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by George Patterson
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

Forever Plaid
At Carlone's Dinner Theatre

Originally created as a cabaret entertainment for a New York restaurant called Steve McGraw's by writer/director/choreographer Stuart Ross and music arranger/director James Raitt, Forever Plaid became an Off Broadway smash hit in the late 80s and has been presented in New Orleans twice before-at Le Petit Theatre where its intimacy was marred by the large venue and, to a more congenial degree, at an ersartz cabaret carved from raw space at One Canal Place.

Carlone's new room-this is the third production-continues to evolve. The room's size has been reduced, its stage raised, the wait staff has grown more efficient, the food more delectable (for evening performances one selects from a three entree menu; for Sunday matinees there is the more traditional dinner theatre all-you-can-consume buffet); and, for the next show, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, two annoying, and load-bearing, columns are to be removed, thus improving sight lines and freeing up valuable floor space. The room's cabaret ambience lends itself perfectly to Forever Plaid's ephemeral quality. What's more, unlike dinner theatres of yore that insisted on every production having two intermissions thus destroying the play's structure in order to hawk more drinks, Carlone's presents Forever Plaid as its creators intended-with no intermission. Thus we have 90 unspoiled minutes of sheer escapist entertainment.

left to right: Patrick Mendelson, Christopher Domroe Wecklein, Preston Meche & Eric Haston

Through the ministrations of director Sonny Borey and his cracker-jack associates, choreographer Karen Hebert, vocal director Derek Franklin, costume designer Debby Simeon, set designer Bill Walker and lighting designer Daniel Zimmer, (sound designers Neil Ingles and Cliff Stromeyer need to understand that less is more in this room), it has finally found its perfect Metairie home-the new Carlone's Dinner Theatre on Labarre Rd.

Gently satirizing the young man quartets of the late 50s-early 60s, think Four Freshmen, Aces, Lads-or the Crew Cuts-this musical revue of close harmony songs like "Three Coins In The Fountain", "Moments To Remember", "Shangri-La", or "Love Is A Many Spendored Thing" eschews the beatnik greasiness of the era for Eisenhower conformity. The four guys who comprise the Plaids-a new quartet that was killed, while en route to perform their first gig, when their car was totalled by a bus carrying Catholic school girls- are squeaky clean, button-down and very (Wonder) white bread.

Returning from heaven (thanks to a hole in the ozone layer) to perform the show they didn't get to do, the four guys -Eric Haston as Frankie, Preston Meche as Smudge, Patrick Mendelson as Sparky and Christopher Domroe Wecklein as Jinx, utilizing an array of props, wade through over twenty songs evoking memories of Johnnie Ray ("Cry") laid back, cardigan-clad Perry Como ("Dream Along With Me"), Tennessee Ernie Ford ("Sixteen Tons") and Tony Bennett ("Heart And Soul"). They do an entire Ed Sullivan show in three minutes. They honor Harry Bellefonte with a medley called "Caribbean Plaid". When the pianist, the wonderful Flo Presti, takes her union break (after performing for an hour), a member of the audience is called upon to help supply the accompaniment to "Heart And Soul". Finally, the guys receive their new uniforms-their plaid dinner jackets-and they ascend once again to heaven.

Opening night the audience ascended to their feet and gave the guys, the show, and the room in which it happily resides, a standing ovation. If you haven't seen Forever Plaid, this version will do you just fine. If you have seen it, this version will not disappoint-neither will the food.

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