SAN DIEGO -- Forever Plaid is forever green at the box office of The Theatre in Old Town.
The musical recently celebrated its first anniversary and has generated more than $1.7 million in ticket sales, playing to more than 150,000 theatregoers -- and that doesn't include all those who saw it at the Old Globe in 1991 and 1992.
The show has become San Diego's longest continuously running musical -- and it isn't just a local phenom. There are "Plaidheads" worldwide, with four ongoing, long-running productions in North America alone.
In fact, Plaid beat all the other competition to win Las Vegas' "Year's Best Show" honors.
What makes the show a crowd pleaser? "It has broad appeal. The '50s-style revue music brings in the older audiences and the crazy characterizations appeal to the younger audiences," said David Digilio, marketing spokesman for Harris Goldman Productions and Forever Plaid . "It is also very funny, with a lot of unexpected choreography and lines."
The show tells the story of four unlikely harmony singers who go by the names of Sparky, Jinx, Smudge and Frankie. The four guys almost got their big break when they booked a gig at the Airport Hilton cocktail bar, The Fusel Lounge, in 1964. Unfortunately, they're killed in a collision with a busload of screaming teenagers on their way to see the Beatles on the "Ed Sullivan Show."
Starring in the San Diego production are Steve Gunderson, Bobby Smith, Leo Daignault and Rick Meads.
Performances are Tue.- Fri. at 8 PM; Sat. at 5 and 8 PM and Sun. at 2 and 7 PM at The Theatre in Old Towne, 4040 Twiggs St., Old Towne. For tickets, $20-$30, call (619) 688-2494.
-- By Willard Manus
Southern California Correspondent
