Spacey Sings, Baby!

No, the two-time Oscar winner isn't obsessed with fame, money or Britney Spears. Rather, he is scarily intent on bringing Bobby Darin back to life.

First, the 45-year-old Spacey fought vigorously to bring Darin's life story to the big screen, securing European financing after the Hollywood studios balked on the biopic Beyond the Sea.

Now, Spacey, who discovered Darin through his parents' record collection, and has been fixated on the stylish signing sensation ever since, is bringing his best interpretation of Darin's music to the stage.

Spacey, backed by a full orchestra, will perform selections from the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer's catalogue beginning Dec. 3 at the Ventura Theater in Ventura, California. The master thespian will tour the show to small venues in nine other U.S. markets throughout the month, with stops in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlantic City, Boston, Miami, New York, Chicago, and Mashantucket, Connecticut, before ending with a two-night stand in Las Vegas Dec. 26 and 27.

But one question remains: Can he sing?

Early reviews of Spacey's vocal stylings have been mostly positive, if not forgiving (no one expects to be blown away by Spacey's voice--which works to his advantage). Spacey himself told Billboard that the music was the most important part of bringing Darin's story to the screen. "I honor Bobby's talent, but I tried not to do a slavish imitation," he told the mag in October.

"I always believed the most important element of this movie would be the music...the songs that were selected were organic to the storytelling and moved the story forward."

Among the Darin tunes included in the film are "Mack the Knife," "Splish Splash" and "Dream Lover."

Following Spacey's L.A. preview of his reincarnation as Darin, who died in 1973 at age 37, the rest of the country will get a look at Spacey as Darin on screen. Beyond the Sea will open Dec. 10 in New York and Dec. 17 in Los Angeles. The Lions Gate film will get a wide release Dec. 29, and has been generating heavy Oscar buzz since it wowed some critics at the Toronto International Film Festival two months ago.

Spacey, notorious for getting deep into his roles via extensive research, produced and directed the forthcoming feature film. He began preparing his Darin person in 1999 "long before there was a script or money to make the movie."

"After three years of playing at home and in clubs," Spacey says, "I started working on a soundstage at Universal Studios where there was room for a band. We also set up a big screen next to some mirrors so I could watch any of Bobby's performance on screen while watching my performance in the mirrors."

In a recent interview, Spacey expressed his desire to reclaim Darin's nightclub groove.

"Except for jazz clubs and [appearances by] a few of the greats who are still out there on tour, we don't live in a world where you go to a nightclub and you get dressed up and you watch somebody sing their guts out for two hours and entertain an audience," Spacey said, per the Hollywood Reporter. "I think Bobby, next to Sammy Davis Jr., was the greatest nightclub entertainer we had."

For the really hardcore fanatics, an 18-song Beyond the Sea soundtrack will be available Nov. 23 on Rhino Records, with Spacey singing Darin backed by a full orchestra. And for the purists, Aces Back to Back, a new greatest-hits collection featuring the real-deal Darin, just hit store shelves.

(Updated Nov. 19, 2004 at 2:35 p.m. PT.)