'Hair' closes on Broadway

And with that, the Broadway revival of the classic musical Hair closed its curtains for the final time at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. Below is a video that Diana and fellow tribe member Josh Lamon posted on the show's official Facebook page earlier today:

More reaction from tribe members and fans will be posted in the coming days, but it's safe to say this is a sad day for all who have been involved since the new cast took over in March. Despite Diana's relatively short run in the show, there have been many memorable moments both on stage and off.

In other New York City-related news, Diana's concert at the Highline Ballroom on July 26 has been postponed indefinitely according to her Twitter.

Diana to perform set at the Highline Ballroom

Diana is one of three former American Idol finalists to perform a set at the Highline Ballroom over the next month. Diana's show will take place at the venue on Mon., July 26 at 8 p.m., while Taylor Hicks's show will happen on Sun., July 25. Constantine Maroulis's show already took place on Wed., June 16. The Ballroom is located on New York City's 431 W 16th St.

Meanwhile, Diana and Ace Young found time to promote the launch of Ubisoft's Dance on Broadway game for the Nintendo Wii at Nintendo's flagship store at Rockefeller Center on Fri., June 11. BroadwayWorld.com's BWW TV was there to cover the event:

The game features a few Hair favorites including "Aquarius" and "Let the Sunshine In."

In other news, press is still being drummed up ahead of Diana's participation in the "Singin' in the Shower" at Birdland on Mon., July 5. Per an article on Playbill.com:

Singin' in the Shower, according to press notes, is a "behind-the-scenes look into the one place where stage fright doesn't exist and clothing isn't required. Join us as we pull the shower curtain back to reveal the stage where today's entertainers debuted their talents: The Shower."

There's a great cause behind Diana's show, as proceeds will benefit the Nashville Flood relief effort.

'Hair' update: producers give away 500 tickets

As the current Hair tribe moves into its final two weeks on Broadway, assembled below are random items of note about the show.

The producers of Hair generously gave away 500 free tickets to Friday night's show in celebration of the revival of the show's launch during the Public Theater’s free 2008 Shakespeare in the Park season. An article on SILive.com detailed the giveaway, saying the first 500 people to stand in line at the show's box office before it opened at 10 a.m. would get a ticket.

Later that day, Diana and fellow Idol alums Ace Young and Constantine Maroulis as well as fellow Broadway actors Liam Redhead, Dayton Tavares and Michael Dameski participated as celebrity judges for Macy's Ticket to the Tonys semi-finalist competition at Macy's Herald Square. Per an article on TheaterMania.com:

Customers are encouraged to come out and show their support for the singers by casting their own vote to determine who will walk the red carpet at the 2010 Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall. The event will also feature USA Today's Elysa Gardner as a judge, and celebrity columnist Naughty But Nice Rob as host.

Meanwhile, Idol blogger Rickey Yaneza of Rickey.org recently attended a show and got star treatment from Diana and Ace, capturing his experience for TV.com. After the show, he went out to dinner with the two of them and learned some news:

So what did I learn?
1. Ace and Diana are NOT dating. Although they were very friendly! I think Ace flirts with anything that moves. I've always thought that he was a very formal straight up guy — but he was such a college jock! Hahaha. It was really fun to witness Ace's flirtatious ways. Oh the things I just can't write it in this blog!

2. Ace is going back to L.A. to write music for himself and others after Hair is finished.

3. Diana is going back to Nashville to work on her music. I tried to convince her to do Wicked on Broadway as Elphaba, but she said she wants to take a break from theater for the moment.

And numbers were revealed for the total amount of money raised during Hair's Love Out Loud: A Donation of LOVE from HAIR. An article on TheaterMania.com reported more than $15k raised over the duration of the benefit for the Fresh Air Fund.

Diana to perform in Birdland's "Singin' In the Shower"

Despite the news that Diana's role as Sheila in Hair will come to and end at the end of the month, it was revealed that she will take part in The Birdland's "Singin' In the Shower: Songs Behind from Behind the Bathroom Door" on Mon., July 5 at 7 p.m. Per BroadwayWorld.com:

"Singin' in the Shower" is a behind-the-scenes look into the one place where stage fright doesn't exist and clothing isn't required. Join us as we pull the shower curtain back to reveal the stage where today's entertainers debuted their talents: The Shower.

BroadwayWorld goes on to say Miranda Sings, Travis Nesbitt, Kenny Holcomb, Elizabeth Jones, Jessalyn Gliebe and Jermaine Miles will also take part in the show. Cover is $25 and there is a $10 food/beverage minimum.

BREAKING: 'Hair' to close June 27

After 15 months at the Al Hirschfeld Theater, the revival of Hair will close its curtains for good on Sunday, June 27. Diana tweeted about the news earlier this evening:

DianaDeGarmo Just heard the news via TEXT MESSAGE, @HAIRtribe is closing in two weeks.... out last performance is June 27th.
about 1 hour ago via MOTOBLUR

The news comes as a shock to many fans, but an article posted on BroadwayWorld.com seemed to put things into perspective:

The closing release emphasized that Hair recouped its entire $5,760,000 investment four months into the run and has generated a profit. The show weakened at the box office after the original cast departed for London, grossing $351,992 for the week ending June 6 and playing to 46.50% of capacity.

By the time the show closes, Diana will have starred as Sheila for nearly four months, as she and the rest of the current tribe began exactly three months ago today.

Stay tuned for more news on Hair's closing weeks.

Diana talks with CultureMob about "Cut-In"

Diana recently spoke to Jonathan Mandell of CultureMob.com about her recent efforts along with the rest of the Hair tribe in their efforts to aid the cleanup of the gulf coast as it copes with the recent oil spill. Read an excerpt of a piece Mandell wrote on their "Cut-In" back on Mon., May 24, below:

Diana DeGarmo sounded apologetic recently for not having gotten a haircut. “I’m contractually obligated to not cut my hair,” she said. “I have to have my hair for the show.”

The show the former American Idol contestant is talking about is “Hair,” at the Al Hirschfeld Theater, where since March DeGarmo has played Sheila, a leader of the Tribe — student, anti-war protester and girlfriend of Berger, played by Ace Young, another ex-American Idol contestant, and another cast member who cannot casually get a haircut.

Diana want on to say she couldn't wear a wig for the show because "Hippies don’t wear wigs." The "Cut-In" was sponsored by the nonprofit group Matter of Trust. (Photo courtesy of CultureMob.com).

Diana participates in tribute to Simon Cowell

Diana was one of many former Idol finalists to take the stage at last week's American Idol Season 9 finale at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, Calif., where she and her peers sang in unison on the chorus of "Together We Are One" in a tribute to Simon Cowell, who ended his run on the show that night. Watch the performance below:

In other Diana and Idol-related news, she picked Crystal Bowersox to take the crown over Lee DeWyze, as she told HollywoodLife.com the Monday before the finale:

"I would like to see Crystal win because I would like to see a female take it home....I think they’re both great [but,] we’ve had two guitar playing guys win the last two years. It’s time for a lady to take it!”

While in town for the finale, Diana walked the red carpet outside the Nokia.

Diana and 'Hair' contribute to Gulf Coast relief in "Cut-in"

Diana and nine of her fellow Hair tribe members donated their time to a great cause on Monday, May 24, as they spent a few hours at the uptown Bumble and bumble to help gather hair clippings from free hair cuts in a "cut-in" for the purpose of cleaning up the oil spill affecting the Gulf Coast.

Diana appeared on New York's FOX affiliate morning show, Good Day New York, on the morning of May 24 to raise awareness of the event. Watch her segment below:

The event at Bumble and bumble was covered by Cara Joy David of HuffingtonPost.com, who wrote the following about Diana's involvement in the cause:

Ten Hair cast members were there, handing out Gerbera Daisies to attendees. "We at Hair like to practice what we preach," star Diana DeGarmo, who hung around talking to folks for almost three hours, said. (Her costar, Ace Young, was notably absent.) "When we found out hair would help in the Gulf, we at Hair thought we should help by giving hair."

Photos from the event taken by Monica Simoes like the one above were posted on BroadwayWorld.com.

Diana performs on CBS's 'The Early Show'

Diana visited CBS's morning program The Early Show on Saturday to perform a few songs from Hair. Watch her perform "Easy to Be Hard" as part of the program's "Second Cup Cafe" below:

Diana later performed "I Believe In Love" and the tail end of her original composition "Thank You," which is featured as a free download as part of SunTrust's "Solid Salutes," to play the show out. Watch her singing in the plaza outside CBS studios below:



There were service men and women in attendance as part of Fleet Week, whom Diana, Ace Young and fellow Hair tribe members performed before the previous day at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. Per Theatermania.com:

The entire cast of Hair -- including American Idol veterans Diana DeGarmo and Ace Young -- will perform, as will Eddie Clendening, Lance Guest, Levi Kreis, and Robert Lyons from Million Dollar Quartet; Brooks Ashmanskas, Sean Martin Hingston, Ken Land and Matthew Loehr from Promises, Promises; Krysta Rodriguez and Wesley Taylor from The Addams Family; and Rebecca Naomi Jones, Mary Faber, Christina Sajous, Alysha Umphress, Leslie McDonel, and Libby Winters from American Idiot.

The event was hosted by Lend Me a Tenor's Mary Catherine Garrison & Jennifer Laura Thompson.