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‘Office’ actor Ed Helms plays himself at Horizon benefit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Horizon Theatre found three disparate celebrities with local ties to tell stories about their lives in play form for its ninth annual fund-raiser at the Georgia Tech Hotel Saturday night: civil rights activist and Trumpet Awards founder Xernona Clayton, former “American Idol” finalist and Broadway star Diana DeGarmo, and “The Office”/”The Daily Show” actor Ed Helms.
Clayton, played onstage by look-alike Marguerite Hannah, recounted her early days working with Ted Turner, who slept in his office and walked around in a bath towel, spouting ideas. She would eventually become a close Turner confidante who could sass him and keep him in line. “I got him ready for Jane,” she joked with emcee Holly Firfer, referring to his ex-wife Jane Fonda.
The play for DeGarmo (who was depicted by Megan Hayes) told how, after she made it to the final 24 on “Idol,” she fell very ill. It was during the SARS scare in 2004, and airline officials wouldn’t allow her on a connecting flight in Dallas to Atlanta, so she ended up getting an appendectomy in a Texas hospital. To make matters worse, the hospital’s fire alarm went off and she was wheeled outside in the middle of the procedure.
After her stint on Broadway, the 19-year-old is now back in town to record her second album. Unfortunately, she’s still being harassed by a stalker in Australia, who relentlessly hacks into her computers and phone lines, according to her mother, Brenda.
Rodney Ho / AJC
Helms, a Westminster grad, was the only one to do his own monologue. He had a heart murmur as a child and required surgery at age 14. He recounted how he had a massive crush on a classmate named Allison, and when she sent him balloons while he was recovering, it inspired him to get better much faster. But later, when he returned to school, Allison told him her mother had sent the balloons. Ouch.
“This is where irony comes in,” Helms told the 300 attendees. “So much money and time and energy had gone into this intense effort to fix my heart. And when it was all said and done, it had never been more broken.”
Helms was recently promoted to a regular cast member on NBC’s hilarious “The Office.” But he wouldn’t reveal any plot points to Buzz about his character, Andy, a major kiss-up who returns next month after a stint in anger management.
DO THE MUTE MATH
Last month, “American Idol” finalist Chris Sligh sang “Typical” by Mute Math, an electronica-rock band from New Orleans and one of the most obscure song choices in the history of the show.
Even Mute Math lead singer Paul Meany was flabbergasted — and flattered.
“That was completely surreal,” Meany told Buzz before the band’s sold-out show at the 1,000-capacity Variety Playhouse on Saturday night. “I thought they only sung songs that were popular. We were in Europe at the time. I guess the irony was he was singing before millions of people; we were in some pub playing for 150.”
He said Sligh met the band eight months ago in Greenville, S.C., and told Mute Math’s drummer, Darren King, that he was about to audition for “Idol” and promised to sing a Mute Math song if he made it far enough. “They need to know about you!” Sligh told King, who was naturally skeptical — until it happened.
Meany said the band, whose stage show is crazy frenetic, has been helped by Sligh’s promotion. But Mute Math has already built a solid following through relentless touring (this is the band’s seventh trip to Atlanta in three years) and a popular MySpace page. The band had 139,758 friends as of Sunday afternoon.
RANDOM BITS
Local entrepreneur Sara Blakely, head of footless pantyhose company Spanx, has already been a contestant on a Richard Branson reality show. Now she gets to be a judge on ABC’s “American Inventor,” starting June 6. …
Former 96rock Regular Guys co-host Eric Von Haessler has nabbed a new, non-radio job: head of The Sunday Paper’s Web site. Besides compiling interesting story links, he will compile original content including podcasts and videos.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Actor Leonard Nimoy is 76. Actor Alan Arkin is 73. Actor James Caan is 67. Singer Diana Ross is 63. Singer Steven Tyler of Aerosmith is 59. Singer-actress Vicki Lawrence is 58. Singer Teddy Pendergrass is 57. Actor Martin Short is 57. Singer Kenny Chesney (left) is 39. Actor T.R. Knight is 34. Rapper Juvenile is 32. Actress Keira Knightley is 22.
Contributing: news services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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