FOREVER PLAID, Rodgers Memorial Theatre, 292 E. Pages Lane, Centerville; directed by Marilyn Montgomery; continues Mondays and Thurs-days-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. through June 21; one matinee performance on Saturday, June 21, at 3 p.m. All seats reserved ($8 to $10). Box office: 298-1302. Running time: 1 hour, 55 minutes (one intermission).
The newly formed Davis County Performing Arts Corp., now responsible for the mainstage events at the Rodgers Memorial Theatre (formerly the Pages Lane), continues to turn up the quality of live theater in Davis County up several notches."Forever Plaid," a sure-fire audience-pleaser, is the latest example. This is one of those shows you could see dozens of times because it never gets tedious or boring. It's packed with just slightly less than two hours of great "guy group" music from the mid-1950s and early '60s, with just enough dialogue to make you feel like you really know the unique foursome - Smudge, Frankie, Jinx and Sparky.
According to the plot, they were creamed by a busload of parochial school students on Feb. 9, 1964. The guys, riding in a Mercury convertible, were all killed. Now, 33 years later, they've been allowed to return to Earth for just one day to do the gig they never got to do back then.
These are characters you grow to care about. They're not just four dead guys who've suddenly turned up in the airport's FusiLounge, thanks to a fluke in the cosmos and a hole in the ozone layer.
The Plaids - and the Rodgers Memorial performers who play them - have talent to spare, as the show builds from nervous anticipation to knock-out renditions of one big hit after another. The crowd on Saturday night responded with tumultuous applause, whistling and cheers after nearly every song.
Book-ended by two great romantic film themes from the '50s, "Three Coins in the Fountain" and "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," the revue is packed with some of the greatest songs of the era - Johnny Ray's "Cry," Perry Como's "Catch a Falling Star" and such chestnuts as "Moments to Remember," "Lady of Spain" (as background to a segment dashing through "the entire Ed Sullivan show in three minutes and 11 seconds"), "Shangri-La" and "Rags to Riches."
Along the way, the audience gets to reminisce with the guys as they rehearse "Crazy 'Bout Ya, Baby" in the stockroom of Smudge's family's plumbing supply firm (with long-handled plungers replacing the microphones) and reflect on the joys of playing those old, large-holed 45s.
The Thursday/Saturday cast, which I caught on Saturday night, included David Stensrud as Smudge, Bryon Finch (who's in both casts) as Sparky, and brothers Dan and Jared Morgan as Frankie and Jinx. As a foursome, they harmonize beautifully, and their solo bits were done to perfection.
Onstage pianist and musical director for all performances is Brent Fotheringham, who has played for other "Plaids" for the Hale Centre Theatre, the Utah Musical Theatre version in Ogden and Park City Performances. Nicole Smith and Greg Dempsey alternate as the combo's bass player (Frankie's "Uncle Chester").
The Monday/Friday cast includes Jerry Allman as Smudge, newcomer Jay Henderson as Frankie and Todd Russell as Jinx.
Only a dyed-in-the-wool curmudgeon would dislike this thoroughly entertaining show. And it's not just for the '50s generation, either. I took three of my young next-door neighbors and they loved it.