"Barefoot In The Park" Now Showing At The James F. Dean Theatre--An Evening Full Of Laughs

What is it with women wanting their guys to consider the idea of taking off their shoes and running barefoot in the park? Do you know what knichi is? Have you ever heard of Ouzo? Interested in finding out the answers to these seemingly superfluous questions? Then, grab your shoes, on or off, makes no difference one way or the other, and head on over to the James F. Dean Theatre in Summerville from February 5th through the 14th to become enlightened and enriched on these subjects and more by the Flowertown Player's presentation of Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park.

I went into this play an open book. I had not seen the 1963 Broadway production starring Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley, and as far as I can recall, I had not seen the 1967 movie adaptation with Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. After 1,530 performances, the 1963 play was nominated for three 1964 Tony Awards, and Mike Nichols won the award for Best Director. A revival opened on Broadway at the Cort Theater in February, 2006 and closed on May, 2006 after only 109 performances.

Barefoot in the Park is a romantic comedy by Neil Simon about looking at the humorous side of the complexities and unknowns of newly-wed life. Conservative Paul Bratter is a young attorney with high ambitions and a meticulous capacity for doing things by the book, which are qualities totally uncharacteristic of his new wife, who is free-spirited, idealistic, and irresponsibly fun-loving. As they end their whirlwind honeymoon fantasy of six days to enter the real world of everyday life, they are in the beginning process of setting up house in a fifth floor apartment of a New York brownstone that Paul has not really seen as of yet. This is her first time away from home and her mother. So, she is inexperienced and concerned about what her mother may think of her new apartment.

It opens with Corie dancing and painting while awaiting the delivery of her furniture and things, which is late, and a phone to be installed. Needless to say, straight-lace Paul will be in for a few surprises on his arrival that will ultimately test their compatibility and convictions. "Six days does not make a week," lamented Corie.

In this Neil Simon work, the hilarity builds incrementally in intensity as each character successively emerges on scene. With just a few laughs here and there in the beginning, once the play got past the mushy kissing and the participants were all in place, the laughter explodes. With an artfully designed and crafted set to work with, Director JC Conway skillfully pulled together a capable group of actors, who were able to build upon their characters in a way where the audience could connect with them.

Lovable Marissa Rocco as happy-go-lucky Corie was full of youthful enthusiasm and imparted to me the feeling that what I was seeing on stage was a genuine reflection of her own personality. As for Joseph Demerly playing Paul Bratter, you can see the growing frustration on his face as he tries to adjust to his problematic living conditions--bathroom without a bathtub, drafty apartment, hole in the skylight, tiny bedroom, and the craziest tenants in the city, and of course, his madcap wife.

Ernie Eliason, not new to portraying zany characters, amusingly played the part of Victor Velasco, the flirtatious and flamboyant 58 year old tenant that lives in the attic of Corie and Paul's New York brownstone, who shamelessly mooches his way into their delicate marital lives and then takes them on a crazy, riotous ride, including Corie's mother, Ethyl Banks--brilliantly played by Susan J. Vinick. Susan, new to the Flowertown Players but not to the stage, from fur coat to kimono, was a delight to watch and nimbly appropriated a generous portion of the evening's laughs.

J. Barry Gordon, a veteran Flowertown Player, put aside his duties as a tour guide and put on the digs of a telephone repairman. He added to the laughs and had a few words of wisdom for the harried couple. To round out the cast, Dustin Lack played the part of the delivery man.

Although, written many years ago and on the cusp of a social revolution, Barefoot in the Park is a love story with a timeless lesson interwoven within its script. While life styles have drastically changed since, the human condition when it comes to relationships remains basically the same. Falling in love can be easy, but staying in love requires hard work and sacrifice, and despite the elating ups and agonizing downs of married life, there is a humorous side to it all and Neil Simon drew on this.

You just might see a bit of yourself portrayed in this play. Served up on a platter of knichi and in a glass of Ouzu, you are guaranteed an evening full of laughs.

Purchase tickets for "Barefoot in the Park."

Bram Stoker's "Dracula" Now Showing At The James F. Dean Theater In Summerville--Take A Bite Out Of Your Schedule

Outside the James F. Dean Theatre, the dark of the night had hours ago blanketed Hutchinson Square and Main Street. Most of the shops and stores locked down for the night. Across the street among the long shadows under the tall, moss covered oak trees, a cold rain coated the silent silhouettes of the numerous scarecrows and displays. It was the perfect setting for a Gothic horror story. Inside, a boisterous, near full house of blood-thirsty celebrants eagerly awaited 11:30 pm and the dimming of the lights--the final prompt Dark Star of the Night had arrived. It was opening night for "Dracula."

Jeff Messer and Andrew Gall's adaptation of Bram Stoker's masterful novel whisks you away on a geographical merry-go-round to Transylvania on the edge of the Carpathian Mountains to the shores of Victorian Whitby in England with stops in-between and back. It all translates into a set of constantly changing scenes throughout the play and a huge challenge for its director and company to improvise a seamless flow of events in a limited space. For JC Conway and Chris Skipper, the limited space was the stage of the James F. Dean Theatre.

I can convincingly state overall(despite some slower moving elements)the challenge was adequately executed on opening night with the assistance of stage manager, Nicole Wallace, and crew. The table that doubled for a ship's wheel and Dr. Seward's desk at the asylum and the five different entrance and exit points that gave Dracula mobility were a clever use of area and props, including the wooden crate center stage used for Dracula's coffin(a touch more detail in this prop would have elevated its realism).

The numerous rotating light cues will help you follow the scene changes as well as set the mood. The incorporation of the two cello players(Abby Maynard and Chris Anderson) located on each side of the stage added a sorrowful, soulful ambiance to the theaters atmosphere during transitions. The prerecorded dialogue was somewhat muffled at times, so you will need to pay attention more intently during those moments.

For a play of this nature to be successfully portrayed with a setting unfolding in the late 1800's and characters physically changing in appearance, realistic costumes and artful make-up are vital. Costume designer and whig maker, Diana Reeves and Mary Miller, did a superb job with the nearly 200 different pieces worn by the 25 cast members while Hana Ryll, Jean Gaston, and Eddie Hall provided the special effects make-up notably worn by Andrew Turnball as Renfield and Kate Berry, Megan Fife, and Michelle Smith as the seductive three brides of Dracula.

A well deserved applause goes out to the entire cast for making it all work with notable performances by Lindsey Marie as vivacious, young Lucy Westenra; Dracula's first love interest in England, Julie Hammond as the more reserved Mina Murray; engaged to Jonathan Harker and Dracula's second seduction, Zach Smith as the journal writing, often traumatized Jonathan Harker, Chris Miller as the eloquent and ambitious asylum administrator Dr. Seward, and Ian Bonner as the alluring, blood-thirsty and love-starved Dracula. Ion's standout moment was when he slowly rose from his lifeless slumber in the climactic encounter with Dr. Van Helsing(Fred Hutter) and company. Edwin Hall as Authur Holmwood owned the funniest moment with his improv during a costume mishap.

An outstanding performance was achieved by Andrew Turnbull, who was insanely masterful in his picture perfect portrayal of the carnivorous mad man, Renfield--by far the most complicated character in the play. An inmate at the lunatic asylum overseen by Dr. Seward and under the influence of Dracula, he spends his time consuming flies in the hope of obtaining their life-force for himself, which transitions into a scheme to feed the flies to spiders, to feed the spiders to birds, and finally feed the birds to a cat, which he was denied, so he consumed the birds himself. Andrew's body movements, facial expressions, make-up, and hair-do all blended nicely for a provocatively entertaining as well as psychotically whimsical depiction.

The Flowertown Players presentation of the iconic "Dracula" will keep your interest from the moment the lights darken to the encore. Congratulations to the cast and crew for another successful opening night. To purchase tickets for remaining performances running to November 9th, go to "Dracula" or call (843) 875-9251.

"Hairspray" Immerses You Into An Energized Blast Into The Past--Now Playing in Summerville

Without splitting the hairs of Penny's bouffant hairdo, the Sixties have been perceived as a decade of change. Some denounced it as a time of irresponsible excesses, flamboyance and social upheaval while others celebrated it as an era of cultural and social revolution inspiring changes in clothing, music, dress and forcing the relaxing of taboos related to race and sex.

Well, good morning Summerville, the Sixties inspired musical, Hairspray, is bringing it all back for a two week romp and on opening night sprayed its feel-good stickiness all over the stage of the James F. Dean Theater.

On Friday night, the community theater on Hutchinson Square was the place to be. Upon entering the modest entryway at the top of the steps and rounding the corner into the auditorium to claim my seat, I sensed something huge was about to be unleashed. From the moment Tracy Turnblad descended the stairs of the darkened theater bathed in the rays of a spotlight singing "Good Morning Baltimore" to the final triumphant, standing ovation chorus, the sold out crowd was immersed into a energized blast into the past.

Director David McLaughlin uncannily assembled a cast eerily reminiscent of the 2007 musical film of the same name starring wildly versatile John Travolta(Edna Turnblad), Queen Latifah(Motormouth Mayebelle), Nikki Blonsky(Tracy Turnblad), Zac Ephron(Link Larkin) and beautiful Michelle Pfeiffer(Velma Von Tussle) in his selection of Chris Williams, Denetra King, Alex Shanko, Christopher Berry, and Sarah Farra for corresponding roles.

Chris Williams as shy, plus-sized Edna Turnblad was a stand out--comically convincing in every respect from his pantyhose to his curlers. His rendition of "Timeless To Me" with Robert Venne as goofy, madly in love with his wife Wilbur Turnblad was heartwarming.

Denetra Williams as Motormouth Mayebelle was vocally superb. This was Denetra's first production for the Flowertown Players and said, "I am loving it." She rocked the house with "Big, Blonde and Beautiful" but brought the house down with her inspirational performance of "I Know Where I've Been."

Tracy Turnblad is the lead character the play revolves around. She is a "pleasantly plump" teenager, who dreams of fame and Link Larkin, and ultimately fights to racially integrate The Corny Collins Show. It was unmistakably obvious Alex Shanko owned her part and loved every minute of it. Her opening execution of "Good Morning Baltimore" was performed well and set the tone for the rest of the play..

Christopher Berry fit the bill as the Corny Collins Show teenage heartthrob, Link Larkin. He had the Sixties rock n' roll thing going on with the "do" and the gyrating moves akin to hipster Elvis Presley. Even more impressive was his acrobatic body flip during a sequel in the first act.

Which now brings me to the malevolent and beautiful, but scheming mother of Amber Von Tussle and producer of The Corny Collins Show, Velma Von Tussle, played by Sarah Farra. Crowned Mrs. South Carolina in 2011 and thrilled to be part of the cast, Sarah's moves on stage were captivatingly chic. You will end up hating to love the cheeky ways of her character.

Finally, Kelly McDavid's portrayal of slightly flaky but pert Penny Pingleton was amusingly entertaining, at times reminding me of the crazy antics of Carol Burnett. Kelly's past achievements include being nominated for "lead actress in a musical" at the 2013 Theatre Charleston Awards as Velma Kelly in "Chicago" where I described her as "unshakably confident and her dance routines were executed with audacious swag." Two characters on the opposite end of the spectrum, Kelly demonstrated her resourcefulness once again.

Other notables were Melissa Frierson(Amber Von Tussle), J.D. Lewis(Corny Collins), and Treshawn Ford(Seaweed J. Stubbs). The set was bright and colorful. The record album painted on the floor genius. Costumes all 60's appropriate and well done.

Congratulations to the entire cast and crew for their successful, near perfect execution of Hairspray with just a couple of hiccups in the dialogue. Hey, they are only human. Opening night exceeded all expectations. With 10 shows to go, it will be a tough act to follow, but I know they will be up to the task.

Purchase tickets for Hairspray.

"Catfish Moon" Will Tickle Your Funny Bone And Reel In Your Heart--Now Playing At The James F. Dean Theatre

Outside on Summerville's S. Main Street adjacent to the Town Square, the newly installed marquee of the James F. Dean Theatre brightly lit the front entrance. Inside the rejuvenated community theater, the prop lighting radiantly illuminated the beautifully prepared set--an assemblage of weathered timber fashioned into a rustic, old fishing pier overshadowed by moss-laden trees and unforgotten recollections. But the most brilliant luminary of the celebratory evening was the magical, celestial light fondly remembered as the "Catfish Moon."

The fishy sounding full moon and weatherworn pier are literally and figuratively significant  pieces in the puzzling lives of the three long-time friends featured in Laddy Sartin's touching and lighthearted play reflecting the true meaning of the words, "Let's go fishing." A resident of Rock Hill and Mississippi educated, Sartin understood small town, southern ways and catfish angling with alligators.

A favorite hangout when they were kids, where after skipping school the threesome would skinny dip, woo girls, and go on overnight fishing trips, the old pier in many ways had become the mirror image of their relationships--weather beaten, neglected and in serious need of loving care.

Successful in business but left lamenting, "There is more to life than the almighty dollar," Curley(Barry Gordon) was the big brother of the group. Sensing time was running short on their fractured friendships, he sets out on a plan to put in motion the healing process by recapturing their youthful glory days. He invites Gordon(Ernie Eliason) to meet him on the old pier where they share drinks and reminisce--no beer for Gordon who was an alcoholic.

Curley takes the opportunity to address the on going feud between fun-loving Gordon and short-tempered Frog(Chad Reuer) worsened by the fact Gordon, described by Frog as "a person who doesn't know the meaning of moderation," had developed a love interest in Frog's ex-wife Betty(Shannon Johnson); also Curley's sister. With this rendezvous, a sequel of events are thus put in motion that takes you on a trip down memory lane, stirs your passions, tickles your funny bone, and breaks your heart.

The superbly crafted props and artfully appointed scenery were mesmerizing. I had to restrain the urge to jump on stage and join Curley and Gordon on the pier, crank the top off a couple of beers, and shed a few clothes. "I spent a long evening meticulously hot gluing the grassy weeds to the stage floor," Chrissy Eliason recounted--the set designer, director and driving force behind the perfectly casted actors.

So convincing were the cast's performances, you forgot you were sitting in a theater and not observing real life unfold before you. As the goofus of the trio who couldn't control his fishing rod any better than he could his drinking habits, Ernie Eliason delivered a top notch performance demonstrating both versatility and temperament; transforming himself into a love-smitten fool one minute and a drunken fool the next.

Barry Gordon, southern boy born and raised on Savage Street in Charleston, skillfully charmed his way through his role like the dying with dignity, southern gentleman he is while tough guy Chad Reuer provided the fireworks and validated the quote, "Your acting like a big baby." See the play and you will know what I mean. And equally notable, Shannon Johnson sweetened the cast with her irrepressible smile.

So, if you appreciate the value of friendship, love to laugh, and believe in second chances, "Catfish Moon" will brighten your smile, warm your soul, and illuminate your heart. It is a must-see.

Things just keep getting better and better at the James F. Dean Theatre. You can purchase tickets at Flowertown Players.

Monica Shows-Assistant Director; Jane Batten--Stage Manager; Scenic Artist--Robert Maniscalco; JC Conway--Lighting and Sound Design; Makala Becker--Light Board Operator; Jeff Wolf--Sound Operator

8 PM shows: March 28 and 29; April 3, 4, and 5; April 10, 11, and 12
3 PM shows: March 30; April 6; April 13

The Flowertown Players Open Their Grounbreaking Performance Of Rent-A Portrayal Of Love And Loss

The Flowertown Players sailed into unfamiliar waters Friday night with the opening of their
presentation of the rock musical Rent and navigated their ship successfully into the Port of Phenomenal.

Whether you agree or disagree with the moral implications of the play, it dives into the harsh and heartbreaking realities a group of struggling-to-find their-way-in-life young musicians and artists are forced to deal with while living in New York City's Lower East Side during the thriving days of Alphabet City and the Bohemian lifestyle. The harsh reality of struggling with the lack of money just to pay rent and the heartbreaking reality of finding love in the face of the AIDS virus. It was a world Johnathan Larson, writer of music and lyrics, was familiar with and that is what it is all about.

Congratulations to the director(Mark Gorman) who, for this ground breaking step by the Flowertown Players, pulled together from the available pool of talented local actors and actresses a cast that realistically mirrored the raw passion of the original play's characters and presented a vocally powerful performance.

The complicated choreography of the play, from my point of view, was executed flawlessly, especially during the scene of the party at the Life Café - my favorite. I liked the bare bones look of the background and the different colors from the lighting accentuated the atmosphere on stage.

The live musical ensemble, which I believe to be the foundation of a musical like this, was burdened with a heavy responsibility. If they make a mistake, the whole flow of the play could be in jeopardy. But they did not miss a beat and greatly attributed in a large way to the play's successful opening night.

I first met Cody Smith back when he played the vicious villain in Wait Until Dark and his acting impressed me. Then I saw him play Danny in Grease where I experienced his vocal skills for the first time and I thought he was great. But as the struggling musician trying to find that one inspirational song, Cody(Roger) blew the roof off the house with his explosive vocals. Andrew Turnball as Mark was equally strong and harmonized well with Cody. Equal to the task was Giulia Marie Dalbec(Mimi), Michelle Smith(Maureen), Jason Marion(hauntingly believable as Angel), Kevin J. Thorn(Collins), Alexandria Rashanko(Joanne), and Tyler Reed(Benny).

There were many highlights to speak of and in the end drew a resounding standing ovation. Here are a few of my picks. The tender but hesitant exchange between Roger and Mimi in Light My Candle was beautifully portrayed by Guilia Marie and Cody. You could feel the intensity of the emotions build as the scene progressed toward the climatic reluctant rejection. Guilia Marie additionally executed a superb dance routine when the beautiful Mimi attempted to seduce Roger in Out Tonight. Michelle drew a huge applause from the audience with her humorous and provocative performance of Over the Moon. The entire cast was riotously outstanding when all the friends gathered at the tables to celebrate their Bohemian lifestyle.

Commendations to JC Conway, Heather Pallay and staff for boldly going where you hadn't gone before. You have set the bar high with this one. It will be a tough act to follow, but I have confidence you will meet the challenge.

Purchase tickets for the next performances.

The Specter Of Change Arrives In Summerville Once Again-A Welcomed Visit

Change has been a persuasive specter in Summerville, appearing at times in different forms and making its presence felt over the passing years. Transformation, metamorphosis, development, modification, transition, contraction, refinement, destruction and reconstruction are just some of its hauntings. Sometimes visitations have been spontaneous and sometimes coerced, sometimes unwanted and sometimes welcomed.

This specter of change has returned to Summerville recently, but this visitation has been coerced. And if your powers of observation are acute, you would have perceived its presence downtown, taking the form of reconstruction.

Our community theater is getting a long needed facelift with a new marquee as the primary feature. This will be the third marquee since the theater was first built around 1935. The second marquee change took place during its much needed renovation when the theater became the home for the Flowertown Players around 1976. The new marquee will be a return to the look and feel of the original with some slight differences.

As part of the change, the brick flower boxes have been removed and needed repairs to the masonry are being addressed. If everything goes according to plan, the new marquee will make its debut within the next two weeks - just in time for the Flowertown Players next production of the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama winning musical Rent.

Rent, music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson, is based loosely on Giacomo Puccini's opera "La bohème." The off-Broadway show debuted exactly 100 years after Puccini's opera of 1896. On Broadway, it had a 12-year run of 5,123 performances and became the ninth longest-running Broadway show at the time. The production grossed over $280 million.

With their presentation of Rent, the Flowertown Players will be venturing into uncharted waters - it deals in adult rated material. The setting of the play is in New York City's Lower East Side during the thriving days of Bohemian Alphabet City, the artsy avant-garde neighborhood of marginalized artists, writers, journalists, musicians, and actors of Manhattan. Bohemianism was the practice of an unconventional lifestyle and Bohemians were associated with anti-establishment political or social viewpoints, which often were expressed by artists, writers, journalists, musicians, and actors through free love, frugality, and voluntary poverty.

This production of Rent follows a year in the life of a group of these impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive in that Lower East Side environment of New York City - falling in love, finding their voice and living for today. The cast consists of 20 of our locally dedicated actors.

On my recent visit to the James F. Dean Theatre, I got a preview of the near-completed set and a peek at Mark Gorman, Artistic Director of South of Broadway Theatre Company, and JC Conway working through procedures involved in setting the final mix of the scripts lighting cues. The play will open Friday, January 17th. I look forward to seeing some of you then and everyone else stay-tuned for my after-opening night review.

Summerville's Rich Theater History-From Silent Movies To Live Theater

I had curiously wondered about the unimposing James F. Dean Theatre since moving to Summerville eight years ago. Back in Ohio, I had become a theater lover over the years and was a passionate patron of Cleveland's vibrant Playhouse Square--the country’s largest performing arts center drawing more than a million people annually to its eight performance venues, topped only by New York City's Lincoln Center.

It was a Third Thursday and my curiosity was about to get the best of me, heightened even more by the fact the opening performance of "Wait Until Dark" was soon to take place. I entered the unpretentious theater door and was more than pleasantly surprised by what I found.

Summerville's theater history dates back to the early 1900's with the beginning of the silent movie era -- 1894 to 1929. The silent movie credited with being the first of the narrative films was directed and photographed by Edwin S. Porter, a former Edison Studios cameraman. The Great Train Robbery, a 12-minute-long silent film, was released in 1903. The short movie established the notion that film could be a commercially viable medium and inspired the need to construct the permanent movie house. Summerville was one of those places.

The Summerville Amusement Company was the town's first motion picture theater. A key organizer of the theater was a Summerville resident by the name of Henry C. F. Peters, owner of the Summerville Tea Pot in 1905 and father of Albert Peters, one of Summerville's early mayors.

A 1920's photo and 1923 map of Town Square corroborates the existence of a ornate, triple-arched facade with the words Arcade Theatre engraved on it. The facade housed a long, arcade walkway that led to a 250-seat capacity building where silent films complete with violin and piano accompaniment were viewed. Under the middle arch, the entrance to the walkway was marked by a ticket booth with shops on each side under the adjacent arches. In 1924, the theater was mentioned in an article from the Summerville Journal. With these dates in mind, it is safe to say a theater was built somewhere between 1903 and 1924, located behind where Treasure Box Collections, Edible Arrangements, and Karate are today.

Around the early 1930's, Summerville went through a major reconstruction. The facade and many of the buildings in the east block adjacent to the Square were demolished. It is difficult to say whether the large, wooden building that housed the Arcade Theatre was among them. A photograph documenting the demolition doesn't show the area where the building stood, a parking lot today. Nonetheless, the Arcade Theater, in similar fashion as the old train station and the Pine Forest Inn, tacitly faded from the scene.

Between 1930 and 1935, the Legendre's, operators and owners of a string of Southern theaters with headquarters in Summerville, built a theater on the corner of South Main and E. Richardson. Morris Legendre, head of the chain, was a partner with his brother Sidney Legendre. Sidney owned a house near Golf Rd on South Main Street.

Shortly after exploring Abyssinia for the American Museum of Natural History as part of the Sanford-Legendre Abyssinia Expedition in 1929, Sidney married the expedition's co-leader Gertrude Sanford. Gertrude once said, "I don't contemplate life. I live it," and she did, but that is another story. Many of the big-game heads she collected from 1923 to 1929 travelling the world as a big-game hunter in South Africa, Canada, and Alaska lined the auditorium walls of the new theater. The Legendre's amassed a 6,695 acre estate called Medway Plantation located in Mount Holly within Berkeley County. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The brick theater prospered into the late fifties, until the winds of change blew in the form of wide-screens and the advent of television stole away patronage and necessary revenue to maintain a vibrant theater. By the early sixties, "The Show" was gone with the wind. The doors were closed and cobwebs filled the seats.

In 1976, a group of theater enthusiasts formed the Flowertown Players and rescued the theater with a new vision. The projector and spinning movie reels were replaced with colorful sets and live actors. For the next seven years, the group produced four to five shows a year with all the proceeds used to nurture the ailing building. Their valiant efforts could not stave off the unrelenting deterioration of the aging structure. It eventually was considered unsafe for public assembly and the Flowertown Players were forced to leave the building, but it was not abandoned.

In due course, by way of a public referendum, the town of Summerville sold the old building to the Flowertown Players and new life was infused into its walls by way of private capital. Laughter and applause have since filled the James F. Dean Theatre.

In 2013, plans were drawn up to replace the theater's marquee and return it to the original design.

The old marquee was removed. The new marquee was constructed and completed in 2014.

So, whether you are a resident or a visitor, take the time to check out your hometown theater on The Square and schedule a night out. Its hard working staff and local group of actors are dedicated to presenting you their best in the way of live theater.

Forever Plaid at the James F. Dean Theatre February 1, 2013-Riotous Fun For All

In the 1950's, I was very young. At most, by 1959 I was 10 years old and in elementary school grade 5. Prom night for me was yet in the distant future. Unknown to me at the time, as I hula hooped my way to fame and batted my wiffle ball around my yard, I would be part of a generation that would usher in a time of great cultural change, both socially and morally. Yes, I hula hooped and I was very good. Poodle skirts, greased quiffs, and brightly colored clothes were popular. The infamous bikini was beginning to make its appearance.

The music of the time reflected both the changes that were being nurtured while tentatively still holding on to the societal norms of the past. The Beatles were an English rock band quietly making a name for themselves in the clubs of Liverpool in preparation of setting the music world on fire. This was the backdrop that inspired the off-Broadway musical revue written in 1990 by Stuart Ross in New York called Forever Plaid.

The Plaids were a quartet of high-school chums with dreams of recording an album. Their aspirations ended in a collision with a bus filled with Catholic schoolgirls on their way to see the Beatles' American debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. The play begins with the Plaids returning from the afterlife for one final chance at musical glory. Standing before a packed house, the four of them apprehensively evaluate their unexpected predicament and seized the moment.
 

With plaid bow ties and cumber buns, John Black(Jinx), Robert Culbreth(Francis), Jonah Klixbull(Sparky), and Christopher Williams(Smudge), each with a their own distinct and unique personalities, took to the stage on the night of February 1st in the James F. Dean Theatre and won the hearts of the largely senior audience who gave them a resounding standing ovation at the end. They sang a long list of songs near flawlessly accompanied by Richard Davis on the piano and Ken Gee on the bass. Their comedic choreography was humorous and at times down right hilarious. Robert, nice touch on the short legged pants.

A sincere actor's commitment is to give their best performance regardless of the size of the crowd, but any actor will tell you when a theater is packed out and aroused it lifts them to higher levels of empowerment. To quote one of the cast members,  "The audience was energized, so we were feeding off their energy."

At one point, they pulled an apprehensive young girl from the crowd who graciously submitted and surprisingly danced very well. It was equally amusing to watch the older couples in the audience thoroughly enjoying themselves. My friend, who is not easily impressed, couldn't resist the contagion and added a few robust chuckles to the chorus of laughter. A few of my favorite songs performed were Perfidia, Sixteen Tons, Jamaica Farewell, and Matilda, Matilda.

Congratulations to the entire cast and production team for a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Despite the fact many of the songs were unknown by me, after all I was just a young kid in the 50's, this was by far one of the more entertaining productions released by the Flowertown Players. I recommend it to all. Go to Forever Plaid for show times.

After party at the Ice House with the cast