Taylor Hicks aims for ‘Grease’ and beyond

Taylor Hicks sees “Grease’s” Teen Angel as a character with training wheels. A word or two of explanation: Hicks wanted to ease from “American Idol” fame into musical theater with a role that would fit his abilities and wouldn’t present him with Shakespearean-sized challenges. “I’d been offered some roles previously, but I wanted to make sure the part was right for me,” said Hicks from somewhere on the road between engagements.

Hicks and the rest of the “Grease” cast arrive in Orange County next week; the show opens Tuesday at the Performing Arts Center for a two-week run. Hicks will perform every show except April 29, when he’s slated to appear on “American Idol.” “From an observer’s standpoint I saw him as kind of an introductory character – that’s the best way I can describe it,” Hicks said. “I wanted a role that was a great way to introduce myself to the stage and observe what musical theater is all about.

Washington Capitals. Alex Ovechkin, Mike Green, Milan Jurcina and Viktor Kozlov also found the back of the net on Sunday for the Caps,

The seventh-seeded Rangers held leads of 2-0 and 3-1 in this series, but since New York won Game 4, the Capitals have rattled off back-to-back victories to even the best-of-seven set at three games apiece. Washington has exploded for a total of nine goals in the last two games after getting shut out twice and scoring just eight times in the opening four tests of this series. The Capitals have only rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to win on one occasion, the 1988 Patrick Division semifinals against the Flyers. Last year, Washington was able to force a seventh game after falling behind three games to one against Philadelphia, but lost the final test in overtime.

The Caps are 1-5 all-time in Game 7 situations. The Rangers are 3-4 all-time in Game 7s but won the last time they were in this situation, defeating Vancouver in the final contest of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals. New York has also never lost a series in which it took three of the first four games in franchise history.

‘Matrix’ director Larry Wachowski resurfaces, reignites sex change rumors

‘The Matrix Reloaded’ co-director Larry Wachowski, center, raised eyebrows when he turned up for the premiere wearing dangly earrings and a rather fetching crocheted cap. A more recent photo has surfaced of the reclusive director, looking even more womanly. Larry Wachowski, the reclusive director who co-helmed “The Matrix” movies and the widely-panned “Speed Racer,” is once again the subject of speculation that he’s had a sex change operation and now goes by the name of Lana. A photograph obtained by shows a person in a blond bob, low-cut vest, red plaid pants and a cropped, cream-colored, decidedly woman-tailored jacket at Los Angeles International Airport April 17.

Edgar Casey. Pets in need of homes (Week of April 19)

Cinderella Pet Rescue, Inc. Cookie is a 4-month-old Catahoula Leopard Dog/Whippet cross. She is extremely sweet and shouldn’t get much bigger than 25 or 30 pounds. She was terrified when she first arrived at the shelter, but now enjoys attention from people as well as playing with the other dogs.

Cookie could really sweeten up your life. In fact, she is a cookie you can enjoy without feeling guilty on your diet. King is a big, handsome Australian Shepherd/Chow cross. Although his black tongue may look intimidating, he is actually a friendly, happy-go-lucky fellow about 3 or 4 years old. He was depressed when he first arrived but now he knows that he is beautiful and doesn’t like to be ignored. He barks loudly to announce intruders.

Obsessed Soundtrack. Hey ABC, please stop the music

Comic scenes on ABC dramas like “Grey’s Anatomy” are being disrupted by the musical score. You spend so long fighting an enemy in one form, you don’t always notice when it regroups and returns looking very different. I’ve devoted so much of my TV critic career railing against the obnoxious, pointless intrusiveness of the laugh track that it wasn’t until recently that I realized it had morphed into something just as insidious and annoying: the Please Laugh Now music on most ABC dramas. If you’ve ever watched “Grey’s Anatomy” or “Desperate Housewives” or “Brothers & Sisters,” or any drama on ABC other than “Lost,” you probably know what I’m talking about. Whenever one of those shows goes into a comic scene, the musical score immediately starts featuring a jaunty oboe, or pizzicato violins, or a tinkling piano or some combination of the above.

The point is to explain to the audience that the scene they’re watching is supposed to be funny, and that it’s okay to laugh even though the previous scene was dead serious. That was, more or less, the purpose the laugh track served when it was invented in the early 1950s. Because television was such a new medium, programmers were afraid audiences wouldn’t understand where the jokes were, so sitcoms would either be shot in front of a large studio audience, like a play, or, worse, accompanied by “canned” laughter that had been recorded separately.

Yorba Linda. Extra, Extra: 3.8 Earthquake Shakes the OC

A shook shortly before 5 p.m. There were of damage or injuries. , a longtime Riverside resident will compete this week at the 36th annual in Louisburg, North Carolina.

This is his sixth convention and the fourth time competing (last year he was a finalist). “He plans to whistle the country song “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue,” because his 91-year-old mother-in-law requested it.” Are you practicing ? Oh yes, there is a right way and a wrong way to use Twitter. You better recognize! Some dude was doing the “laser pointer thing” at jet pilots, interfering with their landing and now he might go to jail for up to 20 years. Dana Christian Welch, 37, at passenger jets at John Wayne Airport the night of May 21, 2008.

Alabama, Auburn fans get glimpse of the future at dual A

Auburn players sign autographs for fans after their NCAA college football spring A-day game Saturday in Auburn. From far left, Neiko Thorpe, Zach Clayton, Josh Bynes, Andrew McCain and Terrell Zachery. Published: Sunday, April 19, 2009 at 3:30 a.m. Last Modified: Saturday, April 18, 2009 at 10:06 p.m. Call it dueling A-Day Games.

Aden Lucas, 4, sits on his father, Daniel’s, shoulders on The University of Alabama quad for A-Day festivities Saturday in Tuscaloosa. Dusty Compton/Tuscaloosa News Both Alabama and Auburn conducted their annual spring scrimmages, giving their rabid fan bases a glimpse of the future Saturday afternoon. Alabama’s game received national television exposure as ESPN was in town for what has become a major social event.

Phone. Justin Timberlake, Ashley Tisdale Ring In ‘The Phone’

When MTV News caught up with “High School Musical” alum at the party, she revealed just who she likes to get phone calls from. “Probably, when I’m overseas, [a call] from my family members,” the singer said. And she was quick to point out just who she doesn’t like calling her: “My ex-boyfriend,” she said. with V Factory member Jared Murillo.

Tisdale, who is best friends with the likes of Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, also shared that the biggest names in her phone aren’t her former “HSM” co-stars, but a former boy-bander. “I do have ,” she said, laughing. “I have a lot of friends. I’m not going to name them all.

California Carrie Prejean. Miss USA stirs controversy

First runner-up Carrie Prejean (Miss California) was asked about legalizing same-sex marriage from judge Perez Hilton, the Internet blogger behind perezhilton.com. “I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody there. But that’s how I was raised and that’s how I think it should be,” Prejean said during Sunday night’s live telecast.

Hilton was visibly upset, and there was a mixed reaction from the live audience. Prejean ultimately came up short, losing the title to Miss North Carolina, Kristen Dalton. On Monday, Keith Lewis, the executive director for Miss California USA/ Teen USA, said he was saddened by Prejean’s response. Prejean, who has been romantically linked to Olympian Michael Phelps, spoke on Monday, too: “I feel like I’m the winner.

Hallmark Hall Fame. Fort Scott Tribune: Story: Fort Scott hosts ‘Sendler’ premiere

More than 400 people were in attendance to view the Hallmark Hall of Fame film. Attendees included Writer-Director John Kent Harrison, Executive Producers Brent Shields and Jeff Most, Hallmark CEO Don Hall with his wife, Adele, and other Hallmark representatives. Also attending were current and past members of the “Life in a Jar” project. The Hallmark-produced film is based on the life of Irena Sendler, a social worker in the 1940s, who led an effort to smuggle more than 2,500 of Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto. The children were given new identities and placed with Polish families and in convents.

Sendler kept a hidden record of their birth names and where they were placed buried in jars with the hope that they would someday be reunited with their own families. Karen, left, and Norm Conard, right, enter Liberty Theatre on the red carpet for the world premier of the Hallmark Hall of Fame film, “The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler.” Conard is a co-founder of “Life in a Jar” which was started in 1999 by a group of his students at Uniontown High School to share Sendler’s story.(Tribune photo/Michael Pommier) “This was a film that had to be made,” Harrison said.