Today is Friday and in exactly one week, Clay Aiken will be a featured star in the musical – Grease.

Clay will play the role of Teen Angel at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh.

Since it was announced that Clay would be in this production, there has been some great news articles about the show and Clay’s participation.

Clay announced the show on May 20th and I posted the news on CANN.

I thought you might want to see some of the articles that have shone up this week.

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Pittsburgh CLO posted the following You Tube to get people excited about the show.

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TRIB-LIVE is part of the PA Tribune.  They published a nice article about the show.

Pittsburgh CLO version updates ‘Grease’ for the 21st century

by SHIRLEY MCMARUN

Zach Adkins, a New York-based actor and Broadway veteran, says he has a challenge in playing too-cool-for-school Danny Zuko in Pittsburgh CLO’s production of “Grease.”

The 1971 musical “is sort of dated,” he says, so he — and the rest of the company — will be tasked with updating it for a 21th-century mindset while not depriving audiences of the show they love.

“Grease” will play June 7-16 in the Benedum Center in downtown Pittsburgh…

…Adkins says most of the principals in the CLO production, which includes “American Idol” runner-up Clay Aiken in the role of Teen Angel, have never done “Grease” before. For himself, he found a very 21st-century way of preparing before his arrival in Pittsburgh.

“I recorded the opposite lines on my phone, so I can play them back and do my lines back to my phone,” he says.

Sing like a rock star

The 26-year-old Adkins says he’s looking forward to working with Aiken, knowing his legacy from the iconic singing competition.

Aiken has a particular challenge in the Teen Angel role, Adkins says, because the part requires the actor to come out cold and sing just one song — “Beauty School Dropout.”

Unlike the other cast members, who are onstage throughout, getting comfortable and loosening up their vocal chords, he says, “(Aiken) only gets one shot to nail it. He has to sit in his dressing room, then come out and sing one song. That’s the hardest thing for a performer to do.

“His time on ‘American Idol’ probably prepared him for that,” Adkins says. “I think he’s going to come out and sing it like a rock star.”

You can read the entire article HERE

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CBS Cleveland made a different video to let people know about Clay’s part in the show.  I cannot  post it here but you can see it here...CBS

Hopefully the news sites in Pittsburgh will ad more information this week as the rehearsals start.  I can’t wait to see Clay as Teen Angel.

Besides singing a song from Grease on American Idol, Clay sang another Grease song in Raleigh at the Bringing Broadway Home concert a few years ago.  Do you remember?

Will you have a chance to see Clay in Grease?

I hope you will check out CANN as we will post any new pictures or articles about Clay as Teen Angel as they come up!