Taylor Hicks Leaves Audience Swooning in Grease Performance

Taylor Hicks definitely left his mark on Minnesota's Orpheum Theater, when he apparently touched a lot of souls with his performance of the Teen Angel in the touring production of Grease. Check out this great reaction from the Twin Cities, Daily Planet. The rest of the review can be read at the link.

Of course, we can't forget one of the biggest reasons for a packed opening night theater crowd: a performance from the platinum-selling recording artist and American Idol winner, silver-haired country boy Taylor Hicks. Appearing as "Teen Angel," Frenchy's dreamy advice-shelling song bird, Hicks makes his theatrical entrance by bursting out of a giant 15-cent ice cream cone. Commanding the stage as his bluesy adaption of "Beauty School Drop-Out" encourages the puzzled pink haired Pink Lady to "turn in her teasin' comb" and go back to high school. Even in the darkened aisles of the Orpheum, I could see audience members—especially women in their 40s and 50s—light up with sheer glee to see the Bruce Springsteen vocal ringer and "Idol" star live and shaking his stuff in a glitter adorned, Vegas-style angel suit. And when Hicks pulled out a harmonica from deep within the tight pockets of his shimmery slacks to give the number that signature Hicks quality, I was sure someone in the crowd was going to have a heart attack. Whether or not Simon Cowell would approve of his performance is a moot point. This night it was all about the audience's opinion, and they loved it.