Taylor-made for the stage?, article

Hicks featured in ‘Grease’: Taylor-made for the stage?

Before making his Broadway debut last year in the eternally popular musical Grease, Taylor Hicks had never acted. But for the musician and Season 5 American Idol winner, every opportunity is a chance to keep up with fans and gain some new ones.

“It’s imperative for me to stay out there and work,” the 33-year-old singer explains, in his polite, distinctive Alabama drawl. “I’ve been living out of a suitcase for four years. This is one of the things I love to do. Later, it’ll all settle down.”

Since he won the country’s biggest talent show in 2006, Hicks’ career has experienced the usual highs and lows but never settled. His first post-Idol album, the self-titled Taylor Hicks, went platinum, with the hit Do I Make You Proud, and recently, What’s Right Is Right, off 2009’s The Distance, released on Hicks’ own label, charted on the Adult Contemporary Chart.

That album was written between his Broadway run as Teen Angel in Grease, and his current stint in the touring version, which comes to the Kravis Center starting Tuesday and runs to Sunday.

“It came out in March. I’d been writing it since January of last year, and I recorded it in three months, between the Broadway run and the tour,” Hicks says. “And I use the vehicle of the tour to stand out in the lobby and sign records.”

Hicks’ onstage role is record-related as well. The Teen Angel character, played by ’50s heartthrob Frankie Avalon in the movie version of Grease, and by other teen idols like Davy Jones, Chubby Checker and Jimmy Osmond, is now the work of another sort of “Idol.” Teen Angel has one big number, where he tries to persuade “Beauty School Dropout” Frenchy to go back to high school.

As many famous people have proceeded him in the role, Hicks says he preferred to find his own way to that mythical malt shop in the sky.

“I had never seen the play before, but I had seen the movie. To be honest, I wanted to make sure that the role was a signature one, from the design of the costume to the way the music was performed,” he says. “You have to find your own style. I just thought, you know, this guy comes from Rock and Roll Heaven, so what would someone look like, at that time. The first thing that came to mind was rhinestones.”

Rhinestones? Do tell!

“I’m not gonna give away anything,” Hicks demures, “but the costume itself is quite over the top. The actual entrance… well, this is my complete interpretation. But as long as Frenchy goes back to high school, my job is safe.”

Hicks will say that this version of Grease combines the original play’s songs as well as those added to the 1978 film version like You’re The One That I Want and Hopelessly Devoted To You. A fan of the film, Hicks says he jumped at the chance to try acting, even as he learns on the job.

“It’s a very unique way to learn. It’s a very important role — small, but something I can build off of to get my feet wet,” he says, adding that even as a new actor, the role’s musical aspects help his learning curve.

“When you play someone from a musical standpoint, there are a lot of similarities (in approaching the performance), but instead of actual instruments, you’re using personality,” he says. “Learning the part is tough at first, but I’m settling into the role.”

Because Grease usually plays in theaters for a week at a time, Hicks has also gotten to settle into the specific locales of each performance, something he didn’t get to do during one-night stands as a musician. “What’s great is that you get to sink your teeth into each city. Usually, you do one night and you move to the next town. This tour allows me to experience what each city has to offer.”

It also allows Hicks to get acquainted with his loyal fans, who were dubbed “The Soul Patrol” during his stint on American Idol.

“There are always a lot of fans around. Some of them couldn’t come to Broadway and see (Grease) in New York, so a lot of my reasons for doing (the tour) was to take it to them,” he says. “They’re excited about how my career is growing, seeing me expand my horizons. The sky’s the limit.”

As a treat to his fans, and hopefully as a nod to the new ones, Hicks ends each performance of Grease by doing one of his own songs — sans the rhinestones.

“That’s a cutting-edge way of expanding my fan base,” he says. “It’s an added bonus.”

TAYLOR HICKS IN GREASE Tuesday-Sunday, Kravis Center, West Palm Beach.

http://www.pbpulse.com/arts-and-culture/th...-for-the-stage/

What can you say that hasn't already been said??? Our Taylor is a busy, busy man. He always trys 100% to keep his fans happy and wanting more. I can't help but love the guy.

Ya know a couple of years ago so many of the SP was so upset that Taylor wasn't getting his rightful due in the press and such, I tried so hard to tell them that his time would come, that maybe right then he wasn't and that as soon as the crap that Simon was throwing around was overlooked then the media and others would see Taylor for who Taylor was. Of course it did no good to say cuz no one listened to me but I was proven right and Taylor is all over and everywhere now.

I think Taylor is doing it right. As long as he stays in the press and we stay informed....he will be just fine.