LOS ANGELES (Zap2It.com) - If you're planning to be in Los Angeles this before Aug. 28, you can catch James Marsters - who plays bleached-blond vampire Spike on the WB's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" - in " The Why," a new play, inspired by the Columbine tragedy, written by 19-year-old playwright Victor Kaufold.

It's running Saturday, Sunday and Monday, through Aug. 28 at the Hudson Mainstage Theatre in Santa Monica, Calif., put on by the Blank Theatre Company (www.theblank.com), the artistic producer for which is "ER" star Noah Wyle. His co-stars include "The Wonder Years" star Fred Savage.

But if you miss that, fear not, Marsters is showing off his musical talents on Aug. 29 at 14 Below (www.14below.com), a music club, also in Santa Monica (appropriately enough, on 14th Street).

"It's just me and a guitar," he says, talking on a cell phone on his way to final rehearsal for "The Why,'" "so I'm not going to be doing a lot of Smashing Pumpkins."

How can you sit there with bleached-blond hair, doing sensitive singer-songwriter material? "I don't know. Acting. Pure hubris. I do Tom Waits, Neil Young, Bob Dylan. That's all the good stuff, man. That's when they had good songs written for just voice and guitar. I wish I could do Johnny Lee Hooker, but I'm not that good."

Isn't this a lot of extracurricular activity for a busy primetime-drama regular? "How am I doing, time-wise?" says Marsters. "Fine. In the first episode, I went in for a half a day, and I wrapped. I was first up with Marc Blucas, and we just had a wonderful three hours, and I went home. Everyone else is working, and I'm playing Playstation again."

Life is tough. "It really is, isn't it? In the beginning of last season, I was like, 'Oh, I want more to do, man.' Of course, I didn't say anything, but I was feeling that. Then I kind of embraced sloth and ignorance, and I've been really happy ever since."

"Right when I got accustomed to not having to work, they were threatening to make me work again. It's really not fair, really. Nicholas Brendon, Alyson Hannigan, they're all lifting story every week, working this horrible hours, and I'm just flouncing in. I get the great lines, then I go home. And I have so much fun on the set, I'm in danger of being the Roberto Benigni of the cast, I'm afraid."

Introduced in season two as a foil for Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Angel (David Boreanaz), Spike came into his own last fall and gradually joined Buffy's little "Scooby Gang" of vampire hunters. This odd alliance came about after a demon-hunting government organization captured Spike, then implanted him with a brain chip that prevents him from harming living things.

Forced to seek Buffy's help (and a steady supply of pig's blood), starving Spike made a slow transition from deadly foe to reluctant adversary, particularly after he discovered that he could still kick demon butt, which did a lot to boost his self-esteem.

It also means that after a decade knocking around from New York to Chicago to Seattle in regional theater, Marsters has a steady job. "So refreshing," he says. "Ever since I met (`Buffy' creator) Joss Whedon, I haven't worried about my rent. I cannot tell you what a difference that makes. As a regional-theater actor, I don't know if I went one month without worrying where the next month's rent was coming from."

"You get used to that stress, and forget that you even have it, until it's taken away. You mean poverty's over? What? I'm still collecting twine."

Marsters - who is busy writing a new film version of "Macbeth" for himself to star in and produce - also found time this summer to make his first foray to England, which may surprise those who think Spike's North London accent is real. Unfortunately, Marsters' three days at the Nocturnal 2K Convention (where he won the Sexiest Male Vampire Award, over Boreanaz), were just about all he saw of Spike's former stomping ground.

"Basically I saw the Heathrow Airport," says the California native, "the car to the Heathrow Radisson, the Radisson for three days, then back to the airport. I didn't get to see anything."

Which isn't to say he didn't have some interesting experiences. "The English are randy!" he says. "Oh my god. I had a 65-year-old woman say, 'Could you please turn around and bend over?' And I said, 'Why?' She said, 'I want to feel your butt.' So I let her. She was 65 years old. I felt like a Puritan, really."

At the convention, Marsters shared the spotlight with "Buffy'' co-star (and native Brit) Anthony Stewart Head, who plays Watcher Rupert Giles, complete with wire-rimmed glasses and posh accent. Spending so much time with Head, Marsters is beginning to fear for Spike's distinctive sound.

"I patterned the accent after this guy I was in a play with, but that was three years ago. Now I'm listening to Tony Head, who sounds kind of like Spike in real life. It's much more tough-guy talk in real life."

"His accent (as Giles) is just as fake as mine. His is nice and gritty, but it's not North London. I'm always afraid that I'm morphing over into Tony Head, wherever he's from."

Meantime, Marsters is looking forward to a busy fall on "Buffy," which will include an appearance from Spike's former love, the clairvoyant vampire Drusilla (Juliet Landau), who, according to another of Spike's ex-loves, vampire Harmony (Mercedes McNab), dumped him for a fungus demon.

"Joss told me what he's going to do with me this season," says Marsters. "I came to him a couple of days ago and said, 'It just seems like there's a lot of different pieces you'll have to move around before you're able to get to the stuff you're talking about.' And again, he surprises me. 'No, I think that's next episode.'"

"You never, never know. I never want to offend him, because I'll end up in a tutu.'""