PLAIDS, CAROLS & COMIC CHAOS

A tuneful Yule celebration filled with
charm, harmony, and holiday silliness

If you’re craving holiday nostalgia served with tight four-part harmonies and a side of goofy, good-hearted comedy, Plaid Tidings at Revolution Stage Company should be on your December shortlist. Stuart Ross’s follow-up to his wildly popular 1989 revue Forever Plaid revamps the concept with Christmas songs and retro showbiz antics, bringing back the fictional male quartet who were tragically killed on their way to their first big gig — only to be returned from the afterlife through a cosmic glitch to perform the show they never got to give.

Revolution’s production captures that old-school blend of sincerity and silliness beautifully. From the moment the quartet opens with “Stranger in Paradise,” that unmistakable tenor-forward sound of 1950s harmony groups comes rushing in like a warm memory. Those buttery chords — think The Four Aces, The Four Freshmen, and all their high-floating cousins — are recreated with such care that within minutes I realized I’d been grinning straight through the number.

The Plaids here — Sparky (Julian Perez), Smudge (Koby Queenan), Jinx (Noah Wahlberg), and Frankie (Carlos Garcia) — are all familiar faces on Coachella Valley stages, and all four deliver terrific work. Plaid Tidings gives each character more individual comic beats and solo moments than the original revue, and the cast rises to it. Queenan, whose work I’ve admired for years, surprised with a tender solo ballad sung in a voice that’s genuinely lovely. Garcia, a Revolution regular, has the full entertainer’s toolkit: singing, dancing, timing, charm — and then, just when you think he’s shown it all, he sits at the piano and launches into a dramatic Rachmaninoff-style prelude that hilariously melts into “Heart and Soul.” Perez brings sharp comic instincts and an easy command of the stage, while Wahlberg — fresh from standout turns in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and My Fair Lady — continues to prove he’s one to watch.

Musical director Alex Bernhardt not only leads from the piano but becomes a comic presence in his own right, making a grand entrance and playing with a flourish that suits the show’s playful tone. Considering the score weaves through pieces of more than 40 songs — many with tricky tight harmonies — the ensemble’s blend and accuracy reflect countless hours of smart, precise rehearsal.

Director/choreographer Roger Welch, whose resumé includes more than 100 musicals, keeps the pacing brisk and the staging inventive. His choreography doesn’t just decorate the harmonies — it reinforces them, giving each number its own personality. The centerpiece is a breathless three-minute salute to classic Ed Sullivan Show acts, complete with accordion, animal bits, novelty performers, and of course Topo Gigio and Señor Wences. It’s joyful, silly, and executed at lightning speed — the kind of sequence that makes you admire performers who can sprint, flip, and sing layered chords without dropping pitch or character.

Plaid Tidings is easy holiday entertainment, perfectly suited for all ages. With a 15-minute intermission, it lands just under two hours — a blessing, really, because if I’d held my smile any longer, I might’ve pulled something.

Revolution Stage Company delivers a warm, funny, harmonically rich evening that never stops moving — a welcome reminder that sometimes the simplest holiday gift is a handful of great voices singing in perfect balance.

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photos courtesy of RSC

Plaid Tidings
Revolution Stage Company
611 S Palm Canyon Dr. in Palm Springs
1 hour 50 minutes, including intermission
for tickets, visit Revolution

Wed, December 17 at 7
Thu, December 18 at 7
Wed, December 10 at 7
Sat, December 13 at 8
Sun, December 14 at 2
Fri, December 19 at 7
Sat, December 20 at 8

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