For Immediate Release: March 19, 2007
Media Contact: Chuck Reece, Bristol Riverside Theatre, 215.785.0100

Beginning April 17, 2007, Bristol Riverside Theatre presents Forever Plaid, the “Heavenly Musical Hit,” written by Stuart Ross. Closing out its 20th Anniversary Season, in tribute to perhaps the biggest audience favorite out of 99 previous main stage presentations, Plaid marks the first repeat production in BRT’s history. All performances will be at the theatre, 120 Radcliffe Street, in Historic Bristol Borough. In anticipation of rekindled interest in the production, this remounting will be for an extended four week run through May 13, 2007.

Sent careening into the afterlife by a busload of Catholic teens before their 1964 debut at the Airport Hilton, the Plaids have been miraculously revived to present their concert that never was. The Doo-Wop quartet lets audiences relive the 1950s, performing harmonious renditions of classics including “Love is a Many Splendored Thing,” “Three Coins in the Fountain,” “Heart and Soul,” and, always an audience favorite, their three-minute rendition of the Ed Sullivan Show.

Directed by Edward Keith Baker in 2001, BRT’s first mounting of Forever Plaid received standing ovations and rave reviews. The Philadelphia Inquirer said, “If you were around and listening to music in the 1950s, the entire show will strike a responsive chord. It will also make you appreciate how much director Baker and these youthful performers get right about the sound and feeling of the period.” The cast of the production was nominated for the Philadelphia Barrymore Outstanding Ensemble award for their work.

When asked why he chose to repeat the show, Baker said, “We are remounting Forever Plaid because of the overwhelming response to the show not just while it was running, but for years after. It is our most popular musical of the past twenty years and our audience has asked me over and over when we are bringing it back. Closing our Twentieth Anniversary Season seemed like the perfect time to do so.”

Two members of the original BRT production will be making encore appearances: Chris Zelno as Jinx, and Richard Rowan (who has also performed in the BRT Summer Musicale Series) in the role of Smudge. Also returning to BRT is Michael Susko, who previously appeared in Olympus On My Mind in 2005. Rounding out the cast is BRT newcomer, Billy Clark Taylor, filling the part of Francis. The production will again be directed and musically directed by BRT Artistic Director, Edward Keith Baker, twice nominated for a Barrymore for his direction of The Balkan Women and The Dresser. Choreographing his first BRT show will be Gregory Daniels, with Benjamin VanDiepen serving as Pianist and Assistant Musical Director. New lighting and set designs are being created for the production by A. Nelson Ruger.

Tickets to Forever Plaid are available by calling the BRT Box Office at 215-785-0100, or online at www.BRTstage.org. Preview performances on April 17 and 18 are $29 with a “pay what you can” option available for at-door sales beginning at 7:30pm on the day of the performance. All other performances are Wednesdays through Sundays, April 19 through May 13, with evening performances at 8:00pm, Wednesday through Saturday, and matinees on Wednesday and Saturday at 2:00pm, Sundays at 3:00pm. Tickets are $39-$42 (depending on the day of performance). BRT thanks Verizon, Grand Sponsor of its 20th Anniversary Season, and The Bucks County Courier Times, sponsor of Forever Plaid.

Go to News Releases»