Plaid Tidings

Do you remember--

• Señor Wences?
• Victor Borge fastening the seat belt on his piano bench?
• Harry Belafonte and Ma-Tild-ahhhhhh! (Okay, when he did it, it was just Matilda)
• The Four Lads, or Aces, or Freshman or any of those other wildly popular 'boy groups' of the 1950s and 60s?

If any of this trivia resonates with you, you'll love Plaid Tidings, now on the Bolton Theater stage at the Cleveland Play House.

Furthermore, this is a show suitable for everyone in the family, from kids to great-grandparents. Any- and everyone is sure to walk out of the theatre wearing a smile and maybe even humming a song or two or three. With one exception, all the songs you'll hear will be familiar to you.

Remember Ed Sullivan? Perry Como? They're here, too. And above all, Rosemary Clooney.

There's singing and dancing and costumes and jokes-sometimes corny ones, to be sure-and laughs galore in this sequel to the original Forever Plaid, which has been entertaining audiences for several years.

Stuart Ross deserves our gratitude for having put together the two Plaid productions. As the young men wistfully declaim near the end of the show, 'maybe they could come back again-for Valentine's Day, or Easter, or some other holiday.' Any holiday would be greatly enhanced by a Plaid presence.

Musical Direction is in the capable fingers of James Followell at the piano, while the string bass was nicely played by Brian King. Costumes by Debra Stein were bright and colorful, not to mention versatile.

The set, designed by Neil Peter Jampolis, was almost an extra character, displaying its chameleon-like quality as a night-club stage, TV production stage, or Plaid living room, not to mention the bright and sunny Caribbean locale of "Matilda".

Large translucent boxes (plaid fronts as seen through a Mondrian-type filter) at either side of the stage did double-duty as a bench, palm tree pot, and Christmas tree niche. There was lots of snow falling here and there, and colored lights swagged from the balconies provided a festive atmosphere.

Original sound design by Frederick W. Boot and resident sound design by James C. Swonger combined to present awesome thunder and totally comprehensible vocal effects. Lighting by Jane Reisman thoroughly complemented the sound.

Barbershop, or close harmony, singing isn't a new idea, in fact, it wasn't new fifty years ago, either, but then or now, it's a very enjoyable means of presenting music. Through the years there have been many successful quartets of either or both male and female voices.

The four men who make up the Plaids sound as though they'd been singing together forever, their voices blend together so well. Paul Binotto, Scot Fedderly, Rodney Peck and Christopher Youngsman not only sing-they dance and mug, and clown around like four friends who know and trust each other as only good friends do.

In case you missed the imaginary news stories, the Plaids were on the way to their first big engagement, when their van was hit by a schoolbus, killing the four of them immediately. (The bus passengers escaped unscathed.)

The befuddled quartet has now been brought back to earth for some mysterious purpose, which finally un-riddles itself through flashes of lightning, a bit of thunder, strange (and strangely delivered) messages, and several songs by the very amateur Plaids.

Along the way, we're treated to several big production numbers of the 'show-stopper' variety, as well as a few solos, almost all accompanied by sight gags which are tossed off in such blithe fashion that a good many of them probably go right over the heads of some of those in the audience.

But no matter-it's all good, clean, fun entertainment of the highest caliber. Scrooge himself would be hard put not to laugh at "Matilda" or the Ed Sullivan pastiche, in which high-lights of all the years of Sullivan's shows are condensed into a hilarious and zany 3 minutes and 11 seconds.

Along with the Victor Borge piano-bench seatbelt, and the afore-mentioned very brief appearance by Señor Wences, there are loving tributes to Rosemary Clooney and Perry Como, plus a stellar dance version by Smudge (Christopher Youngsman) of "Let it Snow" based on the Gene Kelly "Singin' in the Rain" sequence.

There is a segment with handbells (and an intrepid audience member who is 'enlisted' to help out with this bit. 'Julie' did splendidly in her role the night I was there); some 'music minus one' as the Plaids sing only the backup parts to Como's biggest hits leaving us to imagine the melody (not at all a difficult task); and a video of one of Como's Christmas Shows.

The ending tableau of a Plaid Christmas is nicely calculated to send folks home ready to begin preparations for the joyous season to come.

Take Grandma and Grandpa or Great-Aunt Susie-take the entire family, young and old, to experience Plaid Tidings. They'll all enjoy this cheerful, happy preparation for the calendar's most joyous holiday. You'll be glad you did-and so will they.

But hurry! Last performance is Sunday, December 19.

For tickets or other information, call The Cleveland Play House at: (216) 795-7000, or visit their web-site

-- Kelly Ferjutz