Day 354- Forever Plaid-CLO Cabaret-Nostalgic Harmonies for the Young and the Young at Heart

Forever Plaid is a musical comedy that takes you back to the 1950’s where male musical groups like the Four Aces and The Platters dominated the top 40 charts. When I was a child, my mother often  bragged that “the best music came out of 50’s.” This youngster (relatively speaking) was ready to join the “young at heart” and visit this bygone era of nostalgic harmonies in Forever Plaid.

This "fab four" of a different genre sang non stop for 90 minutes

Reflection

In this show we meet “The Plaids” as they return from the afterlife to give the musical performance that never was. This high school quartet’s dream of  “making it big” in the music world was cut short when they met their demise in a car crash with Catholic schoolgirls on their way to the Beatles's debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. You get the picture, it’s a silly plot to bring a musical revue of this bygone era to the stage.

This “fab four” of a different genre sang non-stop for 90 minutes without an intermission. With pristine harmonies they sang 30 hits from the 1950’s like: “Catch a Falling Star,” “Three Coins in the Fountain,” “Love Is a Many Splendored Thing,” “Magic Moments” and more.  

Frankie (Quinn Patrick Shannon), Jinx (Brandon Lambert), Sparky (Zander Lyons), and Smudge (Wood Van Meter) blended sounds, mixed harmonies and kept us laughing from start to finish. “The Plaids” gave us a hysterical mash-up of acts on the Ed Sullivan Show, used inventive instrument back ups in the song “Chain Gang” and even had a number with plungers (you got to see that one).

The 20 something cast of Forever Plaid fell in love with the iconic music 

I noticed some seasoned audience members singing along and I overheard an occasional, “I remember that one. I love this song.”  I met the four 20 something actors after the show and asked them about singing this music from the past.  They admitted that they heard most of these songs for the first time in the show but that they were now all fans of the music.  Maybe my mother was right that some of the best music came out of the 50’s . This show makes fans out of us “youngsters” and  those that are young at heart.

(Forever Plaid runs until December 29, 2019 at the intimate setting of the Greer Cabaret Theater. For tickets go to pittsburghclo.org.)

Spiritual Reflection

Young people, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in.  But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do (Ecclesiastes 11:9)

Other Sources
https://www.pittsburghclo.org/shows/forever-plaid