THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 26, 1995 TAG: 9502240080
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E9 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Theater review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, THEATER CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
HARMONY AND nostalgia, a cajoling twosome, are at the center of ``Forever Plaid,'' a popular entertainment making its local debut after surprisingly successful runs around the country.
This is a tribute to the four-guy-harmony pop music that once was the rage but has since become a whimper. If you liked folks such as The Four Aces and The Four Preps, you'll immediately snuggle up to this show.
The songs themselves give you the idea: ``Love is a Many Splendored Thing,'' ``Three Coins in the Fountain,'' ``Heart and Soul,'' ``Shangri-La,'' ``Dream Along With Me'' and ``Moment to Remember.'' It brings back memories of Jennifer Jones and William Holden coming over that windy hill to the strains of ``Many Splendored Thing.''
``Forever Plaid'' is one of the notable successes of recent show business lore. Opening at a cabaret that passed for off-Broadway, it played for 3 1/2 years, going on to break all attendance records at the venerable Old Globe Theater in San Diego.
The appeal is predominantly nostalgia. It would be difficult to imagine that many were won over to this music by a first-time exposure.
Most regrettable is a silly plot that stretches almost to contortion in an effort to make this a play rather than what it really is - a cabaret act.
Here we have The Plaids, a semi-professional group who are killed when their 1954 Mercury convertible is hit by a van carrying a group of Catholic teens who are on their way to the U.S. debut of the Beatles. The teens survive the crash, but the quartet perishes. The symbolism is overly obvious - The Plaids, and their like, have been overrun by a new beat.
Twenty-six years later, The Plaids get a chance to come back from the dead for a one-night gig.
As comedy, the show is pretty lame. It comes precariously close to satirizing the very genre it worships. When it does, its audience might well turn in revolt. It should just go ahead and enjoy its squareness.
The quartet is locally cast and it sounds fine, usually. But curiously, it sounds better solo than as a foursome. As the run progresses, the musicians will presumably warm to each other to the degree that the vibrato should ring through the hall.
Lewis Stark is the crooner. Bryan Potts, Gary Spell and Garry Manasco all serve manfully, better as singers than as comics. Spell also doubles as the show's director with Kathi Caplan as the music director. The singers are backed by piano and acoustic bass.
``Forever Plaid'' is a harmless and quite likable diversion. If you're a fan of the '50s pop music oldies, rush to it. If not, you'll still have a good time. by CNB