Forever Plaid Captures 
Simpler Time In Perfect Harmony 

 The Journal-Pioneer, July 8th, 1999 
a review by Andy Walker 

 CHARLOTTETOWN-- Picture four dead guys in plaid suits singing Perry Como music. 

 That, in a nutshell, is the premise behind Forever Plaid (billed as the heavenly musical hit), which opened its summer run Tuesday at the MacKenzie Theatre. However, that simple synopsis doesn’t begin to explain the show’s popularity. 

 It had a successful four-and-a-half year run in Toronto, and the opening night audience in Charlottetown was a sell-out - so was the preview night. 

 The members of the group, Smudge, Jinx, Frankie and Sparky, are high school graduates of 1964 hoping for their big break as “The Plaids.” 

 The show takes place just when they get a gig to play the local airport lounge, but there’s just one hitch -- they die in a car accident on the way to the show. To allow their souls to be at rest for eternity, they are permitted to come back to earth to perform one final show. 

 All Four “Plaids” are strong musically. Look for great renditions of such classics as Moments to Remember and Catch a Falling Star. No rock and roll here -- the closest thing is a mellow rendition of the Beatles classic “She Loves You”. 

 Make no mistake about it -- the Plaids would be classed as nerds even in the “I Love Lucy” 1950s. Smudge (Matthew Cassidy) with his horned rimmed glasses, Jinx (Kevin Dennis) with his persistent nosebleeds, and the fear of women shared by the entire foursome. 

 Jonathan Ellul plays Frankie while Geoff Lacny rounds out the group in the role of Sparky. 

 The foursome might better be named “The Shy Guys.” Much of the comedy results from their shyness in performing -- all four have that “deer caught in the headlights” look down to perfection. 

 Their depiction of the Ed Sullivan Show in three minutes is a classic. It’s hilarious and extremely fastpaced compared to the rest of the show. The other lively numbers come in the calypso segment, which the audience seemed to appreciate. The impact of plaid and a sombrero for the Mexican number is worth seeing. 

 The show is big on audience participation. Don’t be surprised if you’re called on to be Perry Como, a palm tree or even play the piano. 

 It’s all part of the fun and helps the “Plaids” fulfill their heavenly mission. 

 The production makes great use of lighting, and it’s a tribute to the make-up department that the absence of color in their faces make them look dead. 

 Forever Plaid provides an opportunity to forget about the approaching millennium for a few hours and return to a simpler time. Just don’t expect any rock and roll. 

Forever Plaid Enjoyable 
Romp Through A Great Era Of Music 

 MacKenzie theatre Main Attraction Opens For ‘99 Season 

 By Doug Gallant 
The Guardian 

 There was a time in North America when nobody dared leave the house on Sunday night because they might miss the Ed Sullivan Show. 

 A time when Milton Berle became television’s clown prince by taking a pie in the face, Perry Como crooned his way into the hearts of millions with songs like Dream Along With Me and Robert Young set the standard for parents everywhere with his portrayal of the perfect dad on Father Knows Best. 

 Those classic television shows and just about everything else North America fell in love with during that era can be found in many instances treasured once more in Forever Plaid, this year’s second stage production at the Charlottetown Festival’s David MacKenzie Theatre. 

 Forever Plaid is the kind of summer fare so many people say they’re looking for, pure entertainment from start to finish. No heavy plot. No great ponderous message. No aftertaste. 

 Just an open window to a simpler, happier time when, fortunately for creator Stuart Ross, everything that needed to be said could be said with music. 

 Forever Plaid is the fictional story of Sparky, Smudge, Jinx and Frankie, four guys form Pennsylvania who love to sing four-part harmonies and dream of one day making it big in the music world. 

 They spent countless hours rehearsing together from the early fifties to the early sixties in the basement of the plumbing supply company owned by Smudge’s dad. 

 It was in that same basement where they first coined the tag Forever Plaid - a name they felt encompassed the traditional values of family, home and harmony. 

 They paid their dues playing family gatherings, fund-raisers and bowling banquets until one day they got the big break they thought would launch their career, a date at the Airport Hotel cocktail bar - The Fusel Lounge. 

 Unfortunately God had other plans. En route to the airport they were taken out of the picture by a schoolbus transporting a group of teenage girls to New York to see The Beatles. 

 Nobody on the bus was injured but Forever Plaid was silenced forever. Until now. 

 The story picks up 35 years later when, through the Power of Harmony and the perfect alignment of the planets, Sparky, Smudge, Jinx and Frankie are granted one chance to give the show they never gave. 

For you. 

 And if they make a big enough impression on you, they get the ultimate bonus, a ticket out of Purgatory and a shot at that big concert hall in the sky. 

 Do they have what it takes to make that kind of impression? You bet your bippy they do. 

 Director Brian Hill, a member of the original Toronto cast of Forever Plaid, has assembled a talented company of young actors for this festival production. 

 Kevin Dennis, Geoff Lacny, Matthew Cassidy, and Jonathan Ellul have both the vocal prowess needed to produce the kind of soaring four-part harmonies that made stars out of acts like The Four Lads and the comedic sensibilities to carry off the physical comedy that is very much a part of this show. 

 Through the cast of Forever Plaid, those who grew up with songs like Sam Cooke’s Chain Gang, Tennessee Ernie Ford’s Sixteen Tons, Perry Como’s Magic Moments, Tony Bennett’s Rags to Riches and The Four Aces’ Love Is A Many Splendored Thing, can turn back the clock and stroll down memory lane. 

 Those who are too young to remember the music can still enjoy it for what it is and the atmosphere this music creates, an atmosphere in which fun is always the operative word, love conquers all and tomorrow always holds promise. 

 There is something in Forever Plaid that appeals to almost everybody, from romantic fifties ballads and comic romps through the palm trees with the troupe in full calypso mode to a breakneck version of The Ed Sullivan Show, complete with jugglers, dancers, acrobats and puppets that clocks in at just over three minutes. 

 Forever Plaid plays at MacKenzie Theatre six nights a week right into October, 8 p.m. nightly. 

Three's Company 

 The Buzz, August 1999 
by Kirby Ferguson 

 I recently had the good fortune of viewing three of Charlottetown's premiere comedic theatre offerings: the skit comedy of the Drill Queens......and the musical humor of Forever Plaid. No matter what your tastes in comedy, one of these three diverse shows will certainly fit the bill. 

 ....Forever Plaid boldly professes itself "the funniest night of your life!" and the older crowd it attracted to the MacKenzie Theatre clearly agreed. Packed wall-to-wall with exuberant viewers, the show is a real crowd-pleaser.....