From 'Idol' to Angel

In the future, every "American Idol" finalist will spend at least 15 minutes on Broadway. Which means Taylor Hicks is ahead of the curve.

Alabama native Hicks won "American Idol" in 2006, beating out a finalist field loaded with North Carolinians, including McLeansville's Chris Daughtry, who has emerged as the top record-seller from that year's "Idol" crop. While Hicks has not sold as well as Daughtry, he's still putting out albums, including this year's "The Distance." And he has a healthy side-career going in musical theater, playing Teen Angel in the musical "Grease."

"Grease" opens Tuesday in Durham. We chatted with Taylor by phone from Houston.

Q: Have you ever acted before this part in "Grease"? No, not really. I think I was Santa Claus in a Christmas play once, and that's been about it. But by now, I've definitely got it. The whole acting thing is new to me, learning how to role-play. But the great thing about it is that I get to build up the character and make it better each night, which is fun to do.

Q: How familiar were you with the movie before this? Oh, I was a big fan. I think every American has seen "Grease" at least once in their lifetime, so I was familiar with it. But I didn't want to borrow too much from that for Teen Angel, which is such a signature role. I wanted to accomplish making it my own signature. ... My entrances are a little bit grander, maybe, and I added some R&B horn lines to the music.

Q: What do you have coming up after "Grease"? I'm definitely gonna make another record. And if the right role comes along in TV, film or Broadway again, I'll look into it. It has to be the right fit. I don't think it'd be "Harry Potter." Maybe a small role in a comedic film. Teen Angel is the perfect role for me; it really is. I couldn't ask for a better way to understudy and get that perspective. Plus I get to integrate my record within the encore. At the end, I perform the single off my record "The Distance." It's like a Broadway show and a mini-concert at the same time.

Q: What advice would you give 2009 "American Idol" winner Kris Allen? Try to work 24 hours a day, because it's an opportunity that doesn't come around but once in a lifetime. So enjoy it. ... Make sure you're singing songs you love, and make sure the parts you take are really you. And have fun.

Q: What would you be doing now if you hadn't won "American Idol"? Well, I don't think I'd be Teen Angel without it. I've always seen myself as a musician, an entertainer. So I would still be entertaining.

Q: What was it like to the subject of a "Weird Al" Yankovic parody? I was probably as much in shock about that as about Broadway calling. But it was cool. When you get parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic, you've arrived.

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