Diana DeGarmo and Ace Young did, in fact, cross paths when both were on "American Idol," but DeGarmo says it's a good thing that's all they did. After all, she was only 16.
The romance didn't come about until the two signed on to play Berger and Sheila in the Broadway production of "Hair."
FAQ
‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’
WHEN — 7 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 8 p.m. March 13; 2 & 8 p.m. March 14; 2 p.m. March 15
WHERE — Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville
COST — $36-$78
INFO — 443-5600
"It's funny because when we were cast in the show, we had to replace the original Broadway company, and we only had three weeks to rehearse, while the original company had about three months," DeGarmo says. "So, we had to get very comfortable with one another very quickly. The director basically said, 'Hey, Ace, Diana, make out.' Ummmm... OK. So we spent almost every waking hour together, because we needed to be like boyfriend and girlfriend."
"Since we broke the comfort wall so early, we became best friends," Young chimes in. "We became really close, and we were having a blast creatively. When the show ended, we really missed each other. That's when we knew for sure it wasn't just really good acting!"
DeGarmo and Young got married not quite two years ago, and six months later, they hit the road in leading roles in Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." They'll do seven shows in Fayetteville starting Tuesday.
"The nicest thing about being on the road together is everywhere we go, we're home," says DeGarmo, the narrator of the show.
To the couple, that means traveling with their miniature dachshund Rosie, exploring cities together where one of them has performed in the past -- "Fayetteville is the first city neither of us has been to before," DeGarmo says -- texting each other over dinner to rest their voices and singing their hearts out in a version of "Dreamcoat" that DeGarmo says "is not your mama's 'Joseph.'"
The first musical collaboration by Webber and Tim Rice, "Dreamcoat" was first presented as a 15-minute pop cantata at Colet Court School in London in 1968 and was recorded as a concept album in 1969. It wasn't until after the success of the next Webber and Rice piece, "Jesus Christ Superstar," that "Dreamcoat" came to the stage.
What sets this production apart, DeGarmo and Young take turns explaining, involves both the human element and the technical.
"You don't just hear about Joseph's dreams, you get to see them," DeGarmo says. "It's a multimedia aspect that's new to this production, without being invasive to the story."
"And on top of that, it's a very diverse cast," Young says. "You'll see them doing hip-hop, tap, contemporary -- we cover the whole world of dance in two hours."
And then there's the new coat of many colors, a one-of-a-kind original that has its own dressing room. Created by costumer Jennifer Caprio, it was inspired by the 12 stained glass windows created in the 1960s by Marc Chagall for the Abbell Synagogue at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem. The windows, Caprio explains, "tell the story of the 12 tribes of Israel (they are Jacob's sons ... Joseph and his 11 brothers)."
Caprio says she wanted the coat "to overtake the stage, to represent something bigger than Joseph and his family, something bigger than us. I decided we could translate the look of the stained glass into something like a quilt for the fabric ... This developed into 12 panels, for the 12 brothers, and I filled them with motifs representing each brother, inspired by Chagall. Each image was hand drawn, and then the motifs were hand painted onto fabric. These were then appliqued onto the 12 panels, each a different color for each different brother. ... The coat became more than Joseph's: it is an overarching symbol of love and family."
Young will wear the coat as Joseph for only two more months. Then he and DeGarmo plan to settle in Nashville, Tenn., and sleep, cook and work on the songs they've written together on the road in their own recording studio.
But they've yet to miss a single performance of "Dreamcoat," and they don't plan to start now.
"This is a great show for anyone of any age and any background," DeGarmo says. "I love seeing people so transfixed and so thoroughly entertained."
NAN What's Up on 03/06/2015