HICKS IN THE CITY

 Hicks in the City or how does a New York City Girl deal with the invasion of the

Soul Patrol on Broadway

  

On June 6, 2008 the Soul Patrol invaded Broadway.  Taylor Hicks came to the Big Apple to take over the role of Teen Angel in the latest revival of Grease at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. 

 

Let me start by saying that I am a born and bred New Yorker.  I was raised in Brooklyn only a few subway stops away from one of the biggest City’s in the world.  My earliest recollections of sneaking a train ride into Manhattan, with my friend Cheryl, was probably when I was no older than 13.  The fare was only 35 cents, so on a cold winter’s day when we did not feel like staying indoors or it was too cold to stay outside, we would take the bus to the LL Canarsie Line and get our transfer to the train.  If we were really adventurous that day, and if we had a few combined dollars between the two of us, we would actually get off at the first stop in the City, which was 14th Street, only a short distance away from the East Village.

 

I guess the point that I am trying to make here is that I cut my teeth on secret train trips and romps through Greenwich Village.  The natural progression for those of us raised in Brooklyn was to grow up and get a job in “The City”.  Once I was working and making money, my friends and I would often go to the half price ticket booth where we could get same day Broadway tickets for any show that did not happen to be sold out.  I saw many many great Broadway shows with some of the best known Broadway Legends of their time. 

 

Broadway and the theatre meant a lot to me.  Back in the 70’s New York may have been run down and 42nd may have been filled with XXX Video Stores but Broadway remained untouched and still filled with the magic of the early part of the 20th Century.  As the 70’s progressed into the 80’s a change began.  NYC was cleaned up and made safer and for the most part better.  Tourism grew which in turn helped NY get out of the financial slump that it had been in.

 

But something happened.  In those twenty some odd years of financial growth, NY changed.  The Times Square area became a mecca for any tourist that set foot on Manhattan Island.  Disney and MTV and the Mega Corporations took over the area, bringing along with it a new era in Broadway.  Broadway shows were now being made out of Disney movies and revivals of older shows dotted the Broadway scene.  This is not to say that any of this is bad,  it was just different.  Broadway like so many other things in our lives became Corporate along with Malls and chain stores.

 

Fast forward to the 21st Century.  All those in between years for me had been spent raising kids and working.  We had of course seen the obligatory shows that all kids needed to see, such as the Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, etc.  I enjoyed them with my children, but as they grew I had the sense that I wanted to show them the Broadway that I had grown up on.  It had become harder and harder to find the rare show that still had the magic of old Broadway.

 

Then in 2006 I became a Taylor Hicks fan.  How great it was for me at this point in my life.  My children were grown and I had the time and the disposable income to indulge myself in all things Taylor Hicks.  I spent the better part of the next two years doing so.  Then on June 6, 2008 the Soul Patrol invaded Broadway.  Taylor Hicks came to the Big Apple to take over the role of Teen Angel in the latest revival of Grease at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, and I felt totally lost and remorseful.

 

I tried to put my finger on what the problem was. Was it the fact that the cast of this production of Grease was picked from a reality show?  Everyone around me was ecstatic and making plans to come here and see the show. I had never turned down an opportunity to get together with my friends to see Taylor.  I even had guests at my home whom I carted in and out of the city with all the fringe benefits without me ever seeing the show.  Everywhere I turned I was reading post after post of the great experiences that everyone had.  I watched all the videos and watched as Taylor made the role his day by day. To be honest with myself I have to say that I never truly loved him in the part. My image of Taylor is not him in a Teen Angel Costume singing on Broadway.  I worried for his image and the fact that he may continue to be labeled as a reality show star.  I came to understand that this was a great business move for his career and I was thrilled at the positive press that he was receiving.  However I could not bring myself to want to see him.

 

I guess what I am trying to explain here is that for me, even Taylor being on Broadway, does not transcend the sadness that I have deep down inside about what is happening to my City.  I saw Grease as part of the problem as a watering down of the Broadway that I had known and loved.   I see NY changing everytime I am there.  The small little neighborhoods with their little individual businesses are getting smaller and scarcer by the day.  It may seem that I am being silly and many of my friends have tried to convince me of that.  It seems that I am standing on ceremonies or standing on my laurels.  I wish it were that easy for me to understand.

 

My hopes for Taylor and his career are the same as every other person who is part of his fandom.  We all want the best for him and we all want to support him.  There has been much discussion about being a fan of his.  Is it OK to only take the parts of Taylor that you want and leave some of it behind?  Or do we have to follow blindly no matter what path he chooses?  I think that the point that I am trying to make here is that we all have our own little personal reasons for following Taylor and we all make our own paths along the way. My path this time around has been challenged because of my history as a New Yorker.  Some one elses path may be altered by some personal experience that they have had in their lives.  We are all here for the same reason but we need to understand that the roads we travel may differ.