Musical molded from Clay

RALEIGH, N.C. — When “Idol: The Musical” hit the stage in New York, Clay Aiken wasn’t there in person. But there was a bust of Raleigh’s hometown “American Idol” star on stage -- and someone singing “Burnin’ Hunk o’ Clay” to it.

Yes, Aiken is coming to the theatrical stage but only as inspiration. “Idol: The Musical” is billed as a musical farce about a “delusional group of ‘Idol’ fans in search of fame.” It began previews at New York’s off-Broadway 45th Street Theatre on Thursday.

Aiken himself is not involved with the project. Janice Riley, his personal assistant in Raleigh, declined to comment.

The cast of “Idol: The Musical” consists of eight high-school seniors in Steubenville, Ohio, where they’ve built a shrine to Aiken in a barn and meet every day to worship. There’s a basketball player who would rather be a male stripper at Chippendales, a goth girl, a cowboy with poor fashion sense, a guy who plays accordion while reciting Shakespeare — and Emily, the leader, whose fantasy it is to someday marry Aiken.

“That just sounds over the top from beginning to end,” says Paul Baragona, an Aiken fan from Raleigh. Still, early reactions on the Aiken message boards have been surprisingly upbeat.

“It does not attack anyone or anything in any way,” says “Idol” producer Todd Ellis, who calls himself an Aiken fan. “It does look at the fanbase of ‘American Idol’ and Clay, but also anything out there that people glom onto. It’s a farce that looks at how America deifies the idols in our society.”

Thanks to copyright and trademark laws, none of Aiken’s music appears in “Idol.” But composer Jon Balcourt wrote a score that includes the salsa number “Quakin’ for Aiken” (next line: “and shakin’ our bacon”) and the aforementioned “Burnin’ Hunk o’ Clay.” Bill Boland, who co-produced the Academy Award-winning 2005 short film “West Bank Story,” wrote the script.

“Idol” is scheduled for eight weeks of previews in New York and an official opening in mid-August at the 99-seat 45th Street Theatre, followed by a move to a larger venue if ticket sales demand it. “Idol” made its premiere June 1 in Syracuse, prompting one online reviewer to call it, “the ‘Forrest Gump’ of musicals.” And how did the hardcore Claymates react?

“I don’t know that we had any come to the first show in Syracuse,” Ellis says. “But the audience loved the show. It’s universal, an everyman story. Everyone wants something better than what they have, to be discovered.”

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In this off-Broadway musical, Clay Aiken is an inspiration

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