Broadway Friday

-American Idol winner Taylor Hicks will succeed Stephen Buntrock as Teen Angel in Grease, beginning next month. Hicks is slated to be with the show until September 7th. Hicks: "The Soul Patrol's gonna invade Broadway!" Ugh.

-BASH'd, a "gay rap opera" will be an official event of NYC's Heritage of Pride, kicking off June 12th at Off-Broadway's Zipper Theatre. "BASH'd chronicles the tale of Jack and Dillon; two star-crossed lovers who must cope with the reality of hatred when one is brutally beaten. It is told entirely through rap, spoken word and poetry, turning the often-homophobic musical genre on its ear. Even though the topic is serious, the musical is high energy, irreverent, and provocative."

-Actor Adrian Bailey, 51, plans to sue the producers of the Little Mermaid after he fell 30-40 feet through a trap door in an on-stage boat on Sunday, breaking both wrists and his back, sternum, ribs, foot and pelvis. He has undergone four surgeries. Disney Theatrical Productions, one of the defendants, says it is investigating. Bailey has asked for a court order requiring Disney to preserve the boat.

-A Chicago theatre critic gives advice on how to find a cheap hotel on Broadway. Rule #1: "In New York, the chain hotels are your friend."

Mike Daisey's How Theater Failed America begins a limited six-week run at Off-Broadway's Barrow Street Theatre May 16. Extemporaneous monologist Daisey played his final performance at Joe's Pub May 11. You may me posting about a show Daisey played in Cambridge last year in which almost 100 members of a high school choir disrupted his performance by walking out, with one person pouring water on Daisey's notes. They didn't like Daisey's naughty language. Boo hoo.