charlie. And some wonderful close friends and family.
She does not want anyone to cry, the only sounds allowed are spontaneous bursts of laughter, hoots of derision, and audible gasps of disbelief. She had a wonderful life and feels most fortunate. It was 95% fun and interesting. She would like to offer one last, but very important piece of advice, “Always remember…. continued on page 97
