Idol Chatter & Voice Views

When we last caught up with Diana DeGarmo, the runnerup on American Idol season three, she was making headlines by getting nude beside Ace Young in “Hair” on Broadway.

Now she’s back on stage in “9 to 5: The Musical.” She plays Doralee Rhodes, the part Dolly Parton played in the hit film, “9 to 5.”

The musical features music and lyrics written by Dolly, spent four months on Broadway and has now embarked on a national tour that began in September in Nashville.

The role shouldn’t be too much of a stretch for DeGarmo.

In her post-Idol phase, she has competed on the reality show “Gone Country” and released a four-track country EP. (You can still hear one of the songs, “Thank You,” on her MySpace site.)

Diana describes herself as an “uber-fan” of Dolly Parton in an interview published on GoMemphis.com last week. She says she first met the country music legend while working at Dollywood when she was a pre-teen.

And she might not look much like the character in the movie, but Dolly says that makes little difference.

“She can sing her little butt off,” Dolly told GoMemphis.com. “She’s dark-headed, has a different shape, but when we put that big blond wig on her and get her lubed up, she really becomes Doralee.”

For the full story on “9 to 5: The Musical,” go here. 

If you want to see the musical, you’re going to have to travel to Pittsburgh. That’s the closest it’s scheduled to come to York at this point.

The show lands at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh from May 31 to June 5 of next year. Check out the ‘9 to 5’ website for ticket information.

Six years after finishing second to Fantasia on her season of Idol, DeGarmo says she’s fortunate to have found her niche.

Since Idol, she’s also appeared in the Broadway production of “Hairspray” and an off-Broadway version of “Toxic Avenger.”