Entertainment

HICKS IGNITES ‘GREASE’

TWO shows that shouldn’t be making it – but are – must be given their due today.

First, “Grease” – which vaulted right over the critics to box office glory. It’s playing to sold-out houses and is grossing nearly $800,000 a week.

It got a little lift from the Tonys, but its real draw this summer is “American Idol” winner Taylor Hicks, who’s playing Teen Angel.

An insider says Hicks is worth at least $150,000 in extra ticket sales a week.

(Make a note of that, Mr. Agent.)

Whenever Hicks whips out his harmonica, the audience goes nuts.

They’re having such a blast that the “Grease” megamix at the end of the show – this is where the critics ran screaming from the theater – now runs 10 minutes, with Hicks singing the title song and then playing it on his harmonica.

Meanwhile, the producers of the show are no longer flinching from the critical blows but are starting to have fun with them.

Charles Isherwood recently wrote: “Are the Tonys going to open up the lines so viewers at home can phone in their votes for their favorites? In which case perhaps ‘Grease’ would have been the year’s big winner.”

Look for a newspaper ad that will say:

“If the audience had voted, Grease would have been the year’s big winner!” – Charles Isherwood, The New York Times.

I’M no fan of “In the Heights,” which one wag – Michael Musto – describes as “West Side Story” meets “The Electric Company.”

And I was really annoyed that it beat out the year’s best new musical, “Passing Strange,” for the Tony.

But because we’re fair and balanced here at Post Theater Central, I relay this bit of news from an “In the Heights” investor:

“You’re probably not interested in anything positive about [the show], but it will break the box office record this week at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. That certainly (and strongly) confirms the power of the Best Musical Tony Award.

“The producers sent out their first check to the investors – a return of 10 percent of the original investment. No doubt the other 90 percent will follow at a reasonable pace.”

All I can say is: Because his show didn’t tank,

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s on his way to the bank.

He’s got his foot on the ladder and to success he’s a-climbin’.

Now we’d all be so happy if he’d knock off the rhymin’.

CORRECTIONS (how rare they are!):

The other day, in a column about Taylor Hackford’s troubles on “Leap of Faith,” I noted that Hollywood legend Vincente Minnelli made his Broadway debut with “Mata Hari!” in 1967 (and supposedly began the first day of rehearsal by yelling, “Action!”).

In fact, as F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre e-mailed, Minnelli got his start with “Earl Carroll’s Vanities” in 1930 as a production designer.

“He worked in multiple capacities,” MacIntyre writes, “including as a ‘stager’ and ‘supervisor’ – both of these are longtime euphemisms for ‘director’ – long before 1967.”

On Wednesday, I called the composer of “The Addams Family” Adam Lippa.

I must have hit the Alzheimer’s key on that one because his name, as several readers pointed out, is Andrew Lippa.

Andrew just laughed it off, but his mother was miffed.

Sorry, Mrs. Lippa.

michael.riedel@nypost.com