BWW Reviews: It's Christmas in July with PLAID TIDINGS at Hanover Little Theatre

In 1990, the Off-Broadway world was taken over by an almost-heavenly choir, a comedy musical revue by Stuart Ross, with musical arrangements by James Raitt, about four 1950's guy-group singers who were killed by a bus full of Catholic schoolgirls on their way to the Ed Sullivan Show just when the four were about to have their first big gig. But the universe is kind enough to allow them to return to Earth for one night to have that gig, and so the Four Plaids came to perform their show, FOREVER PLAID.

Twenty years or so later, when the world needed a bit more heavenly assistance, Ross decided it was time to send the Plaids back to Earth for them to live out the Christmas show they'd never performed while alive. That turned into FOREVER PLAID: PLAID TIDINGS, currently at Hanover Little Theatre.

Sally Chase directs the show with a tight-knit group of four guy-group vocalists of the suited, clean-cut, crooning Fifties genre, ones who idolize Perry Como, not Macklemore, and who don't resemble in the least the modern American boy group. Frankie (Adam Bish), Jinx (Plaid veteran Duane Bull), Sparky (Ian Kress) and Smudge (Chad Zepp), in white tuxes and black ties, spend an entire set trying to figure out why they've been sent back to Earth, though they're sent clues from above by a helpful Rosemary Clooney who's anxious to see the guys make it. While trying to figure out their new purpose, they take the audience through a few fine arrangements of such old classics as "Mambo Italiano" and "Besame Mucho", not to mention such guy-group staples as "Sh-Boom". As they explain, "we're not hip. Or hep."

Zepp, the bass of the group, is delightful as Smudge, a slightly cowardly guy who's anything but intellectual, and who really wants to pack up and leave as soon as possible. His "16 Tons" in the "Holiday for Plaids" medley is a highlight of the first half. Sparky is the deep thinker of the group, although he and Elvis share an ability to gyrate - it's surprising to find out that Kress is a senior at Littlestown High School. In the first half, it's his "Hey There" that stands out. Bull as Jinx, the group's "nervous Nellie" character, is also the high tenor, and his solo in "Besame Mucho" is outstanding. Bish's Frankie, as lead tenor, is almost always in action, and giving a fine performance.

Yes, the spirits of the season have descended upon them - and these spirits are Andy Williams and Vic Damone. Or, in their Christmas Calypso medley, perhaps it's Dean Martin who's taken over them, with a "Matilda, Matilda" spoof involving running through the audience while in straw hats and playing island drums.

The second act is the Four Plaids' Christmas Show, the would-be television special they imagined in their dreams but never lived to experience. Frankie's nervous breakdown over performing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is classic, with a great delivery of a histrionic monologue based on the subject of being the rejected oddball, only loved when his particular skill is needed. It's a topic that more than reindeer can relate to. Even wilder is Frankie's dissertation of the evils of letting children hear a jolly song about the death of Frosty, and the statist implications of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." (Worse yet, he's not that far off on any count.) Bish gives a delicious performance of the nervous and concerned Frankie here.

But the true joy of the Christmas special, even better than their backing up of Perry Como (thanks to modern technology), is their three minute summation of an episode of the Ed Sullivan Show, featuring plate twirlers, ballerinas, Jose Jiminez, the Flying Wallendas, the Lippizaner Stallions, Groucho Marx, the Rockettes, and Topo Gigio. (If you don't know who Topo Gigio is, consult YouTube, as your life is missing something major.)

If you have never heard the Four Plaids and their almost-angelic, or at least now unearthly, harmonies, this is your chance. If you'd feel cooler by celebrating Christmas in July, this is also your chance. It's at Hanover Little Theatre through the 19th; visit www.hanoverlittletheatre.com for tickets and information.