Lifetime’s ‘Patsy & Loretta’ Casts Broadway Stars As Country Icons

Lifetime is working on a TV movie about the friendship between country music sensations Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn. The Nashville-based production, titled “Patsy & Loretta,” took their stars from New York’s Broadway stage.

Jessie Mueller will play Loretta Lynn, Deadline reports. This isn’t her first time playing an icon. Mueller won the Tony Award for best actress in 2014 for her role as Carole King in “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.” The Broadway star also was nominated again for her role in “Waitress,” which features music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles.

“Patsy & Loretta” will be Mueller’s first TV movie. Her first film was Steven Spielberg’s “The Post” in 2017, and she has made appearances on TV shows like “Madam Secretary” and “Blue Bloods” in recent years.

Megan Hilty will play Patsy Cline. Her most recent Broadway role was in “Noises Off,” which earned her a Tony nomination. Theatergoers might also remember her as Glinda the Good Witch in “Wicked” or Doralee in “9 to 5: The Musical.” TV fans will recognize Hilty from the cult-hit “Smash” as well as more recent projects like “The Good Fight” and “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce.”

The movie will focus on how Cline took Lynn under her wing and the two became friends rather than competitors. “They became close friends, touring together, bonding over their husband troubles and commiserating on being females in the male-dominated music business. Then in 1963, the country music community was struck with a tragedy when at just age 30, Patsy died in a plane crash,” the synopsis says.

Lynn went on to name one of her daughters after Patsy and recorded a tribute album 15 years after her death.

Presumably, much of the movie will be a period piece. Lynn started singing professionally in the late 1950s, and Cline died in 1963.

The movie, directed by “Nashville” creator Callie Khouri, is set to start filming in Nashville, Tennessee, later this month. Cline’s daughter Julie Fudge and Lynn’s daughter Patsy Lynn Russell are co-producing. “Patsy & Loretta” doesn’t have a premiere date yet but is expected to air late this year on Lifetime.

Before the country music movie airs, Lifetime fans are gearing up for another royal flick. A sequel to “Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance,” focusing on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s marriage, is currently in production.