"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
Well, when the Tony noms came out, people were wondering if a win by Xanadu would be the downfall of Broadway. I think Taylor Hicks on Broadway is much worse.
"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
-- Thomas Jefferson
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
I'm the furthest thing from a Taylor Hicks fan, and I have no intention of going to see this show with or without him in it, but I'm not sure why this is so awful. It's a lame production of Grease, not Shakespeare or Pinter.
I guess I really shouldn't care. It's the perfect show for him to be in IMO. I can't stand him, and I have no intention of seeing Grease. It just gives me another reason to stay away from the Brooks Atkinson.
Lord! I don't know who's worse, the Grease bashers or the Taylor Hicks bashers. Give the guy a chance, he might do well with the part.
In the meanwhile, all the people who predicted an early demise for Grease were WRONG! If if isn't you cup of tea, so be it, but obviously, other people are buying the tickets and going.
I just hope that if he does do well (and bigger surprises have happened) the people here who bashed him without ever seeing him perform on Broadway will own up to their mistakes and apologize to the rest of us.
If you'll remember, I have publicly apologized for several comments I made on here.
For the people who don't like Taylor Hicks, what does it matter to you if he gets cast in Grease? Obviously the people "high-up" in Broadway approved him, so who are you to argue? And, obviously he has a lot of fans (The Soul Patrol), because he did win American Idol, and it does mean something. It means that a lot more people will be attracted to Grease, and to Broadway, because Taylor is a familiar face. And, to me at least, that is not a bad thing. And, as someone said, he doesnt even have a big part, so why not let him try out the Broadway stage?
I love Broadway, and I'd like to share it with as many groups of people and fan-bases as I can!
And, I just wanted to correct a comment someone made about Fantasia Barrino, that she is "mildly successful as a recording artist." Well, she's been nominated for, I think, 6 Grammy Awards (the music industrys top honor). She's doing better in the R&B genre then you might think.
My heavens. He pops out of an ice cream cone and sings one song in a show that nobody on here really wants to see anyway. I'll save my indignation for when David Archuleta replaces Daniel Radcliffe in "Equus."
They all deserve some credit. They made it through to the top few spots of the toughest audition process ever. Even after the season is over they are subjected to a nation of cruel Simons that treat them badly out of habit. These people beat the odds against 100,000 people each season. That's no small feat.
It's not clear at this point. His dad's trying to get a stipulation in his contract that has him replace Richard Griffiths. Updated On: 5/16/08 at 11:37 AM
It offends me not because Taylor Hicks will suck...he may, he may not, I don't know and, as many people have noticed the part ain't Hamlet....hell, it ain't even Ursula in BYE BYE BIRDIE and the two main performers aren't exactly Barbara Cook and Hugh Jackman so the point is moot blah blah blah.
What offends me is this influx of people taking over Broadway roles who really haven't made theater--or acting even--they're central passion. You don't have to agree, obviously many don't, but I just feel its absurd that someone should get precedence in casting simply because they subjected themselves to a reality show. There are many superior performers who not only have made acting/the theatre central to their lives who don't want to take part in such a humiliating, public ordeal but have also busted their asses pursuing their careers by less get-noticed-quick means. I feel there is value in paying your theatre dues. Also, I feel producers have become so American Idol happy (and the $$ these people bring in) that they are teaching audiences to expect the expected when it comes to what to expect from a Broadway show.
I just don't think Broadway should be a training ground for reality-show winners to test their acting chops and get more exposure. It cheapens things, IMO.
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
I have never heard a person dying of AIDS bitching about Clay...they kind of have bigger fish to fry, generally.
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
Thanks, Calvin; you nailed it. This "influx" of non-legit types ain't new news, folks. Do any of you recall the outcry when Debbie Boone came in with SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS? She was practically tarred and feathered. And Raquel Welch in WOMAN OF THE YEAR? She sold tickets, some reviewers liked her better than the strained efforts of La Bacall. I remember Mark Hamill in AMADEUS (people gasped, Mr. Schaeffer's play survived). Broadway has always made room for people who ... gasp, gasp ... sell tickets. It ain't the Moscow Art Theater, though if they played here, they'd sell tickets, too. It always reminds me of all the outrage over CATS. As if Flo Ziegfeld would've jumped through fire to produce a show that lasted so long at the Winter Garden. Broadway is a commercial venue. You get a little of this, a dab of that. Sometimes a Redgrave, sometimes an Idol. Always has been, always will be.
I just don't know why Hicks would take a one song role. He might've been drop dead terrific in something like SMOKY JOE'S CAFE, remember that? And isn't Rubeun Studdard touring in AIN'T MISBEHAVIN'?
Face it, Idol will always provide musical theater with replacements. This year's Syesha, just gone, might've slipped into AIDA.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
I don't think he'll be bad at all. But every time I think of him I can't help but think of those car commercials that were played rather incessantly when he won.
If it keeps our NY actors employed, by all means, bring him in.
Hey Dottie!
Did your colleagues enjoy the cake even though your cat decided to sit on it? ~GuyfromGermany
He's got a decent voice, and it's a tiny part. It's not like he is actually taking over a leading role, it's a cameo. Yeesh! If you weren't planning on seeing Grease before then why would you go see it now?
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He has talent and will play the part fine and maybe sell a few tickets.
It's not like he is playing Iago in a Peter Brook's production of Othello.
He is playing a small part in a commercial show for a commercial audience on Broadway. And the people who see the show will probably love the fact that they can tell their friends that they say an AI winner on Broadway. And Broadway, like it or not, is as commercial as theatre gets.
And, I mean, this show was cast using reality TV. So is it really that big a deal when they cast a winner from the most popular reality show on television?
"One no longer loves one's insight enough once one communicates it."
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.