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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>‘Forever Plaid’ shows its stripes in Geauga Lyric’s pitchy
production<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Bob
Abelman<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">News-Herald,
Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Member,
International Association of Theatre Critics <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">This
review will appear in the News-Herald</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> on 9/20/13<B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><o:p></o:p></B></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN>Boy bands have been popular since the barbershop quartets of the
late-</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>19th century<SPAN style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic"> and were all the
rage when the </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Backstreet Boys, ‘N
Sync, and New Edition</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">
<SPAN lang=EN>emerged in the 1990s.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>But their true heyday – and the focus of </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Stuart Ross’
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN>musical revue “Forever Plaid” – occurred in the late-1950s with the
preponderance of four-part harmony doo-wop groups.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN>In “Forever Plaid,” we meet group members Frankie, Jinx, Sparky and
Smudge who, in 1964 and not long out of high school, were killed in a car
accident on the way to their first big gig at an airport lounge.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They appear before us – resurrected in
matching dinner jackets and cummerbunds by mysterious cosmic forces – to perform
the show they never got to do. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN>The play’s original off-Broadway incarnation was a fast-paced musical
parody of clean-cut </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN>1950's
pop culture, as the boys posture with broad iconic choreography while singing
pitch-perfect renditions of “</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Heart and Soul," "Three Coins in the
Fountain," "Rags to Riches” and others.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>As with all jukebox musicals of this ilk, including</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN>“The Marvelous Wonderettes” and “The Bikinis,” era-specific </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">Top-40
tunes are recycled, mixed with a flimsy skeletal storyline, and targeted at
audiences old enough to have heard those songs on <SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">45
rpm</SPAN></SPAN><SPAN class=st><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">
vinyl records. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN class=st><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN>In this Geauga Lyric Theater Guild production under </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Lisa-Marie French’s
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN>direction and choreography</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">,</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN> the boys – played by Paul Josell, John Kolar, Tom Majercik, Sr., and
Tony Piotrkowski – inexplicably arrive on earth in older men’s bodies, without a
sense of parody, and often unable to find the harmonies the songs require.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN>Each of these four fellows has a fine singing voice, which is well
supported by a tight three-piece on-stage band under Dave Thomas’
direction.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But their voices are not
built for this type of singing and strain at the high notes while sacrificing
the low ones.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This takes much of
the pleasure out of hearing tunes designed to showcase harmonic blending at its
best. Here, we are offered rather pitchy renditions.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN>What the boys lack in vocal dexterity and purity they more than make up
for in personality and charm.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They
are particularly adept at bringing to the surface the warmth that resides in the
between-song banter.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Rather than
spoofing the 50’s boy band era, this production paints the boys as
not-quite-ready-for-primetime amateurs who lack the goods but are full of good
intentions.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN>This impression is reinforced by the tacky lounge set the cosmos has
chosen for their return-engagement performance space, complete with distracting,
unnecessary video displays that surround the stage.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN>The boys as hardworking wannabes is a concept that works well, to a
point.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>That point comes 15 minutes
into the production, when it is time for the cosmos to intervene so that the
foursome can mystically hit their harmonies, nail their precise period
choreography, and triumphantly return to whence they came.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The universe needs to turn it up a
notch.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN>This does not happen.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>As a
result, the climactic final number – “Love is a Many Splendored Thing” – is
anything but climactic or splendid.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN>“Forever Plaid” by the GLTG is a pleasant but unsatisfying evening’s
entertainment.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It leaves you
wondering why the cosmos couldn’t have selected a boy band more deserving of a
second chance than The Plaids?<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Were
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN>The Edsels – a one-hit-wonder group that recorded "Lama Rama Ding Dong"
– busy that evening?<SPAN style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic"> <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic"
lang=EN><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">“Forever
Plaid” continues through September 29 </SPAN></I><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">at the Geauga Theater
in Chardon</SPAN></I><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For tickets, which range from
</SPAN></I><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">$10</SPAN></I><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">
to $18, </SPAN></I><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">call 440-286-2255 or
visit <A href=""><FONT
color=#0000ff>www.geuagatheater.org</FONT></A>.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>