by Stuart Ross & James Raitt,
Directed by Dana Vanneman
Opened September 14, 2001
Cast |
|
| Frankie Smudge Sparky Jinx |
DAVID
KIRK CHARLES SARKIOGLU MARK VAN BRUGGEN JACK GWIN |
| Director Musical Director Producer Stage Manager Set and Lighting Design Sound Design |
DANA
VANNEMAN DEB VANNEMAN LYNN JOHNSON MELISSA TEPPERMAN MATTHEW R. FOX/TONY MORGAN RICHARD RAUTH |
Photographs by Valerie Mazzagatti
THE STORY:
Stuart Ross is a child of the 50’s. He grew up watching "The Ed Sullivan Show" every Sunday night with his family. A director and writer of several theatrical productions, Ross decided in the mid- 80’s to create a show close to his heart, a revue celebrating the lost era of black and white innocence, all four-part harmonies and "Father Knows Best". This is the story of FOREVER PLAID:
Once upon a time, there were four guys (Sparky, Smudge, Jinx, and Frankie) who loved to sing. They all met in high school in 1956. Discovering they shared an affection for music and entertaining, they got together and dreamed of becoming like their idols - The Four Aces, The Four Lads, The Four Freshmen, The Hi-Los and the Crew-Cuts. They rehearsed in the basement of Smudge’s family plumbing supply company. It was here they became "Forever Plaid" - a name that connects the traditional values of family, home and harmony. Although rock ‘n’roll was racing down the fast lane like a candy apple "vette", they believed in their music. As their sound developed they sang at family gatherings, fund-raisers, and eventually graduated to supermarket openings and proms. They finally landed their first big gig at the Airport Hilton cocktail bar - The Fusel Lounge.
En route to pick up their custom-made plaid tuxedos, they were slammed broadside by a school bus filled with eager Catholic teens. The teens were on their ways to witness the Beatles make their US television debut on the Ed Sullivan Show and miraculously escaped uninjured. The members of Forever Plaid were killed instantly. It is at that moment, when their careers and lives ended, that the story of FOREVER PLAID begins.
Through the Power of Harmony and the Expanding Holes in the Ozone Layer, in conjunction with the positions of the planets and all the astrotechnical stuff, they are allowed to come back to perform the show they never got to do in life.
And having completed their Mission of Harmony, our men in plaid must return to cosmos. Although they may be gone, through this production, their dreams live on forever.