Vocals in ‘Always’ Capture Real Patsy Cline

One thing the modest “Always . . . Patsy Cline” has over such blockbuster musicals as “Sunset Boulevard” is songs. You won’t have to struggle the next day to remember the tunes. The chances are you’ll wake up with such numbers as Willie Nelson’s torch-like “Crazy” and Don Gibson’s shattered “Sweet Dreams” running through your head.

Mostly, however, you’ll recall the songs as sung by Alice Spencer, who marvelously captures both the husky, bluesy style and the blustery demeanor of Cline, the great country singer who died at age 30 in a plane crash in 1963.

It’s true that Spencer achieves her effect by copying Cline’s style, so you still would have the songs in your head if you just spent time listening to Cline’s albums. Still, Spencer, 26, was haunting Friday at the Alex Theatre in Glendale when she stood onstage with just a four-piece band and sang those heartbreak ballads.

Where “Always . . . Patsy Cline” goes wrong is in not leaving Spencer alone onstage enough. Co-star Candyce Hinkle’s lively performance isn’t a problem, but the buffoonish role itself is. Ted Swindley’s “play with music” is based on a night in Houston in 1957 when Cline strikes up a friendship with an enthusiastic fan. Hinkle plays the fan, Louise Seger, who tells the story and who often is onstage commenting or gyrating while Spencer is singing. Not a good idea.

Another weak point is the play’s tone. Cline was able to sing about troubled relationships with such feeling because of her own troubles, but they are only hinted at in this feel-good script. Spencer’s vocals hit hardest because they convey the true drama of the Cline saga.

* “Always . . . Patsy Cline” will be presented Thursday at the Probst Center, Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., 8 p.m., $17.50-$27.50. (805) 583-8700, (213) 480-3232, (714) 740-2000; on Friday at the Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine, 8 p.m., $22-$26. (714) 854-4646; on Saturday at the Smothers Theatre, Pepperdine University, Malibu, 8 p.m., $27. (310) 456-4522.