‘Always…Patsy Cline’ comes to Women’s Theater Co.

For years, Patricia Durante has been singing songs associated with country music legend Patsy Cline in cabaret-style revues. But for the next two weekends, Durante will go one step further: She will get to actually be Patsy Cline.

Durante is taking on the title role in “Always…Patsy Cline,” a two-character play that will be produced at the Women’s Theater Co. starting tonight.

The opportunity to portray one of the most distinctive country vocalists of the past 60 years is both exhilarating and daunting, according to Durante.

On the one hand, she gets to sing “Crazy,” “Walking after Midnight,” “I Fall to Pieces,” and more than two dozen other songs. Durante observes that some of these numbers are on the shortlist of all-time greatest songs, country or otherwise.

On the other hand, Cline was so singular a vocalist that any attempt to imitate her is intimidating, Durante says.

“There’s something about the timbre of her voice and something so emotional about her sound. Her voice was so low and so much,” Durante says. “Patsy Cline sang like she was exposing herself.”

“Always…Patsy Cline” is not just the story of the late musician. The script by Ted Swindley also focuses on Louise Seger, a Texas housewife who adored Cline’s music.

The two women happened to meet after one of Cline’s concerts. They struck up a friendship that they maintained through a series of letters. The correspondence continued until Cline’s death in a plane crash in 1963 when she was only 30. In the Women’s Theater production, Barbara Babbitt plays Seger, an exuberant, outgoing character.

Durante says she felt an immediate rapport with Babbitt from the first audition. “As soon as she read, I thought, ‘She’s the one,’ ” Durante says. “We’re having a lot of fun with this.”

Durante first started channeling Patsy Cline a few years at the suggestion of Lesley Gore, for whom Durante had been working as a background vocalist.

“Lesley thought those songs were suited to my voice,” Durante says. (Gore died this past February.) Durante began doing revues of Cline songs.

Then Durante was approached by Barbara Krajkowski, founder of the Women’s Theater. “She wanted to do a cabaret of Patsy Cline songs,” Durante says. “But I had already done that. I want to do this (play). It has characters to latch on to.”

Consequently, Krajkowski is co-directing “Always…Patsy Cline” with Grayce Coviello. The show’s musical director is Regan Ryzuk.

Durante observes that the script does not actually quote the letters that Cline and Seger wrote to each other, except in the broad details.

“Whether Patsy and Louise had these conversations, we don’t know,” Durante says. “It serves as a conduit for understanding these two women and their friendship.”

Although Durante did research Cline’s life, she does not feel obliged to mimic her vocal mannerisms or personality exactly. “This is really the story of two women sharing their story,” she says.

That fact gives “Always…Patsy Cline” an appeal that extends beyond fans of Cline or even of country music in general.

“Whether you know Patsy Cline or not doesn’t matter,” Durante says. “This is a fabulous portrait of a woman who is funny and bubbly and who happens to interact with Patsy Cline.”

ALWAYS…PATSY CLINE

WHAT: This play by Ted Swindley spotlights the friendship between legendary country singer Patsy Cline and a fan named Louise Seger. The correspondence between the two women started after a concert in Houston and continued until Cline’s death in a plane crash in 1963. The play is punctuated by performances of some of Cline’s best-known songs, such as “Crazy,” “I Fall to Pieces,” “She’s Got You,” “You Belong to Me,” and “Walking after Midnight.”

WHEN: Tonight through June 7. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays

WHERE: Women’s Theater Co., Parsippany Playhouse at Parsippany Community Center, 1130 Knoll Rd., Lake Hiawatha. (On a GPS system, use “Boonton, NJ 07005.”)

TICKETS: $25, $20 for seniors

INFORMATION: 973-316-3033 or www.womenstheater.org