"Forever Plaid" To Take Final Bow

"Forever Plaid," the hilarious hit show currently playing to sold-out standing ovation audiences, will give an additional matinee performance Sunday at 4:30 p.m. before taking their final bow. The Western Nevada Musical Theatre Company is presenting the musical comedy in Marlette Hall of the Cedar Building at Western Nevada Community College.

"Audiences adore this show," WNMTC Producer Stephanie Arrigotti said. "They've given it standing, cheering ovations each performance. Many of them call afterwards to buy tickets so they can see it again."

Last weekend completely sold out and not many tickets are remaining for the final weekend, so the company decided to give one encore performance before closing to accommodate ticket requests.

"The show is pure nostalgia from the 50's," Arrigotti explained. "The songs are in such beautiful, tight, four-part harmony that they are almost healing when you listen to them. And the 50's comedy buckles the audience in laughter every show."

En route to pick up their custom-made plaid tuxedos, a nerdy 50's singing quartet is slammed broadside by a school bus and killed instantly. It is at this 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, they are allowed to come back to perform the show they never got to do in life.

The show features many top songs from the 50's hit charts, including "Lady of Spain," "Three Coins in the Fountain," "Heart and Soul," "Sixteen Tons," "Catch a Falling Star," and "Shangri-La." "What really wins your heart," Arrigotti said, "are the characters performing the work."

The cast includes Jinx, who gets nosebleeds when he sings a high A; dyslexic Smudge, who gets his choreography backwards; Francis, the leader who has asthma; and Sparky, who cracks dumb jokes when he's nervous. The four of them journey through romantic songs, like "Moments to Remember," into numbers that are pure comedy, like "The Ed Sullivan Show in Two Minutes and 57 Seconds," featuring impersonations of Jose Jimenez, the Singing Nun, dog tricks and the Beatles.

"Forever Plaid," starring Steve Murdoch, David Tillitt, Steve Meyer, and Alan Jones, is produced and directed by Arrigotti and choreographed by Gina Kaskie-Davis.

The 2006 WNMTC musical theatre season also includes "Grease," one of the most popular musicals in the history of rock 'n' roll, in May, and the Broadway masterwork "Brigadoon" in November. Season ticket packages for the three shows, offering preferred seating and substantial discounts, are available by calling 775-445-4249.

Admission to individual shows is $18 general, $16 for students and seniors, and $14 for youth 17 and younger. Tickets are available at the WNCC Performing Arts Office, 2201 West College Parkway or by phone at 775-445-4249.

Regular show times are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Press Release: March 5, 2006

The cast of Forever Plaid