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Thunder Bay Theatre’s brought in another core company of performers for another new season, and talentwise, the foursome pick up right where the last batch left off after a rousing summer of shows.
Artistic Director Jeffrey Mindock proved yet again with this week’s opening of “Forever Plaid” that he’s adept at finding fresh talent. Consistently from season to season there never seems to be a drop-off.
This time around Mindock also secured Denzel Tsopnang, who he’d worked with in the past, as the show’s director, and he gave Tsopnang free reign to put his own spin on things. Mindock hired another former colleague as well Justin Adams to serve as music director and do double-duty as Mr. Adams, the impressive piano accompanist for the Plaids.
To a T, the four guys featured in this endearing musical (Todd Tuchek, Michael Hull, Matt Dornemann and Ronald Woodhead) possess what it takes vocally and stylistically to make the hour and a half-long show a real treat. Plus they all demonstrate that likability factor.
TBT did “Forever Plaid” some years back, and I’d forgotten just what an enjoyable show it is. Tsopnang chose a dramatic and misty, atmospheric opening to convey that the four Plaids have returned from the dead to perform at long last the concert they never got to do in real life. Lighting, sound and special effects, engineered by Colin Marshall and new production team member Deborah Baxter, all play key parts in the overall success of the production.
As the plot twist goes, the Plaids were killed instantly in a car crash while on their way to perform their first big concert. Their collective souls have been in discord ever since and somehow that channeled them back to earth much to their own surprise. One of the guys even calls it the “biggest comeback since Larazus.”
Though tentative at first to find themselves alive again and decked out in their white dinner jackets, boutonnieres and shiny black shoes, the Plaids start it off with the quickly recognizable “Three Coins in a Fountain” and then the sweet “These Moments to Remember.” Even though they don’t quite understand how they got this second chance, their confidence builds as they move from song to song.
The choreography, harkening back to the days of the popular guy groups of the 1950s, is fun and noticeably different on every number. There’s a lot of humor mixed in as well, especially when they condense many of the standard acts from the old Ed Sullivan television show into three minutes and 11 seconds of hilarity. They also are pretty amusing while demonstrating vocally the versatility of events they can be hired to perform at everything from bar mitzvahs (“Hava Nagila”) and Italian weddings to Christmas gatherings (“Itty Bitty Town of Bethlehem”) and anniversary parties.
After the intermission, the guys come back on stage full of confidence and in “Caribbean Plaid” mode with strains of “Day O,” “Kingston Market” and several other calypso-inspired tunes. They even pull an audience member up on the stage briefly to play the top half of “Heart and Soul” on the piano. Kudos to Marlin Smith who became an honorary Plaid after his unexpected and good-natured appearance in the show.
Overall, audiences should find plenty of reasons to thoroughly savor this first show on the fall season ticket.
Performances are Oct. 2-18 with show times at 7:30 p.m. Thursday to Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. For reservations, call the box office at 354-2267.