Taylor Hicks warms up this town…
Chicago loves Grease and Taylor Hicks!
Chicago has loved this show for years. It’s loving it again—the music, the young cast (Danny and Sandy leads, Eric Schneider and Emily Padgett, are from Illinois), and Taylor Hicks as Teen Angel. The original tale of life at Taft High was told by Jim Jacobs in the musical that opened at Chicago’s Kingston Mines Theater in 1971. It hasn’t been the same since, evolving to a hit movie starring John Travolta and Oliver Newton-John, the original Broadway show, and the recent 2007 Broadway revival production.
Grease is still Chicago’s baby. Jacobs sat in the audience on opening night and spoke to the media about his original memoir of life in the 50s at Taft High as edgy and racy. “There would be a sign in the window, ‘If this were a movie, it would be R rated.’” There was even an appeal in the press last week for the return of the original, more realistic Grease.
While the show and cast have been well received in the Windy City, the star billing was undeniably for Taylor Hicks. He was everywhere—appearing on early morning news shows, talking with media, and looking for the ultimate cheeseburger.
Take a look at some of the press, as modern whomp meets Northern soul and produces pure entertainment.
From Andy Argyrakis at hearsay.cc:
“Of course before anyone could dig too deep into the storyline, all eyes locked on Hicks, who descended from the ceiling as Teen Angel (aptly following in the footsteps of Frankie Avalon and even Chubby Checker) for a short but sweet rendition of “Beauty School Dropout.” The 2006 “American Idol” winner added some soulful flourishes to the number thanks to a short harmonica solo at the end and had no problem hamming it up with his campy flair burning brightly, despite no prior acting experience.
“After all the actors bowed, fans were treated to a concert-like encore featuring a medley of the show’s greatest hits led by Hicks. He broke out the harmonica yet again for the title track, while reprisals of “Born To Hand-Jive” and “You’re the One That I Want” had so much pep they matched the dynamism of Less Than Jake’s unconventional covers collection chronicling the same soundtrack.”
From Steven Oxman at “Variety”…
“While ‘Grease,’ the touring version of the recently closed Broadway revival, lacks the inspiration and emotional sincerity needed to be more than merely peppy and puerile, it does come alive from a sheer kitsch perspective when Taylor Hicks of "American Idol" fame emerges from a giant ice cream cone to sing "Beauty School Dropout." In fact, the biggest laugh of the evening comes when the flirtatious Frenchy twirls Mr. Hicks' exposed chest hair and purrs, ‘I voooted for you.’
“The line, delivered deliciously by standout Kate Morgan Chadwick, has layers of significance beyond a single moment of self-conscious humor, since this "Grease," directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall, was originally birthed on the NBC reality show "Grease: You're the One That I Want," in which the television audience selected the previously unknown Max Crumm and Laura Osnes to become Rialto headliners in the revival.
“The ensemble boasts plenty of chops, particularly an ability to capture the melodic elements of the songs. And they do their best to amp up the comedy. But, the little love stories that drive the plot have no dramatic force whatsoever. All the scenes have the same energy, the emotions are all plastic, and the characterizations, purely generic.
“This is where Hicks separates himself, creating his own little show-within-a-show, lifting us out of the manufactured quality of the production to enjoy a few moments of an over-the-top oddness that's decidedly individual. Yes, he delivers on pre-ordained expectations -- he even plays the harmonica and dances …like he's a father at a party trying to embarrass his kids.
“But, to his credit and to the audience's enjoyment, nobody else could be this Teen Angel, and there's no point in even trying to compare him to Frankie Avalon.”
Weekend media included a Sunday morning interview on WGN Radio with Dean Richards who earlier in the week gave Grease and Taylor’s performance an “A” and raved about the production. He and Taylor chatted about Grease, Taylor’s new music, his admiration for Buddy Guy, a childhood memory of Bozo the Clown from WGN, and Taylor’s quest to find the ultimate cheeseburger. Taylor even expressed his appreciation for the Chicago snowfall, a novelty for the Alabama native.
Come blizzard or heat wave, Grease continues its Chicago stay through Sunday, January 18.
As Chicago embraces the soulful, “campy” Teen Angel, Taylor is giving back the love…he is doing a video shoot while in Chicago for his new single, “What’s Right is Right,” which impacts radio play and is released to iTunes January 20. The album, “The Distance” is out March 10. He takes his modern whomp soul music to the Lincoln Park club, Martyr’s, for a late show on January 17 where it is reported that he will “try out new music.”
As Taylor has said, “either you entertain people, or you go home.” At this rate, Taylor won’t be going home any time soon!
After Dean Richards reiterated some of Taylor’s current projects, Taylor ended the interview with what struck me as a profound and prophetic comment: “I’m around.” Well said.
Goodbye, Alabama…
Chicago loves Grease and Taylor Hicks!
Chicago has loved this show for years. It’s loving it again—the music, the young cast (Danny and Sandy leads, Eric Schneider and Emily Padgett, are from Illinois), and Taylor Hicks as Teen Angel. The original tale of life at Taft High was told by Jim Jacobs in the musical that opened at Chicago’s Kingston Mines Theater in 1971. It hasn’t been the same since, evolving to a hit movie starring John Travolta and Oliver Newton-John, the original Broadway show, and the recent 2007 Broadway revival production.
Grease is still Chicago’s baby. Jacobs sat in the audience on opening night and spoke to the media about his original memoir of life in the 50s at Taft High as edgy and racy. “There would be a sign in the window, ‘If this were a movie, it would be R rated.’” There was even an appeal in the press last week for the return of the original, more realistic Grease.
While the show and cast have been well received in the Windy City, the star billing was undeniably for Taylor Hicks. He was everywhere—appearing on early morning news shows, talking with media, and looking for the ultimate cheeseburger.
Take a look at some of the press, as modern whomp meets Northern soul and produces pure entertainment.
From Andy Argyrakis at hearsay.cc:
“Of course before anyone could dig too deep into the storyline, all eyes locked on Hicks, who descended from the ceiling as Teen Angel (aptly following in the footsteps of Frankie Avalon and even Chubby Checker) for a short but sweet rendition of “Beauty School Dropout.” The 2006 “American Idol” winner added some soulful flourishes to the number thanks to a short harmonica solo at the end and had no problem hamming it up with his campy flair burning brightly, despite no prior acting experience.
“After all the actors bowed, fans were treated to a concert-like encore featuring a medley of the show’s greatest hits led by Hicks. He broke out the harmonica yet again for the title track, while reprisals of “Born To Hand-Jive” and “You’re the One That I Want” had so much pep they matched the dynamism of Less Than Jake’s unconventional covers collection chronicling the same soundtrack.”
From Steven Oxman at “Variety”…
“While ‘Grease,’ the touring version of the recently closed Broadway revival, lacks the inspiration and emotional sincerity needed to be more than merely peppy and puerile, it does come alive from a sheer kitsch perspective when Taylor Hicks of "American Idol" fame emerges from a giant ice cream cone to sing "Beauty School Dropout." In fact, the biggest laugh of the evening comes when the flirtatious Frenchy twirls Mr. Hicks' exposed chest hair and purrs, ‘I voooted for you.’
“The line, delivered deliciously by standout Kate Morgan Chadwick, has layers of significance beyond a single moment of self-conscious humor, since this "Grease," directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall, was originally birthed on the NBC reality show "Grease: You're the One That I Want," in which the television audience selected the previously unknown Max Crumm and Laura Osnes to become Rialto headliners in the revival.
“The ensemble boasts plenty of chops, particularly an ability to capture the melodic elements of the songs. And they do their best to amp up the comedy. But, the little love stories that drive the plot have no dramatic force whatsoever. All the scenes have the same energy, the emotions are all plastic, and the characterizations, purely generic.
“This is where Hicks separates himself, creating his own little show-within-a-show, lifting us out of the manufactured quality of the production to enjoy a few moments of an over-the-top oddness that's decidedly individual. Yes, he delivers on pre-ordained expectations -- he even plays the harmonica and dances …like he's a father at a party trying to embarrass his kids.
“But, to his credit and to the audience's enjoyment, nobody else could be this Teen Angel, and there's no point in even trying to compare him to Frankie Avalon.”
Weekend media included a Sunday morning interview on WGN Radio with Dean Richards who earlier in the week gave Grease and Taylor’s performance an “A” and raved about the production. He and Taylor chatted about Grease, Taylor’s new music, his admiration for Buddy Guy, a childhood memory of Bozo the Clown from WGN, and Taylor’s quest to find the ultimate cheeseburger. Taylor even expressed his appreciation for the Chicago snowfall, a novelty for the Alabama native.
Come blizzard or heat wave, Grease continues its Chicago stay through Sunday, January 18.
As Chicago embraces the soulful, “campy” Teen Angel, Taylor is giving back the love…he is doing a video shoot while in Chicago for his new single, “What’s Right is Right,” which impacts radio play and is released to iTunes January 20. The album, “The Distance” is out March 10. He takes his modern whomp soul music to the Lincoln Park club, Martyr’s, for a late show on January 17 where it is reported that he will “try out new music.”
As Taylor has said, “either you entertain people, or you go home.” At this rate, Taylor won’t be going home any time soon!
After Dean Richards reiterated some of Taylor’s current projects, Taylor ended the interview with what struck me as a profound and prophetic comment: “I’m around.” Well said.
Goodbye, Alabama…
(sources: hearsay.cc, variety.com, leisureblog.chicagotribune.com,nwitimes.com, WGN Radio)
Posts
2 comments:
I missed the significance of Taylor's final comment on Dean Richard's show yesterday.
Thanks for pointing it out and for the clips from various positive articles this week.
I didn't know about the history of Chicago and Grease. Thanks for posting this. The reviews you quoted are wonderful.
I especially love this line:
"nobody else could be this Teen Angel, and there's no point in even trying to compare him to Frankie Avalon.”
Well done, Taylor!
Post a Comment