''Forever Plaid'' is an
Off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
musical revue written by Stuart Ross, and first performed in New York in 1989 and now performed internationally.
Overview
The show is a revue of the close-harmony "guy groups" (''e.g.''
The Four Aces,
The Four Freshmen) that reached the height of their popularity during the 1950s. Personifying the clean-cut genre are the Plaids. This quartet of high-school chums' dreams of recording an album ended in death in a collision with a bus filled with
Catholic schoolgirls on their way to see the
Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...
' American debut on ''
The Ed Sullivan Show''. The revue begins with the Plaids returning from the afterlife for one final chance at musical glory.
The songs they sing during the course of the musical include:
"
Three Coins in the Fountain";
"
Undecided";
"Gotta Be This or That";
"
Moments to Remember";
"Crazy 'Bout Ya, Baby";
"
No, Not Much";
"
Sixteen Tons";
"
Chain Gang
A chain gang or road gang is a group of prisoners chained together to perform menial or physically challenging work as a form of punishment. Such punishment might include repairing buildings, building roads, or clearing land. The system was no ...
";
"
Perfidia";
"
Cry
Crying is the dropping of tears (or welling of tears in the eyes) in response to an emotional state, or pain. Emotions that can lead to crying include sadness, anger, and even happiness. The act of crying has been defined as "a complex secreto ...
";
"
Heart and Soul";
"
Lady of Spain
"Lady of Spain" is a popular song composed in 1931 by Tolchard Evans with lyrics by " Erell Reaves", a pseudonym of Stanley J. Damerell and Robert Hargreaves (1894–1934)I, and by Henry Tilsley. The sheet music was published in London by the Pet ...
";
"
Scotland the Brave";
"
Shangri-La";
"
Rags to Riches"; and
"
Love is a Many-Splendored Thing".
Productions
Stuart Ross explained the production history of the revue, stating that it was initially produced at the
West Bank Cafe in 1987. It then ran at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut and Downstairs Cabaret in Rochester, New York, where the revue was rewritten to have the members of the Plaids killed. The revue next ran at The American Stage Company at the Becton Theatre,
Teaneck, New Jersey in December 1988. The revue opened in New York in November 1989 at
Steve McGraw's.
[Holden Stephen]
"Review/Cabaret; 'Forever Plaid,' a Spoof"
''The New York Times'', November 23, 1989 The revue re-opened at McGraw's in May 1990 and closed on June 12, 1994.
[" ''Forever Plaid'' Off-Broadway"]
lortel.org, accessed May 22, 2016
The original 1989 New York cast was Stan Chandler, Guy Stroman, Gabriel Barre and Jason Graae.
[ The original 1990 New York cast included Jason Graae (Sparky); Stan Chandler (Jinx); David Engel (Smudge); and Guy Stroman (Frankie).][
Musical arrangements, vocal arrangements and musical direction were by James Raitt;][ the show was written, directed, and choreographed by Stuart Ross.
]
Musical numbers
;Act I
* Deus Ex Plaid - Plaids
* Three Coins in the Fountain - Frankie, Plaids
* Gotta Be This or That / Undecided - Plaids
* Moments to Remember - Plaids
* Crazy 'Bout Ya Baby - Frankie, Plaids
* No, Not Much - Jinx, Plaids
* Perfidia - Sparky, Plaids
* Cry - Jinx, Plaids
* Sixteen Tons / Chain Gang - Smudge, Frankie, Plaids
* Private Functions: The Bride Cuts the Cake / Italian Wedding / Anniversary Waltz / Itty Bitty Town of Bethlehem / Hava Nagila / Rock-a My Soul / She Loves You - Plaids
*The Golden Cardigan / Catch a Falling Star
"Catch a Falling Star" is a song written by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss. It is best known and was made famous by Perry Como's hit version, recorded and released in late 1957.
Background and chart performance
The song's melody is based on a them ...
- Sparky, Plaids
;Act 2
* Caribbean Plaid: Day-O / Kingston Market / Jamaica Farewell / Matilda Matilda - Jinx, Frankie, Plaids
* Heart and Soul - Frankie, Plaids
* Mercury / Lady of Spain - Jinx, Plaids
* Scotland the Brave - Plaids
* Shangri-La / Rags to Riches (samples "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly") - Smudge, Plaids
* Love is a Many Splendored Thing - Plaids
Motion picture
The play was produced as a motion picture
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
(released on July 9, 2009) starring Chandler and Engel from the original cast, with Larry Raben and Daniel Reichard taking over for Sparky and Francis (Frankie), respectively. David Hyde Pierce guest stars as the narrator. David Snyder served as musical director and pianist. The movie was written and directed by the show's original creator, Stuart Ross, and edited by Oscar and Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
winner Alan Helm. The performances of "The Golden Cardigan" and "Catch a Falling Star" are notably absent.
Sequels
The Pasadena Playhouse and Neptune Theatre (Halifax)
The Neptune Theatre is the largest professional theatre company in Atlantic Canada with a capacity of 458 and is located in downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It performs a mixture of new and classical plays. It is named after the play Théâ ...
, famous for its versions of the original, ran a sequel called ''Plaid Tidings'', a holiday version with modified story and songs. The Pasadena engagement premiered in November 2001,
and ran again in December 2002. The ''Los Angeles Times'' reviewer wrote that the musical is "enormously entertaining feel-good fare...''Plaid Tidings,'' however, significantly expands upon the original model, its self-contained ethos of sunny homage augmented with flashes of pathos and larger point." ''Plaid Tidings'' made its New York City debut at the York Theatre Company at St. Peter's in December 2015.
It is available for licensing through Music Theatre International.
References
External links
*
Forever Plaid
' at the Music Theatre International website
*
Forever Plaid: Plaid Tidings
' at the Music Theatre International website
*'' The Sound of Plaid: The New Glee Club Version'' of Forever Plaid at the Music Theatre International website
Official movie website
*{{imdb title, id=1262896, title=Forever Plaid
1990 musicals
Off-Broadway musicals
One-act musicals
Jukebox musicals