30 Seconds with . . . Taylor Hicks - 8/20/09

Tough love: That's what Simon Cowell gave Taylor Hicks throughout his climb through the ranks on American Idol in 2006, and now Hicks gets to dispense a little himself. This week, he'll be at the Carr Performing Arts Centre in the touring Broadway revival of Grease playing Teen Angel, Frenchie's soulful voice of reason in the musical number "Beauty School Dropout."

Everybody remembers Frankie Avalon as Teen Angel from the film version — how did you approach it?

I just tried to keep it as signature as possible, from the writing of the horn lines to the R&B, adding the harmonica bit — it's definitely Taylor Hicks playing Teen Angel.

Any future acting plans after this?

Based on the success of American Idol, I don't see how there couldn't be any opportunities down the line for TV and film. I think I'm in a learning curve right now, definitely with acting. You know, to be honest with you, I'm in a learning curve all the way around. I try to put myself into learning as much about the business side of entertainment as the creative side.

That said, will you be touring the new album anytime soon?

I plan on doing that. I toured over in Asia for a month with my last record, and I plan on doing some touring in the Philippines and southeast Asia. I enjoyed that a lot, touring outside the U.S., so I think that's kind of an idea we're working on when the Broadway run is over, stretching out and massaging those audiences abroad... I did Asian Idol, which was quite interesting, especially being from a small town in Alabama to playing Jakarta, Indonesia. Not to get off subject, but the place that I stayed was not too far from the Ritz-Carlton was that was bombed. It was probably a year before that. A bomb dog was actually escorted with me. You want to live on the edge with your art, go to Indonesia with a bomb dog. It was a crazy experience.

Tod Caviness


Grease

When: 8 p.m. Aug. 25-28, 2 and 8 p.m. Aug. 29, 1 p.m. Aug. 30.

Where: Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre, 401 W. Livingston St., Orlando.

Cost: $37-$71.

Call: 407-849-2577.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/orl-calthirtynu-taylor-hicks-082109082109aug21,0,1041559.story

Reminds me of a shirt I saw. It read "I'm with the bomb squad. if you see me running, try to keep up."
~tyg

I was so excited when I heard Taylor toured Asia. Made me wish I had gone with him. I could have shown him alot of points of interest. Asia is an awesome place to see.

I'm glad to hear he will be touring his new album. Maybe I'll get lucky and Taylor will come to Tucson. *crossing fingers*