By Andrew Gans
28 Aug 2009

	Nick Cordero and Diana DeGarmo in The Toxic Avenger
	photo by Carol Rosegg

Question: I remember on "Idol," your mom was very involved with your career. Is she still as involved?
DeGarmo You know what, she's my mom. That's the best part. No matter what, she's always going to be a part of everything I do. Because at the end of the day, I always know she has my best interest at heart. I come from a single parent home, so it's not like I have 47 brothers and sisters I can call. She's my rock, all the time. My brother doesn't get what I do at all. [Laughs.]

Question: Is he older or younger?
DeGarmo: He's older. He's stationed in DC, so he's excited now because now he's a little closer. He can come see the show. . . . [My mom is] always a part of me, but now I'm 22, so she's kind of set me free. She's always there, though, to kind of monitor. [Laughs.]

Question: Do you keep in touch with any of the "Idol" people from your season?
DeGarmo: Not really [from] my season anymore. It's just like doing a show. You bond with these people, you become connected, but after a while you just slowly float apart. It stinks, and people change numbers, but life goes on. But thanks to the show, all of us from other seasons automatically have something very unique in common, we've all bonded in different ways. Like Anthony Fedorov and I became buddies. Kimberley Locke and I are really close, from season three. Ironically, I live in Nashville most of the time, and it's become my home base now, and [also living there are] Melinda Doolittle, and Bo Bice, Bucky Covington, Carrie Underwood and Kellie Pickler. It's just a whole long list of Idols that live there, and we keep running into one another. It's fun, and it's a good common thread for us.

Question: Does performing on "Idol" seem like a lifetime ago at this point?
DeGarmo Oh my gosh, yes. It does. I've been really, really blessed that since "Idol," I've been able to do so many things, and so many different things. I've never really done the exactly same thing twice, which is pretty cool. I totally think that I love my life being completely unpredictable, and whatever happens happens. Part of me feels like that was so long ago. . . . I'm doing this little questionnaire about "What was life like when you were 17?" and they are asking all of these normal 17-year-old questions, and I'm going, "Well wait, at 17, that was the year after 'Idol,' and my life was complete chaos." I'm like, "I don't know what my craziest thing I did was to get a boy's attention. I didn't even care!" So, it's wild to think that, being 22, I'm so blessed to be back in the city, being a part of such a great cast, and yet, at the same time, I feel like I barely have done anything.

Question: Since it seems to be the topic for the past week or so, what do you think about Paula Abdul not returning to Idol this season?
DeGarmo: In my honest opinion, it's not going to be the same. It just won't. She's been there since day one, and she is that sweet spot of the judges that the rest of them just don't have. [Laughs.] Plain and simple. The rest of them, they may be nice in some form or fashion, but she truly is there to be your cheerleader and to help coach you along. It's going to be interesting, because people know she has some funny antics on the show — that's part of what draws people to the show nowadays. People want to see what's going to happen with Paula tonight. And she's one of the nicest people. I mean, I did the show how many years ago now? And I went back this past season, and she saw me and came running toward me, and gave me a big hug and was like, "Oh my gosh, you look beautiful, and I love your hair!" She was just so sweet, and none of the other judges did that. And I appreciate that as a former contestant, because a lot of people get lost in the shuffle after their seasons are over. So that's my opinion. It's just not going to be the same.

[New World Stages is located in Manhattan at 340 West 50th Street. For tickets call (212) 239-6200 or visit www.telecharge.com. For more information visit www.TheToxicAvengerMusical.com.]

	Christine Ebersole

DIVA TIDBITS
Two-time Tony Award winner Christine Ebersole and cabaret veteran Michael Feinstein will team for a new duets show next month at Feinstein's at Loews Regency. Ebersole and Feinstein will present Good Friends Sept. 8-12 at the intimate nightspot. Attendees can expect classic standards and Broadway hits by Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Rodgers & Hart and Jerry Herman, in addition to rarities from the Great American Songbook. Musical director John Oddo will lead an all-star band. Show times will be Tuesday and Wednesday at 8:30 PM and Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 PM and 10:30 PM. For ticket reservations call (212) 339-4095 or visit feinsteinsatloewsregency.com and TicketWeb.com.

Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award winner Bette Midler will celebrate the 30th anniversary of her hit film "The Rose" next month in Beverly Hills. Midler and director Mark Rydell will participate in an onstage discussion following the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' screening of the film Sept. 25. The screening is scheduled to begin at 7:30 PM at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Tickets for "The Rose" are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID, and may be purchased online at www.oscars.org, in person at the Academy box office or by mail. Doors open at 6:30 PM. The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. All seating is unreserved. For more information call (310) 247-3600 or visit www.oscars.org.

The Light in the Piazza Tony winners Victoria Clark (Best Actress in a Musical) and Ted Sperling (Best Orchestrations, with Adam Guettel and Bruce Coughlin) will join forces this fall at Feinstein's at Loews Regency. The musical duo will play the intimate nightspot Oct. 20-24. Show times are Oct. 20-22 at 8:30 PM and Oct. 23-24 at 8 and 10:30 PM. Feinstein's is located at 540 Park Avenue at 61st Street in New York City. For ticket reservations call (212) 339-4095 or visit feinsteinsatloewsregency.com and TicketWeb.com.

Details about the 2009 fall season at the Algonquin Hotel's Oak Room have been announced. The 30th anniversary season at the famed Manhattan nightspot will kick off with veteran crooner Jack Jones, who will perform Sept. 9-19. Jones will be followed by original Nine and Grand Hotel star Karen Akers, who will present an all-Cole Porter program simply titled "Akers Sings Porter" Sept. 22-Oct. 24. Paula West and the George Mesterhazy Quartet will then hold court Oct. 27-Nov. 14. The year will conclude with Algonquin favorite Andrea Marcovicci, who will celebrate the Johnny Mercer centenary in her latest act. Marcovicci will offer "Skylark: Marcovicci Sings Mercer" Nov. 17-Dec. 26. Currently scheduled for 2010 are Bill Charlap and Sandy Stewart; Steve Ross; KT Sullivan and Mark Nadler; and Maude Maggart. The Algonquin Hotel is located in Manhattan at 59 West 44th Street. Call (212) 419-9331 for reservations; visit www.algonquinhotel.com for more information.

ArtSpeak!, the award-winning DC-area arts education program, will launch its 13th season Sept. 21. The 7 PM event, which will be held in the W.T. Woodson High School auditorium in Fairfax, VA, will feature Broadway actors Julia Murney (Wicked) and Heidi Blickenstaff ([title of show]). Murney and Blickenstaff, who will be interviewed by ArtSpeak! founder and producer Mark Shugoll, will also perform and sign autographs. Audience members will be able to ask questions and win autographed CDs by playing ArtSpeak! trivia. ArtSpeak!, according to press notes, is intended to "excite students about theater and to encourage them to attend theater in their area." In September Murney and Blickenstaff will appear in Signature Theater's First You Dream: The Music of Kander and Ebb. ArtSpeak! is free and open to the public, including both students and adults. For more information call (301) 656-0310, ext. 102.

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) will present a concert spotlighting songwriters who have participated in past Festivals of New Musicals. The Songwriter Spotlight concert will be held Sept. 7 at Birdland and will feature the songs of David Kirshenbaum (Vanities, Summer of '42), Dan Lipton and David Rossmer (JOE! The Musical, "Don't Quit Your Night Job") and Brad Alexander and Adam Mathias (See Rock City & Other Destinations). The composers will share songs from past, present and future projects. The evening — part of the Broadway at Birdland concert series — will feature the vocal talents of Kate Baldwin, Sarah Stiles, Jenn Colella and Steve Rosen. Show time is 7 PM. A portion of the proceeds will support NAMT, the not-for-profit organization that includes a New Works program and the 21st Annual Festival of New Musicals, which takes place in October; visit www.namt.org. Birdland is located in Manhattan at 315 West 44th Street. There is a $25 cover and a $10 food/drink minimum; for reservations call (212) 581-3080 or visit www.BirdlandJazz.com.

Elaine Paige, the leading lady of the British musical theatre who made her Broadway debut in Sunset Boulevard, will bring her concert tour to Australia and New Zealand this fall. Paige is scheduled to visit those destinations in October and November, according to her official website. The acclaimed singing actress will also film a new DVD during one of her Australian tour dates. Tour dates follow: Oct. 24 at Hamer Hall, Melbourne, www.theartscentre.com.au, Oct. 25 at Festival Theatre, Adelaide, www.bass.net.au; Oct. 27 at Brisbane Convection Centre, www.ticketek.com.au, Oct. 30 at the Royal Theatre, Canberra, www.ticketek.com.au; Oct. 31 at the State Theatre, Sydney, www.ticketmaster.com.au; Nov. 2 at the Burswood Theatre, Perth, www.ticketek.com.au; Nov. 6 at the Aotea Centre, Auckland, booking information to be confirmed; and Nov. 8 at the Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington, booking information to be confirmed. In related news, Paige's new live recording, "Elaine Paige Live — Celebrating a Life on Stage," will be released worldwide on iTunes Sept. 21.

Three performances of Frank Wildhorn & Friends will be presented in September to benefit The Nevada Conservatory Theatre at UNLV. The starry concerts — featuring composer Wildhorn at the piano — will be offered Sept. 4 at 8 PM, Sept. 5 at 8 PM and Sept. 6 at 7 PM at Las Vegas' Judy Bayley Theater. Jeff Calhoun will direct the evening with musical direction by Koen Schoots. A 32-piece orchestra will back Broadway artists Linda Eder, Lea Salonga, Rob Evan and Douglas Sills. For tickets, priced $40-$100 (opening night gala), call (702) 895-ARTS.

Well, that's all for now. Happy diva-watching! E-mail questions or comments to agans@playbill.com.