Feature: INTO THE WOODS at Short North Stage

Greens, green, and nothing but green!

Parsley, peppers, cabbages, and celery.

Asparagus and Watercress

and Fiddle fern and Lettuce.

He said "Alright!" But it wasn't quite

cause I caught him in the autumn

in my garden one night!

He was robbing me, Raping me.

Rutting through my rutabaga

raiding my arugula

Ripping up the Rampion

The Witch's Entrance" from INTO THE WOODS

After reciting the "The Witch's Entrance" for 19 shows in Short North Stage's production of INTO THE WOODS, Diana DeGarmo may never look at a salad the same way again.

The runner-up on the third season of AMERICAN IDOL in 2004, said it took her about a solid week of preparation getting the annunciation and cadence for one of the showcase songs of the Stephen Sondheim masterpiece.

"Word wise, it's pretty high up (on the list of the hardest songs I've had to perform)," DeGarmo said with a laugh. "It's neck and neck with saying all those colors in ("Joseph's Coat" from JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT).

"I spent at least a solid week of just listening to Bernadette (Peters' version of it) to get ready. I know it's written as a rap, but it's so important to her exposition as a character. Once you know you're telling a story, it's not so difficult."

The tongue-twisting turn through the root vegetable garden is just part of INTO THE WOODS, which runs March 16 through April 16 at the Garden Theater (1187 North High Street in downtown Columbus).

The show, a skewed take on the "happily ever after" world of fairy tale favorites, marks the first time DeGarmo has had an extended stay in Columbus and tackled a Sondheim piece.

"No one gets to saunter through Sondheim, but I'm loving that," DeGarmo said. "INTO THE WOODS is such an ensemble show. It doesn't fit in on one person's shoulder to carry the show. This is a team sport show for sure."

DeGarmo planned to do a show for the Short North Stage. However, she believed it would be SLAVE PLAY, the theater's previous offering.

The actor received one of the nicest rejection letters from SNS.

"I've been dying to do a play and my team knew about Short North and all of their fabulous work," DeGarmo said. "I sent my audition tape in, and then the response was 'We love you, but we're going a slightly different direction. However, would you be interested in auditioning for (INTO THE WOODS)?' And I was like, 'Wait. What?'"

DeGarmo has become accustomed to the topsy-turvy world of the music business long before she was on AMERICAN IDOL.

The actor was in Atlanta productions of ANNIE and JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, joined the Cartoon Gang on The Cartoon Network, was a Coca-Cola Kid during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, and performed at Opryland USA ... all before she entered the fifth grade.

DeGarmo won the Miss Georgia Teen title in 2002 and reached the finals of NBC's AMERICA'S MOST TALENTED KID talent search.

Although her uncle Eddie DeGarmo made up half of the 1980s Christian music duo DeGarmo and Key, Diana DeGarmo said she was the only performer in her immediate family.

"I hate to say I was a 'child actor' because I feel that kind of cheapens it," she said. "I was not a kid you could put in a corner for very long. I just wanted to perform and entertain people.

"I did pageants because that is what you did in the South. I went to any audition, any show from community theater to professional shows. When I was 17, I heard about this little show where lots of people could see me. I thought, 'Why don't I do that?'"

That "little show" was, of course, AMERICAN IDOL. DeGarmo competed on the third season, which also featured Fantasia Barrino and Jennifer Hudson.

Over 65 million votes (three million more than George W. Bush received in the 2004 election) were cast during the third season. Barrino nudged out DeGarmo by a two percent margin of victory. Hudson, who went on to become the EGOT winner by capturing an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony, finished seventh. Seven cast members from that season released albums and Barrino's first single debuted at the top of Billboard Hot 100.

However, the experience for DeGarmo was much like the plot of INTO THE WOODS - a fairy tale with a very dark underbelly.

"It's definitely a double-edged sword," she said. "Neither my Idol journey nor my life-post Idol was as carefree as I had hoped. It wore me down at an early age. It has taken a long time to rebuild myself internally and externally.

"In life, you learn more from your challenges than you do from your successes. It has made me a stronger person and performer."

On the plus side, AMERICAN IDOL gave DeGarmo a gold star on her resume and a record contract. She participated on three USO tours, bonded with her future husband Ace Young (a season five finalist on AMERICAN IDOL) over their experiences on the show, and even had a guest spot on the cartoon FAIRLY ODD PARENTS.

However, the pressure on DeGarmo during the show's 12-round run took a toll. She became the first contestant to survive being in the bottom three on three separate occasions. After finishing second, she and her mother gritted their way through record contract talks with the program.

When the smoke cleared, DeGarmo decided the music industry wasn't for her.

"I definitely went in with my rose-colored glasses," she said. "I quickly realized the industry was a business first. It was about marketing research and making quotas; it was not about the art per se."

After discovering she didn't want to go the record route, DeGarmo decided to return to her theater roots. She originated the role of Sarah, the sexy, blind librarian in TOXIC AVENGER off Broadway, and landed roles in WEST SIDE STORY, HAIRSPRAY, and JOSEPH.

However, DeGarmo often felt resentment from producers and fellow actors, who believed her name recognition from AMERICAN IDOL gave her an unfair advantage during auditions.

"People weren't keen on (a reality TV star), coming in and taking. another person's place," she said. "Some felt I needed to go the more 'old fashioned way' of going to college, performing in a showcase, and getting an agent.

"What I've discovered is that no one's path is the same. Everyone has their own journey. You just must roll with it."

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