Syracuse Civic Theater Stages "Idol: The Musical" Clay Aiken Style

The Syracuse Civic Theater in Syracuse, NY are staging what they are billing as "Idol: The Musical". The show takes audiences through the lives of hopeless Clay Aiken addicts (like us!) and shows us how to become the next Clay Aiken.

The CH's pookle just came back from a screening of the show and posted this review:

Well, I'm back from the IDOL the MUSICAL show! It was funny! The premise is that a bunch of 'misfit' HS kids "idolize" Clay as the epitome of success! They want out of their one cow town, ergo they worship Clay, as they try out for AI, and an upcoming tour about Clay.

What a weird thing sitting in a theatre hearing songs mentioning Clay. (Most were just name dropping/rhyming and not "about" Clay- which made me happy.

A few fandom jokes (clay-isms/ knowing when and where he is at all times), and one fairly lame, but sometimes funny solo of a woman singing to a clay head of Clay about how much he makes her hot or somesuch. (duh)

The majority of the play focused on getting to know the kids and their unique personalities. And one sidesplitting chippendale dance. By the end, it was a "put your idols back on the shelf/just be yourself" kind of song.

It's playing in Syracuse one more night, next Friday, and then it's going to Off Broadway for a month. I actually liked it, and laughed way more than I thought I was going to.

And here's the review from the Syracuse Post Standard:

Imagine, if you will, a combination of elements from "Bye, Bye Birdie," "A Chorus Line," "Fame," "The Breakfast Club," and "High School Musical" - with a higher quotient of sexual humor. Further imagine such elements mixing in a story concerning the socials effects of Clay Aiken and you pretty much have a fix on "Idol: The Musical."

"Idol" is about a somewhat improbable social group of high school seniors, evidently bound together by their worshipful devotion to "American Idol" second season second-placer Clay Aiken.

The numbers are never less than serviceable, and several are quite appealing. "Discipline," about the need to practice the entertainment craft, is an early standout, while "Quakin' for Aiken" also lingers in memory, possibly due to the lyric "We're quakin' for Aiken, and shakin' our bacon."

Whatever its limitations, "Idol: The Musical," kept a mainly young audience entertained, laughing and sufficiently diverted to (generally) refrain from text-messaging for nearly two hours -quite an achievement for any enterprise in mid-2007.