Hairspray with soul...

Or…Taylor Hicks is back in the ice cream cone!

We knew we were in for a fun ride when we were introduced to hairspray with soul...

One of the first things that Taylor Hicks did when he went to Hollywood for the American Idol competition in 2005 was to ask a friend where he could get a haircut. After all, AI was all about hip and cool, gel and such. That first Hollywood haircut would begin an ongoing debate among fans… should Taylor gel or not. Personally, I liked the gel—so Hollywood cool!

We hadn’t seen anything yet. This blue-eyed soul singer from Alabama, who could often be found eating a barbecue sandwich at Dreamland in Birmingham, was about to be transformed into the 1950s Pat Boone-type Teen Angel in Broadway’s Grease! Pat Boone and Taylor Hicks? I’m not seeing it. But there was a much bigger teenage heartthrob in the 1950s. I should know. There was none to compare with Elvis! How many times had we Taylor fans said that Taylor looked like Elvis…the pout…okay, I won’t get sidetracked. The Elvis vibe could work!

Enter the hairspray and the Elvis pompadour and here was the channel for Elvis with soul. Fans checked the dressing room photos carefully. A friend told me she finally had something in common with Taylor…they used the same brand of hairspray.

Broadway’s Teen Angel was wearing white. What devoted Elvis fan could forget the white silver-studded jumpsuit worn by Elvis in Hawaii with a bright red neck scarf. But I’m sidetracked again. Even Taylor said…maybe not the white. He makes everything his own…taylorized. Make it midnight blue and stud it all over with rhinestones and New York’s got a new Teen Angel! And theatre goers packed in every night and had as much fun as could be found anywhere in the summer of 2008!

But this Teen Angel was not just stage eye candy. From the floating ice cream cone came an enticingly smooth, Broadway-rich (not exactly the “Medicated Goo”) voice that would melt the heart of any Beauty School Dropout. And what was already a fun show was about to go off the fun meter. Taylor had worked the crowd before in clubs and bars throughout the South. He had met tougher crowds than the beautiful people on Broadway. Well, who knew the antics that lurked in this soulful Southern singer? Elvis never had so much fun!

The summer ended but the fun didn’t. Taylor Hicks is still Broadway’s harmonica wielding Teen Angel with wings of rhinestones. And he’s packing the hairspray and hitting the road… Hairspray with Soul…has that Broadway ring to it, doesn’t it? There’s a twist. Taylor hands off the hairspray and plays himself at the end—the soul part! He sings the single release from his new album due out in February, 2009! You didn’t really think hairspray would trump soul!

Hairspray with Soul, or as its Broadway producers prefer, The National Tour of Grease is on the road. The show debuts today in Providence, RI!

Don’t miss all the fun! Pack the hairspray and savor the soul!

Grease on Tour:
December 2-7~~Providence Performing Arts Center, Providence, RI
December 9-14~~Wharton Center for the Performing Arts, East Lansing, MI
December 16-21~~Palace Theatre, Columbus OH
December 30-January 4, 2009~~Orpheum Theatre, Minneapolis MN
January 6-18 Auditorium Theatre~~Chicago IL
January 20-February 1~~Aronoff Center for the Arts, Cincinnati OH
February 3-15~~Hippodrome Theatre, Baltimore MD
February 24-March 1~~ Music Hall, Tucson AZ
March 3-8~~Civic Theatre, San Diego CA
March 10-22~~Pantages Theatre, Los Angeles CA
March 24-April 19~~Golden Gate Theatre, San Francisco CA
April 21-26~~Keller Auditorium, Portland OR
April 28-May 10~~Orange County Performing Arts Center, Costa Mesa CA
May 12-30~~5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle, WA

Tickets for most venues are on sale now at:
http://www.taylorhicks.com/