Franklin Civic Operetta presents“FOREVER PLAID”

Written by Stuart Ross and featuring musical arrangements by James Raitt, this revue begins with an unseen narrator who tells us that the four members of the musical group Forever Plaid met their untimely death in 1964 when their car was slammed by a busload of eager catholic teens on their way to witness the Beatles make their U.S. television debut on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

Caught somewhere in between this world and the next, Forever Plaid never made it to the big time. Now, however, they are given the chance to give the concert that they never had the chance to perform while they were alive. The four guys who comprise Forever Plaid were high school friends bound by their rather nerdish personalities, but more importantly, by their love of four-part harmony. Their musical style is akin to the Four Aces, the Letterman, and the Ames Brothers.

Director Carol Brown has cast veteran musical talent as the wonderfully innocent & exuberant Plaids including Zachary Covington (Smudge), Jacob Krupitzer (Jinx), Bret Sloan (Frankie), and Stephen Teig (Sparky). Forever Plaid is an outright, yet gentle satire of the flip-side of the rock and roll groups of the era. Many songs in the show have become standards. You’ll hear such classics as “Cry,” “No, Not Much,” “Papa Loves Mambo,” “Three Coins In The Fountain,” “Love is a Many Splendored Thing,” “Day-O,” and “Kinston Market.” “Matilda” is done as an audience participation number, the entire Ed Sullivan show is performed in less than four minutes, and during “Heart and Soul” one lucky lady will get to spend some time in Plaidland.

When you see Forever Plaid you’ll be saddened by the thought of What Could Have Been if not for that tragic car crash in 1964. Saddened that is, for at least three seconds until Sparky, Smudge, Jinx, and Frankie start tuning-up in this satirical ode to one of the most joyful eras in American music.

Forever Plaid is staged and directed by Carol Brown, and stars Zachary Covington, Jacob Krupitzer, Bret Sloan, and Stephen Teig. It’s playing at the Barrow Civic Theatre, 1223 Liberty Street in downtown Franklin. Curtain times are 8:00 p.m. on Feb. 6, 7, 13, 14 and 2:00 p.m. on Feb. 15. For tickets please call 437-3440 or 800-537-7769.