GCT reprises the popular hit musical "Forever Plaid"

--- Theater review

Patrons of Glendale Centre Theatre have a surprise awaiting them when they attend the 2011 Season's opening show "Forever Plaid." Not only will they enjoy a humorous and nostalgic musical revue, they will see Glendale's theater-in-the-round as never before.

Entering through the velvet curtains from the lobby, guests will at once see a starry blue proscenium stage with sparkling Mylar curtains covering the entire East end of the theater while rows of folding chairs fill the familiar center stage area. The view produces a buzz of conversation and speculation until the lights dim and the performance begins.

"Forever Plaid" opens with this glittering stage in spotlight. On it are a piano, a base fiddle, and a quartet of cloth-covered floor microphones standing as mementos of a performance that never happened. A deep-voiced narrator (Tim Dietlein) begins the story.... "Once upon a time there were four guys (Sparky, Smudge, Jinx and Frankie) who loved to sing..."

This youthful quartet eventually lands their first big gig and is on their way to pick up their custom-made plaid tuxedos when they're broadsided by a bus and killed instantly. "It is at that moment, when their careers and lives ended, that the story of the Forever Plaids begins."

Four clean-cut guys in white dinner jackets enter, carrying candles and singing an "ethereal" version of "Sha-boom, Sha-boom." Seeing the waiting stage they realize that after 47 years, they will finally have a chance to do the show. The base fiddle player (Timothy Emmons) quietly slips onto his stool and the "union" pianist (Stevn Applegate) takes his place at the baby-grand.

Frankie (Alex Camp) the second tenor and more-or-less leader of the group gets them into position and soon the dreamy lyrics of "Three Coins in The Fountain" flow and blend in delightful harmony. The mellow sound sends frissons of pleasure up the spines of those in the audience old enough to remember the romantic 1954 movie and theme song.

Jinx (Daniel Thomas) the uber-shy top tenor in the group with a proclivity to nose bleeds (causing several moments of humorous schtick) leads in the song that evokes memories of high school proms and first dates, "Moments to Remember."

Smudge (Danny Michaels of Will Rogers fame) is the bass singer and gets surprisingly deep "into the barrel." His "Sixteen Tons" soon has the audience lip-synching the words, thinking perhaps of Tennessee Ernie Ford who made the song famous. Frankie throws in a stanza of "Chain Gang" between verses for a very workable combo.

Bits and pieces of the member's histories come out between songs, and there are frequent comic moments when the quartet's somewhat over-performed precision movements collide. (Smudge, as a "lefty" seems always to be the culprit.)

In a tribute to Perry Como (with an anecdote about meeting the famous singer), Sparky (Kurt Cereske) croons a marvelous "Catch a Falling Star." Jinx's clear high tenor is perfect for the calypso sounds of "Day-O," and a volunteer audience member is brought on stage to help Frankie with "Heart and Soul."

The sweeping, romantic "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" is the high-point of their performance, before "Shangri-La" sends them flying off to resume their Heavenly journey.

Men and women "of a certain age" will wax nostalgic at these mellow, ear-pleasing sounds of four-part harmony, and while younger generations might giggle, hopefully they will value the music that turned the world for their parents and grandparents.

Forever Plaid - an entertaining, family-friendly musical that salutes the "Good Guys" in life.

Performances are Wednesday-Saturday evenings at 8:00 pm, Saturday matinees at 3:00 pm through January 29, 2011.

Tickets are $23.00 - $26.00. (Group rates are available for 15 or more.)

Reservations: call (818) 244-8481 or visit: www.glendalecentretheatre.com

Glendale Centre Theatre Location: 324 N. Orange Street, Glendale, CA 91203