Forever Plaid

Oct. 8, 2009 – March 28, 2010

Theater Square Cabaret

Tickets… Forever Plaid

Oct. 8, 2009 – March 28, 2010

Theater Square Cabaret

Tickets $39.50

http://www.culturaldistrict.org/tickets

In honor of its fifth anniversary, the Pittsburgh CLO Cabaret is hosting a reunion. The dress code is plaid only.

“Forever Plaid,” a jukebox musical that highlights the pop hits of yesteryear through the voices of an all-male quartet of clean-cut singers, is returning to Pittsburgh to mark another milestone in the venue’s history. The show will run from now until March of next year.

In 2004, this off-Broadway hit was the first performance of the CLO Cabaret, which has been a major name on the Pittsburgh theater scene ever since.

The talented cast of the 2004 production is also making a comeback, along with director and choreographer Guy Stroman.

Stroman — a distant relative of Tony Award winner Susan Stroman — was a part of “Forever Plaid’s” creation and directed many mountings of the piece in its own 20-year history.

“‘Forever Plaid’ is a piece I helped develop in NYC when it was just an idea, three monologues and some great songs from the ‘50s and ‘60s,” Stroman said.

On the topic of the different experiences and productions, he said, “I direct and stage the show that I know and that I know works. I help each actor find their own path to play these roles, and that can feel different, but the results and impact are always effective.”

Stroman said his experiences with this show were some of the most fulfilling of his career. Throughout the years, he saw the extreme excitement exhibited by American patrons of “Forever Plaid” and the undying loyalty of its fans across the pond.

He relished the chance to work with the CLO Cabaret and to bring this musical to Pittsburgh again. Stroman acknowledges that directing is a craft that actually chose him. His chance to communicate the inherent joys of this show is just one of the fringe benefits of his enlistment.

The play starts out with four high school friends dying in a tragic car accident on the side of a road.

What sounds like the headline of a particularly morbid front page is actually the preface of “Forever Plaid.”

It is on the night of The Beatles’ legendary debut performance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” that divine intervention rears its elusive head and gives Frankie, Jinx, Smudge and Sparky the chance to perform their dream show.

Thanks to the original direction, choreography, libretto by Stuart Ross and a score that assembles some of the 1950s’ most well known songs (including “Cry” and “Love Is A Many Splendored Thing”),

“Plaid” has been called off-Broadway’s No. 1 show and sold more than $300 million in tickets. It pervaded the relative obscurity that is characteristic of off-Broadway shows and reached the mainstream.

Unbeknownst to the folks at Webster’s Dictionary, late night television personality Jay Leno coined a phrase to describe the millions of ardent devotees that the show has acquired over its long history — “plaid heads.”

Some celebrity plaid heads include Liza Minnelli, Jason Alexander, Rosie O’Donnell and Tommy Hilfiger.

“Forever Plaid’s” returning cast of leading men from the 2004 production, Chris Crouch (Frankie), J.D. Daw (Jinx), Joseph Domencic (Smudge) and Marcus Stevens (Sparky) hope to create a new group of plaid heads from this season’s crop of Pittsburgh’s theatergoers.

Daw might tread softly around the streets of Downtown in the apparel of his alma mater Penn State University, but on stage, he is at ease with his fellow plaids. He enjoys watching his sensational castmates belt out solos and receive an uproarious applause from the audience.

“I’ll know them for the rest of my life, and getting to work with all of them again is just about the best part of this whole event,” he said about the group’s harmonious rapport.

Despite the symphonic nature of the show’s cast, Crouch understands Frankie’s role as leader within the group.

“He’s got big dreams for them all and celebrates with all of their collective and individual successes,” he said.

Both Crouch and Daw count the show’s opening number, “Three Coins in the Fountain,” among their favorite songs to perform.

They credit their director and his encouragement for allowing them to become comfortable and confident with the portrayals of their respective characters.

“Forever Plaid” begins to write a new chapter in its successful history — with the help of the Pittsburgh CLO Cabaret’s anniversary celebrations — and hopefully will add a few more years to its shelf life.