
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, August 5, 1995                   TAG: 9508090005
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KATHERINE REED STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

`FOREVER PLAID' IS PURE FUN

Four very talented guys singing on the stage of Mill Mountain Theatre prove what some people say about making art: You've got to know the rules before you can break them.

Or before you can pretend to have forgotten them.

"Forever Plaid," a thoroughly entertaining musical comedy that opened Friday, just would not work if the four men who are "The Plaids" didn't sing extremely well. The play runs on a bunch of well-sung tunes, but it's the goof-ups and gaffes that come with being a little rusty as a performer that make it really funny.

Let's face it, when you've been dead about 30 years, it's tough to remember all the lyrics.

That's the premise: Four guys, the members of a '50s band called "Forever Plaid" who were killed in 1963 on their way to pick up their brand-new plaid dinner jackets, are miraculously returned to life for a performance (the one you're seeing). No one's really sure why - not even the Plaids.

It's "the biggest comeback since Lazarus," and the boys really make the most of it. They've got a few problems, though: Jinx (Paul Lucas) still gets nosebleeds; Frankie (Bart Shatto) still needs his inhaler; Sparky (Joey Sorge) is never quite sure what to do with his retainer and Smudge (Michael Zimmer) relies heavily on milk of magnesia.

In between nosebleeds, however, they perform in classic boy-band style songs like "Three Coins in a Fountain," "Crazy 'Bout Ya Baby," "Chain Gang" and "Day-O," among many others. People old enough to remember the music find themselves singing along to it; those too young to remember get a kick out of the innocence - and goofiness - of some of the music of that period.

As for these four actors, they've got it made: Every night, they get to be cheered on as they pretend to be performing the tunes for the first time in a long time. Every time they hit one out of the park, the audience cheers. Every time they make a (pretend) mistake, the audience laughs.

None of this is meant to downplay the achievement of director Drew Geraci, musical director Jay Atwood and - especially - the four men who play the Plaids, but "Forever Plaid" is as close to a win-win theatrical proposition as you are ever likely to see. It's also about as much fun as you are likely to have in an hour and a half in the theater.

Forever Plaid

At Mill Mountain Theatre through Aug. 27. Tickets are $16-$20. Call 342-5740 for reservations and curtain times.

by CNB