6 - Sanity
Luna Park
arts & entertainment
stage
BY Bill dElAPP
And the performers’ tongues are only
Vanilla Nice
slightly in their cheeks during The Plaids’
vanilla rendition of The Beatles’ “She Loves
You”—only instead of the requisite “yeah
Forever Plaid’s clean-cut harmonies and gentle humor round out
yeah yeah” lyrics, they substitute a cheer-
Cortland Repertory’s season
ful “Yessiree!” This musical moment has
Family Dinner
its many antecedents, from Pat Boone’s
Every Sunday & Thursday (4-9)
mainstream version of “Tutti Frutti” to Frank
Veal or Chicken Cutlet w/pasta, meatball and salad.
Sinatra’s misguided cover of Jim Croce’s
I
f nobody hears a tree falling in an Ike era. Indeed, these days the songs that
uninhabited forest, imagine the vacuum form Forever Plaid’s narrative spine, such as
“Bad Bad Leroy Brown.”
2 for $19.95
that occurs when a quartet of wanna-be “Moments to Remember,” “Shangri-La” and
The actors make for a tight ensemble,
(not valid with any offers or coupons)
crooners, styled in 1950s-era guy-group the Perry Como hit “Catch a Falling Star,”
with teensy smidgens of character develop-
6430 Yorktown Circle, E. Syracuse • 432-4614
shtick, are involved in a traffic fatality just never even make the playlists on so-called
ment that highlight each one, like Timson’s
Dinner Mon-Sat 5-10pm, Sun 4-9pm
as rock’n‘roll takes a momentous turn—and oldies radio stations, instead being reclassified
Jinx suffering from a nosebleed, which leads
nobody cares. That’s the premise of For- as “easy listening” by radio formatters and
another Plaid to remark, “I didn’t think you
ever Plaid, the warhorse musical revue now turning up mostly on AM stations that
could still bleed!” If only because of his lanky
devised by Stuart Ross and James Raitt that have yet to be commandeered by right-wing
physique and bespectacled appearance, Lukos
has been a reliable audience favorite since blowhards. And Forever Plaid initially seems
as Smudge occasionally separates himself
1990, and which serves as the tuneful closer targeted to the Jurassic demographic; after
from the pack, with moments of self-doubt
to Cortland Repertory Theatre’s summer all, the audience that still remembers hearing
(“I was never good at patter,” he laments
season. these ditties during their original chart days is
when pressed into service during the nose-
bleed incident) and his mock-solemn medley
Just as the movie American Graffiti, set on
surely dwindling.
C O M E D Y T R O U P E
of “Sixteen Tons” and “Chain Gang” while
a summer night in 1963, inferred that John
Yet the underlying theme of this show is
whacking a Heinz ketchup bottle with a spoon
Kennedy’s assassination metaphorically ended
that these clueless Plaids, blessed with all-
to provide a crucial sound effect.
America’s innocence, Forever Plaid pivots on
American names including Smudge, Jinx,
Yet Timson as Jinx effectively hams it up
the seismic musical milestone that occurred
Frankie and Sparky, were already dead,
with Johnnie Ray’s torch song “Cry,” while
on Feb. 9, 1964: The Beatles spearheading
career-wise, in 1964—but that still doesn’t
Maroulakos’ Frankie is prominent in “Crazy
“the British Invasion” with their appearance
stop them from having a good time. And
’Bout Ya Baby” and his participation in
on The Ed Sullivan Show. As The Plaids,
that’s what is accentuated by director-chore-
“Chain Gang,” and Moss’ Sparky highlights
a fictionalized, not-so-fab foursome mod-
ographer Bert Bernardi’s bouncy approach to
the loopy “Perfidia.” Music director and key-
eled after clean-cut lads such as The Four
this gentle parody.
boardist David Hahn, accompanied by Shan-
Laugh Hard Again!
Freshmen, headed to their first big gig at a
Bernardi instructs his players—Christopher
sleepy airport lounge, the guys’ vehicle was
Timson as Jinx, Andrew Kenneth Moss as
non Cockbill on bass, skillfully assists the act-
sideswiped by a busload of Catholic school-
Sparky, Christopher Lukos as Smudge and
ing quartet as they move from one forgotten
Jazz Central Friday, August 28th
girls on their way to see Sullivan’s “really
Dean Maroulakos playing Frankie—to engage
chart-topper to the next.
441 East Washington Street Tickets: $13
big shew.” The girls survived, but The Plaids
in plenty of gee-whiz idealism to accompany
Aside from spoofing a long-ago pop music
Syracuse, NY 13202 Doors Open @ 7:30
ended up in some heavenly limbo, and now
their smooth four-part harmonies. These
style, Forever Plaid mines both comedy from
Box Office: 315-744-0461
Show Starts @ 8:00
they’ve returned to earth to perform the set
endearing dorks ably handle the exacting
the group’s un-ironic earnestness, especially
that they couldn’t do 45 years earlier.
moves mandated by the deliberately klutzy
when they take in stride a newspaper clipping
For more info visit:
Hmmmm, sounds like an excuse to warble
choreographed numbers, notably a cornball
that dimly reviews their show (“The Plaids’
www.SyracuseRenegades.com
more than two dozen tracks from the I Like
routine involving toilet plungers as props.
sound is to contemporary music as Formica
is to marble.”), as well as poignancy, as the
The Preston H. Thomas Theatre in the
www.cortlandrep.org
Merry-Go-Round
800.427.6160
Playhouse
607.756.2627
Broadway in the Finger Lakes
august 19 – september 5
CRT is located in
Experience the thrill of a Little York, NY
Book by Stuart Ross
Broadway audition. A Chorus
Exits 12 or 13 off Rt. 81
Line takes you through the
at Little York Pavilion
Musical
Continuity
in Dwyer Park
Supervision and
twists, turns and nerves.
Arrangements
by James Raitt
A
u
Tickets and Information:
-
g
315-255-1785/800-457-8897
S
.
e
1
p
9
t
.4
Emerson Park on Owasco Lake
Sho
w Sponsor:
Rte. 38A, Auburn, NY Season Sponsored by Underwritten by
www.merry-go-round.com
6 Aug. 26 - Sept. 2, 2009 Syracuse New Times
NEWS & OPINION FEATURE ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EVENTS CLASSIFIED WWW.SyRACUSENEWTIMES.COM
Syracuse New Times Aug. 26 - Sept. 2, 2009 
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