[by Shiela Steinman Wallace]
Have you ever wondered what it would be like if someone who died young got the opportunity to come back to life just for a day or two to do the thing that he or she had always dreamed of doing?
Well, that’s the premise behind Forever Plaid, the current CenterStage production. A young quartet of musicians, on their way to their first big gig, are killed in a car crash, but somehow, they get to come back some time in the future to do their show.
Pete Lay, Jon Adams, Kyle Braun and Jeremy Moon as Frankie, Smudge, Sparky and Jinx respectively do a good job of capturing the group’s mixed emotions – uncertainty about where they really are and what they can do, nervousness about performing after such a “long” hiatus, and even an unwillingness to finish the set after which they will be gone for good.
The show is full of wonderful oldies, performed well, but still showing the uncertainty at spots that would come from a band in that situation.
To add to the ambience, the company has set up the auditorium like a night club, with tables and chairs rather than the usual chairs on risers. While this technique worked well with Cabaret and La Cage au Faux, the Plaids were just too inexperienced to really involve the audience in their performance, so the benefits of “mood” were somewhat diminished.
Still Forever Plaid is a wonderfully fun evening, and if you haven’t seen it yet, you can catch it Saturday evening, May 15, at 7:30 p.m. or Sunday, May 16 at 2 or 7 p.m.
CenterStage kicks off its 2010-2011 Tony Award winning season July 8 with Seussical, The Musical. The season will also include 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Brigadoon, Man of La Mancha, The Music Man and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Show and season ticket information is available by visiting our CenterStage page or by calling Marcy Workman at 238-2739.