FOREVER PLAID Opening Night

Forever Plaid

TSP HOME║ PLAID HOME║ Behind the Scenes║ Meet the Staff & Cast║ Opening Night║ Production Info║ Theatre Superstitions║ Ticket Info

Opening Night, March 5, 2004

The Reviews

THE PLAIDS:
Front: Tony Calzaretta (FRANKIE), Matt Scharlau (SPARKY)
Back: Charles Rucker (SMUDGE), Stephan Panek (JINX)

In the Green Room

Director; Robert Wilbrandt
Producers; Deb Spitzbart, Lou Czarny

Musical Director; Kerry Hays, & Robert Wilbrandt

Kerry, Pianist; Glorious George Peetz, Bob

Pre Show

Relaxation
Stephan Panek (Jinx) at the piano

Matt Scharlau (Sparky) practices his juggling

Opening Night Reception

Producers Deb Spitzbart & Lou Czarny cut the cake.

NICOTH
by Betsy Stemple

What happens to your dream of being famous when a tragedy comes and takes your life too early? According to TownSquare Players’ Forever Plaid, the power of the dream goes with you into the other world, and you might just get to play your fantasy out before moving into the next life. That’s what happened to four young guys named Frankie, Jinx, Smudge, and Sparky.

Calling themselves The Plaids, four high school grads from 1964 held dreams of making it big as they drove to their first real gig in the local hotel lounge. Tragically, they never made it. A school bus filled with "parochial virgins" broadsided their car and The Plaids lost their lives on the road to stardom.

The stage lights come up on a pseudo-lounge set. The confused quartet appears from offstage, and realizes their limbo status. They’re shocked that forty years have passed, and come to the conclusion that they need to perform the set they never got to on that fateful night before they can pass into the next realm.

Matt Scharlau as Sparky, is simply adorable with his sweet voice and rapport with the audience. Tony Calzaretta’s Frankie is very smooth. Though a little too old for the role, he has a lovely voice and is a very convincing actor. Stephan Panek’s Jinx appeared appropriately nervous in the beginning of his solo, 'Cry,' but wowed the audience with his transition to the second part of the song when he took control and sang like a real teenage idol. Charles Rucker as Smudge was very funny in playing off the deep vocal slide that took his range far below what he ever really wants to sing. Nice job, Guys.

Props are an integral part of the humor in this show, so some creativity is necessary to pull off some of the gags. Maureen Wilbrandt furnished the banana palms with real-looking bananas, wrapped in Christmas lights, which audience members were asked to hold during the Caribbean number.

The audience participation portions were done just right. Passing the guest book for the audience to sign at the end was another sweet touch.

Paul Bayer is a genius with lighting. For other companies, such a static set would be easy to light. For TSP’s version here, it was an exercise in creative approach. Impressive were the many moods created on the same set simply by exchanging lighting effects from a soft glow on a glittery backdrop, to two tones of color washing in from opposite sides, making a plaid effect on the backdrop.

Forever Plaid is a dream show for male singers. The artistic director, Bob Wilbrandt, points out that this show is "mostly about the music." With that said, the music direction by Kerry Hays, as well as the chemistry and vocal blend of the cast members is paramount to the effectiveness of the songs.

On opening night, the harmonies sometimes sounded less than tight. Happily, as the cast warmed up, so did the numbers, making this particular rendition of Forever Plaid wholly enjoyable. Do get a chance to see this one. Forever Plaid runs through March 21st at the Woodstock Opera House in Woodstock.

'Forever Plaid' Not to be missed
By Lisa Kelly, Woodstock Independent

Forever Plaid opened at the Woodstock Opera House last weekend, and I wanted it to last forever. It was like a personal trip down memory lane with familiar favorites at every musical turn.

Forever Plaid was a "guy group". The four members of the group were killed in an automobile accident on their way to their debut performance in 1964. Through some celestial wrong turn, they ended up in doo-whop heaven appearing at the ÒFusel LoungeÓ at the airport.

Their voices are all phenomenal, both blended and solo. As their performance confidence builds, their personalities and their stories emerge. Frankie, the group leader, is played by Tony Calzaretta. He is marvelous as he guides the others. Jinx, Stephan Panek, overcomes his shyness to really belt out a song. One of my two favorite numbers was his rendition of 'Cry'.

Buddy Holly look-alike Smudge, played by Charles Rucker, also overcomes butterflies as he joins Tony in one of the other great numbers, 'Sixteen Tons'. Filling out the Plaids is Sparky, Matt Scharlau, who obviously is having a great time as a performer.

The music is fantastic and so reminiscent of my formative years. Forever Plaid gets the whole audience involved in interactive goofiness and does a marvelous spoof on the odd collection of jugglers, fire eaters and puppets-run-amok that passed as entertainment on weekly television variety shows. The group is accompanied by bass and piano players, and the lighting is amazingly adaptive to the music. The pink shirts and white dinner jackets were required at the time and do well until replaced by more fitting attire.

In this performance, the four singers finally fulfill their dreams and can find peace at last. And they take the audience right along with them without an intermission. I was so glad. It would have been painful to allow any interruption. It was hard enough to accept when it was actually over.

Even though this production felt like it was written as the soundtrack of my teen years, there are a few other age and interest groups that would undoubtedly find Forever Plaid as engaging as I did, including pre-baby boomers, baby boomers, gen Xers, anyone who likes music, anyone who cares about people and anyone who likes to have fun.

I think that about covers it. Director Bob Wilbrandt and the TownSquare Players Inc. deserve accolades and appreciation for this delightful production. What a success. Forever Plaid will continue enchanting audiences at the Opera House weekends through March 21. For tickets or information, call the box office at 338-5300.