![\"NVA](\"https:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Plaid-Tidings-2-web.jpg\")
<\/a>A capacity audience attended the evening performance the day following Thanksgiving, perhaps an indication that the piece will establish itself as a holiday classic in North County San Diego. Jason Heil, himself a veteran Plaid, directs the production, which plays through December 31 at the Carlsbad theater.<\/p>\n
The good news this year is the arrival of NVA debutant Daniel Filippi, who creates an indelible character of Smudge, the gauche, philosophical shy guy with the spectacles and an ulcer. Filippi\u2019s bass voice provides ballast for many of the songs, he does a fine solo turn in \u201cIt\u2019s a Wonderful Time of the Year,\u201d and he is adept to the point that one had no doubt he was capable of 11th hour cartwheels. David S Humphrey, an extreme \u201cForever Plaid\u201d and \u201cPlaid Tidings\u201d alumni, is the choreographer and Lyndon Pugeda, the music director\/pianist.<\/p>\n
The other Plaids, who reprise their roles from last year\u2019s NVA production, are Bryan Banville as Frankie, Charles Evens as Sparky, and Conor Tibbs as Jinx.<\/p>\n
The songs include favorites from the original \u201cPlaid\u201d such as \u201cKingston Market,\u201d \u201cMoments to Remember,\u201d \u201cKiss of Fire,\u201d \u201cLove Is a Many Splendored Thing,\u201d the sing-along \u201cMatilda,\u201d and \u201cBesame Mucho.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to a recap of the \u201cForever Plaid\u201d plot for \u201cPlaid virgins\u201d\u2014where did this throwback close harmony group come from?\u2014There is a reprise of the three-minute \u201cEd Sullivan Show,\u201d replete with Topo Gigio and the Flying Nuns.<\/p>\n
Ross adds an extremely funny cell phone gag\u2014how could these dead guys know from cell phones?\u2014during which the performers run into the audience trying to discover the source of discordant harmony. Holiday additions include \u201cThe Dreidel Song,\u201d \u201cI\u2019ll be Home for Christmas,\u201d \u201cJoy to the World,\u201d \u201cRudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,\u201d and \u201cCarol of the Bells,\u201d hilariously embellished with actual hand bell playing, audience participation and a switch of bells.<\/p>\n
\u201cForever Plaid\u201d made its San Diego debut in 1991 at the Old Globe. Created by friends in a living room, the original piece had been playing in New York City supper clubs for a year when it was seen by former Globe Managing Director Tom Hall, who decided to bring it to the Globe. The show was such a hit it was remounted the following year and then played an extended run at the Theatre in Old Town, at the time setting a record for the longest-running show in San Diego.<\/p>\n
Some may call \u201cPlaid\u201d and \u201cPlaid Tidings\u201d corny and indeed they are. But when the shows are sincerely played, as \u201cPlaid Tidings\u201d is at NVA, they strike more chords than mere aural harmony can achieve.<\/p>\n The four young men, you may recall, are dead, forever frozen in time in virginal, close-harmony naivet\u00e9 brought about when their bus was struck broadside by a busload of Catholic school girls on their way to see the Beatles on \u201cThe Ed Sullivan Show.\u201d<\/p>\n The original \u201cForever Plaid\u201d brought them back for the show they never performed on earth. It takes a while following their \u201cTidings\u201d reappearance for the lads to realize they\u2019re supposed to plan and perform their Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa show. Once they begin, we\u2019re flying.<\/p>\n \u201cPlaid Tidings\u201d continues through December 31 at 8 p.m. Thursdays\u2014Saturdays with matinees at 3 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, a 4 p.m. Christmas Eve matinee, and a 7 p.m. New Year\u2019s Eve champagne-toast performance, New Village Arts Theatre, 2787 State St., Carlsbad. Tickets are $32 \u2013 $35, visit newvillagearts.org<\/a> or call 760-433-3245.<\/p>\n Charlene Baldridge moved to San Diego from the Chicago area in 1962. She\u2019s been writing about the arts since 1979, and has had her features, critiques, surveys and interviews included in various publications ever since. Her book \u201cSan Diego, Jewel of the California Coast\u201d (Northland Publishing) is currently available in bookstores. She can be reached at charb81@gmail.com<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<\/a>