Letter to the Editor: Valley West students urged to show up at Spartan Stadium, root for classmates

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Pets of the week

<p>NUANGOLA &#8212;If you&#8217;ve never seen &#8220;Forever Plaid,&#8221; don&#8217;t worry.</p><p>You can attend &#8220;Plaid Tidings&#8221; at the Theatre at the Grove and, in this holiday-themed version of the story, Frankie, Sparky, Smudge and Jinx will bring you up to speed with a rapid summary of how their 1940s/1950s barbershop quartet/doo-wop singing group got killed on the way to its first gig yet mysteriously returned to Earth so the show could go on.</p><p>Quick summaries are one of the group&#8217;s specialties, director Mike Marone said, explaining how members also incorporate about 15 of the most famous sketches from the Ed Sullivan Show, including the little mouse puppet Topo Gigio and puppeteer Senor Wences into three minutes. &#8220;We have the Flying Wallendas, the famous white stallions of Austria and Lady of Spain. There&#8217;s lots of running around, all done while one of our cast members sings &#8216;I&#8217;ll Be Home For Christmas&#8217; and one plays the accordion.&#8221;</p><p>If this all sounds like happy mayhem, well, what would you expect from this unusual foursome?</p><p>&#8220;Frankie is your level-headed leader,&#8221; Marone said. &#8220;Sparky is totally spastic, instantly excited about everything; Smudge is kind of a dork with broken glasses taped in the middle. He has to drink Milk of Magnesia constantly because even being on stage makes him nauseous, and Jinx always gets nosebleeds so he has cotton stuffed up his nose.&#8221;</p><p>They don&#8217;t sound like the most attractive boy-band ever but, Marone said, &#8220;There&#8217;s a nice arc to the story where everybody is able to get over their tics.&#8221;</p><p>At one point, one lucky audience member will be chosen to pitch in when the group plays hand bells; during another part of the show, the entire audience will be invited to sing along.</p><p>And maybe, just maybe, the Forever Plaid quartet will find a way to fulfill its dream of singing back-up for Perry Como. Or maybe it&#8217;ll get the next best thing.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">David Baker, Christopher Lafrance, Brandon Frashefski and Michael Marone star appear as the singing quartet in &#8216;Plaid Tidings&#8217; at Theatre at the Grove in Nuangola. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_foreverplaid.jpg</photo0><caption0>David Baker, Christopher Lafrance, Brandon Frashefski and Michael Marone star appear as the singing quartet in &#8216;Plaid Tidings&#8217; at Theatre at the Grove in Nuangola. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What: </strong>&#8216;Plaid Tidings&#8217;</p><p><strong>When: </strong>Nov. 28 to Dec. 13 with performances 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays. Special matinees 3 p.m. Dec. 5 and Dec. 12</p><p><strong>Where: </strong>Theatre at the Grove, 5177 Nuangola Road, Nuangola.</p><p><strong>Tickets:</strong> $20</p><p><strong>Reservations:</strong> 570-868-8212</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

A quartet’s dearest wish: To sing back up for Perry Como