ForeverPlaid

Forever Plaid: The Story of the Play

The following summary is taken largely from
playwright Stuart Ross’s introduction to the play.

In the l950s, guys across the country banded
together to sing in the basement for fun. If things
worked out, they might be hired to sing at weddings,
conventions, proms and country club socials.
Inspired by the success of recording stars, they
made plans to zoom into careers of fame and
fortune. But the musical taste of America was
changing, and the country would not stop to listen to
their dreams. Forever Plaid is the story of such a
group.

Once upon a time, there were four guys (Sparky,
Smudge, Jinx and Frankie) who loved to sing. They
all met in high school when they joined the
audiovisual club (1956). Discovering they shared an
affection for music and entertaining, they got together
and dreamed of becoming like their idols—the Four
Aces, the Four Lads, the Four Freshmen, the Hi-los
and the Crew Cuts. They rehearsed in the basement
of Smudge’s family’s plumbing supply company. It
was here they became Forever Plaid—a name that
connects traditional values of family, home and
harmony.

Although the new sound, rock ’n’ roll, was quickly
overtaking the sounds of the forties and fifties, the
Plaids believed in their music. As their sound
developed, they sang at family gatherings and
fund-raisers and eventually graduated to
supermarket openings and proms. They had little
time for romance or leisure, for they supported their
fantasy by holding down day jobs—Frankie was in
dental supplies, Smudge was in bathroom fixtures,
Sparky was in better dresses. They devoted
themselves to singing at nights and on weekends.
Then, finally, they landed their first big gig at the
Airport Hilton cocktail bar—the Fusel Lounge.

Then it happened. On February 9, 1964, en route to
pick up their custom-made plaid tuxedos, they were
driving in their cherry-red 1954 Mercury convertible
and rehearsing their big finale when they were
slammed broadside by a school bus filled with eager
Catholic teens. The teens were on their way to
witness the Beatles make their U.S. television debut
on the Ed Sullivan Show and miraculously escaped
injury. The members of Forever Plaid were killed
instantly. It is at that moment, when their careers and
lives ended, that the story of Forever Plaid begins.

Through the power of Harmony and the Expanding
Holes in the Ozone Layer, in conjunction with the
positions of the planets and all the other
astro-technical stuff, they are allowed to come back
to perform the show they never got to do in life.

And, after having completed their Mission of
Harmony, our men in plaid must return to the
cosmos. Hopefully, through this production, their
dreams will live on forever. (Utah Shakespearean
Fesitval)