Pasadena Playhouse "Forever Plaid ““ a Special
Holiday Edition," is playing at the Pasadena Playhouse.
By Mary Williams
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The Plaids have been watching over the planet for the past 10
years, and now they’re coming back.
“Forever Plaid,” the 10-year-old musical that has
toured across the country and internationally, now has a special
edition written specifically for the Christmas season at the
Pasadena Playhouse.
Both editions feature four singers called the Plaids, who died
en route to their big break performance. A little naive but still
ready to harmonize, the foursome returned to Earth for the first
time in the original production, and are now ready to make another
stop to this planet for an evening of Christmas songs.
“I never thought that an entire evening of Christmas songs
would be anything I wanted to be part of,” said Stuart Ross,
the creator and director of the original and new editions of
“Forever Plaid.” “It would just be too corny or
too boring. Then I had the idea, that if the Plaids didn’t
know it was Christmas, and they came back, and didn’t know
they were supposed to do a show, and then they had to figure it
out, with the audience, then I had to reason. And then, they had a
reason to come back, because, after Sept. 11, we could use a little
harmony. So then it all started to fall into place, and I said,
“˜OK, let’s try it.'”
This new edition of the musical has the Plaids returning to
Earth, unaware that 10 years have passed and that it is the
Christmas season.
This follow-up to the original is the result of the first
“Plaid’s” widespread success. The combination of
1950s to early 1960s music and the warm humor that characterized
the musical made it a nationwide hit. In Los Angeles, the play
opened at the Pasadena Playhouse and was later performed at the
Canon Theatre in Beverly Hills.
Ross attributes the success to the combination of nostalgia for
the songs and the foibles of the characters.
“The music is the music. The music doesn’t sustain
it by itself. So I really have to think that it’s the fact
that these are losers ““ lovable losers, who really are
earnest, and really want to make a go of it. That people like them.
And they believe in their dream. And that’s what you need in
a musical,” he said.
This combination has resulted in an audience of all ages, from
those too young to remember the music when it was popular, to those
who attend for the nostalgia of hearing old hits sung in
harmony.
“It’s just good natured fun … Even if you
didn’t know (the music), it’s engaging,” said
John-Michael Flate, who plays Smudge. “You don’t even
have to be a fan of that kind of music to enjoy it.”
Even though the play has been running almost continuously for
the past decade, Ross has avoided requests to update it.
“I was very adamant about not doing this project again.
They’re like little virgins. You can’t be a virgin
twice. They’ve come back to Earth, leave them alone. Go on to
something else,” he said.
Nonetheless, when Sheldon Epps, the Pasadena Playhouse artistic
director, asked Ross this time to create a Christmas edition, he
said yes.
This version includes over 20 songs, one of them written for the
production. The Plaids also attempt a hip-hop song. Many of the
songs are modern, and all are non-religious.
The musical has been customized to Pasadena, in that the
characters refer to the fact that they are seeing the same audience
as they saw when the original play made it’s Los Angeles
debut in the same theater.
“I think that Stuart has done a great job with
incorporating the Christmas theme into the show … It comes from
around the corner. I think it’s unusual. It’s not your
typical Christmas show,” Flate said.
As of yet, there are no plans to perform the musical anywhere
else, although Ross has considered the possibility.
“I think it would be nice. I sort of only want it to
happen in places that have done the original show,” Ross
said.
Steve Gunderson, who plays Sparky, said that the fact that much
of the audience will have seen the original is a benefit for this
production, rather than a reason to be intimidated.
“The ones that have already enjoyed the show, I think
they’re already on our side,” he said.
“They’re already in Plaidland.”
“Forever Plaid ““ A Special Holiday Edition” is
in previews now and opens Nov. 11. Tickets for preview performances
are $15-$35, and for regular performances are $15-$50. For more
information or to buy tickets, call (626) 356-PLAY.