Taylor Hicks ~~ A Year In the Cone!

Last week Taylor Hicks and the cast celebrated one year on the road with the Broadway Across America National Touring Company of “Grease!”

When “Grease” opened in Providence, RI , December 2, 2008, our economy was sliding quickly downhill. Speculation said it was not a good time for entertainment. People would not spend frivolously to go to the theatre.

Taylor and the cast of “Grease” proved the naysayers wrong. People took “staycations” and spent money close to home—their hometown venues. In the past year, “Grease” has played to packed houses from coast to coast and in Canada.

In the communities where he visited, Taylor became a part of the local scene. He performed on TV, even in the kitchen, and mingled with the locals, from a heart-healthy basset hound in Texas to the Prime Minister and his teenage charges in Canada. He joined sports fans at ball games as he sang the National Anthem in San Francisco and Detroit. He will sing the Anthem tomorrow for the Carolina Panther and Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL game in Charlotte, NC.

It was an American Idol seeing America. Everywhere he went, lobbies were full of people waiting to meet him and have him sign his CD. I was pleased to be in those crowds in Tucson, Hollywood, Birmingham and Phoenix.

Outside the hometown audiences in Birmingham, I think the most enthusiastic crowds that I saw were in Tucson. This old Southwestern pueblo is Spanish land grant territory, beautiful desert cattle country and a Mexican border neighbor. Not Broadway theatre country you might think.

You’d be wrong. The crowds in Tucson loved Taylor and “Grease.” A lady at the stage door was there to thank them for coming to Tucson. She said many shows don’t. They all go to Phoenix. In the four performances I saw there, the crowds packed the beautiful entertainment venue, and it was probably the most pleasant theatre experience of my travels.

Perhaps this past year we decided that we wouldn’t give up all that makes us happy, no matter what the economy was doing. Perhaps it was that we needed our smiles do deal with all that we must.

“Grease” and Taylor Hicks has certainly brought a year of smiles to America!

Taylor has said that it is all about the lives you touch. From the stages to the lobbies, Taylor and the fun and talented cast of “Grease” have touched lives.

Congratulations to Taylor Hicks and all the cast on a very successful year of “Grease” on the road!

I was happy to be along for a little part of the ride!

Photo credit: Nederlander Productions

Taylor Hicks ~ The Birmingham Blogs ~ On any stage...

On any stage, Taylor Hicks will give his all.

The Birmingham stage would get it all and then some. And Birmingham loved Teen Angel and Frenchy!

While fans came from all over to see Taylor live at WorkPlay, they also joined locals to see Broadway Across America’s touring production of “Grease” at BJCC, a beautiful entertainment complex in Birmingham.

I expected everything to be special in Birmingham and “Grease” was no exception. I have seen it a “few” times in cities from New York to LA. I thought I had seen it all. I know now that “seen it all” never applies to anything that Taylor Hicks does.

When Taylor made his lofty entrance, the crowd went wild. They knew Taylor, and he knew them. He played the hometown crowd!

His gestures were exaggerated, eyes wider and more playful, and the smile bigger.

The couple next to me had come to see Taylor. They commented that he only had one song. They were happy when I said that he would do his own song, “Seven Mile Breakdown,” at the end.

The “Grease” showstopper is always the interaction between Taylor and Frenchy when she cuddles up to him and says in cooing voice, “I voted for you!”

In Birmingham, Frenchy’s line was literally a showstopper.

Frenchy went over the top with it, not cuddling up to him, but standing back and grandly announcing that, “I VOTED FOR YOU!” and then ran her finger down his chest.

As the crowd exploded, Taylor could only turn to the audience with a smile that had to be seen and acknowledge Frenchy’s performance with hands outstretched and fingers “asking for more” applause. And then Frenchy looked at her Teen Angel standing on his hometown stage and began applauding!

It was a priceless moment of performers connecting with the people who put them on the stage.

It was Taylor Hicks reveling in the love from Birmingham.

My first night in Birmingham had been smashing! I knew it would only get better.

I was about the meet the biggest star in Birmingham, and it wasn’t Taylor Hicks!

Next, The Birmingham Blogs~~The Iron City

Photo by san, Taylor and Billy Earl McClelland at WorkPlay, 9.25.09

Taylor Hicks ~~ New Found Freedom

Taylor Hicks spread his wings and flew…

It was a musical journey from a prophecy made when he was 18 years old in 1994 to the new found freedom of success and stardom in 2009.

It was Taylor Hicks live in concert at WorkPlay in Birmingham last Friday and Saturday nights!

On Friday night, after a funky dancing entry, he said hello to the hometown crowd with visitors from all over the country and as far away as England. Then Taylor admitted that he was speechless.

“I don’t know what to say. It’s always good to be home.”

Words were not coming easily. So he said he would just sing.

He took us back to the beginning when about half way through the concert, Taylor introduced renowned blues guitarist, Billy Earl McClelland, and the two “got down” –way down—with blues that you will never hear from a recording studio. It was music that could only happen live on stage charged with electrifying energy from a frenzied crowd.

The music pounded on your chest. It was musicians and people oblivious to all else but the music and the moment!

Taylor Hicks was in his element with the musician who perhaps started it all.

In a hat and with a broad smile, Mr. McClelland told the story that when Taylor was 18 years old, Mr. Hicks brought Taylor to him and asked him if Taylor was good enough to “make it.” Mr. McClelland said that he replied, “Well, I hate to tell you this, but, yes he is!” Taylor appeared speechless again.

At that young age, Taylor hired McClelland to teach him the ropes and he told Taylor to just “be yourself.”

Just “being yourself” got him to Birmingham last week starring as Teen Angel in the Broadway Across America production of “Grease” and to sold out concerts at WorkPlay, where he had performed as a struggling young musician.

It must have been an emotional two nights for Taylor as he surrounded himself with those who have been helped shape his path. Ona Watson, musician and popular owner of Ona’s, where Taylor has appeared throughout the years, shared the stage on Saturday night for a bluesy duet of “Woman’s Got To Have It.” Band members, Brian Less, and Jeff Lopez were part of the Taylor Hicks Band.

It was a 15-year journey from the prophetic words of Billy Earl McClelland to WorkPlay, 2009, on Saturday night when Taylor and the UAB Gospel Choir raised spirits and the roof with the gospel sounds of “New Found Freedom,” from Taylor’s latest album, The Distance.

“When I walk
I walk with confidence
I hold my head up high
When I talk
I’ve got a positive sense
Of who I am inside.

New found freedom
Let the light be my life
New found freedom
I’m gonna spread my wings and fly.”

A special commemorative black t-shirt marked the occasion in Birmingham with dates and “Grease’s” Teen Angel wings on the back.

The wings say it all. Taylor has spread his wings.

Billy Earl McClelland was right.

Taylor Hicks has “made it.”

And two nights at WorkPlay told us that Taylor Hicks can outdo Taylor Hicks.

I think we haven’t seen anything yet.


Media from WorkPlay is available on our board in a special forum, “Live From Birmingham.”
http://taylorconnections.com/index/

~More “Birmingham Blogs” will try to capture the magic of Taylor at home and all of the incredible Birmingham experience.

Photo credit: RajRae, via twitter.

Taylor Hicks ~~ and the traveling show...

When “Grease” took to the road in December, 2008, there was apprehension about whether a traveling show would do well. Could people afford to go to the theatre? In the aftermath of so many shows closing on Broadway, including “Grease” in January, 2009, the future of live theatre seemed to be in limbo.

Not to fret. From its opening in Providence, Rhode Island, to its current stay in Appleton, Wisconsin, and many stops in between, “Grease” has shown that this is, in fact, a very good time for the touring theatre company. People are doing things close to home and taking “moviecations” and “statecations.” Movie attendance is up. For some, it is a return to the simpler pleasures of family get-togethers and movie nights…and going to the theatre.

I overheard a conversation at “Grease” in Tucson. A lovely lady was waiting at the stage door hoping to see Taylor and the cast. She said how happy she was to have “Grease” come to Tucson. She said most of the shows go to the larger cities like Phoenix and they have to travel to see them. She wanted to thank Taylor and the cast for coming. And as the cast came out and stopped to sign her program, she did just that.

In this age of amazing technology where the entire world can watch Susan Boyle perform live in England, hometown entertainment venues remain a stalwart juxtaposition. Technologically, we have made the distances fade away and are entertained, literally, from around the world. Yet, the theatre down the road is what touches our daily lives and lends some of the enduring character to our community. Theatre goers can wait at the stage door and meet and thank the performers for coming to their town. It is holding on to the conventional when we are being bombarded and saturated with all that is new and distant. It is something that keeps us grounded and reminds us of the treasure we have in our own backyard. I think it best that we hang on to it for a while longer!

And we seem to be doing just that. “Grease” performances this past week in Appleton were sold out. Taylor Hicks just played sold out shows in Seattle. Theatres along the West Coast were packed to see “Grease” and his Shadow Tour concerts. At the Saturday matinee in Tucson, there were entire dance troupes in the audience and many groups of young people. A young generation may have their iPods in tow, but they are showing up at the theatre. The local music halls, beautiful new entertainment venues, and stunning historic palaces are passing along a rich heritage of live theatre. It is one of our greatest American gifts to future generations. And it is not being lost in hard economic times.

If there is a silver lining in this difficult economy, it is our rediscovering what was right within our reach all along. Broadway Across America and other touring theatre companies are bringing good entertainment to our towns. And it may put a smile on a worried face, if only for a short time. For that, it deserves a resounding shout out.

Embrace a stay close summer and support professional touring companies and your local community theatre!

“Grease” starring Taylor Hicks as Teen Angel tours the country this summer and into next year bringing fun, smiles, and happy traditions to our towns. It’s a road trip that matters!

Happy summer! Happy theatre!

Go see “Grease”…


Photo: “Taylor Hicks” by Gabe Ulloa and Spence Nicholson Productions from Taylor Hicks video for “Seven Mile Breakdown” shot in Ojai, California.