Plaid Tidingsis the Skylight Opera Theatre’s holiday offering, and it offers plenty tojingle those bells and ring in the Christmas season. Getting past the sillypremise, Plaid Tidings delights inthe multitalented acting, singing and dancing of the four actors that make upThe Plaids: Joe Fransee (Sparky), PaulHelm (Jinx), Marty McNamee (Frankie) and Scott Stratton (Smudge). Thanks tofellow departed torch singer Rosemary Clooney’s literal “messages from above”(a very funny ongoing gag), the boys soon discover their purpose back on Earth.
The four work well together under director andchoreographer Bill Theisen’s slapstick comic timing, especially with some veryfunny segments running through all the acts that have appeared on “The EdSullivan Show”in rapid-firesuccession. The quartet’s ultimate dream is to sing backup with their idol, thesilver-haired, silver-tongued Perry Como. And as the audience watches a vintageComo Christmas special, the quartet does what it does best.
Nostalgia is a welcome respite during theseuncertain times, and Plaid Tidings servesup a cup of holiday cheer that reminisces as well as entertains.
SkylightOpera Theatre’s Plaid Tidings runs through Jan. 3, 2010.
