Gallery • 14 Photos

Caleb Hall (12) serenades the audience as part of a quartet in the opening number.

The Sound of Plaid: Forever Plaid, is the story of a musical group who reached the height of their popularity in the 1950’s. They came back from purgatory for one last chance at a show stopping performance. The play was written by Stuart Ross. It is a comedic tale that deals with death and love.

Manitou Springs High School’s rendition of the story is full of life and heart. The musical opened with an ominous narration describing the predicament that the band is facing. The cast entered from the back doors of the auditorium holding candles. This sort of excellent visual style is kept up throughout the play. It emphasizes the severity of the play, although this is occasionally lost in the actors delivery. The energy of the play varied; at times it was excellent and the audience was captivated. There was one point near the intermission where it felt as though the play was slowing through mud. This was not the case for the rest of the play, as the actors quickly recovered and brought back the energy that they started with. 

As typically shown in musicals, the dancing plays an important factor in the overall quality of the performance. The dancing is superb. Caleb Hall (12) shows off his amazing classical dancing skills. One number in particular in which Hall and Bri Anderson (9) dance to a sad love baled. It was a touching moment. Even though it was performed in large numbers the choreography is interesting, and the cast performs in sync. This combined with the visual of white clothes on a black background succeeds in transporting the audience to the days of Big Bands and close harmony quartets.

Where the dancing was impressive, the same cannot be said for all of the singing. Some of the songs felt empty and off key. There were moments when there were singers off key and off in different key. There were exceptions, for instance Dorian Perez (11) blew audiences away every time he was near the mike with his perfect pitch and excellent tempo. 

In short, the play showed off the hard work of the actors in it. However, the script left more story to be desired, as there was a distinct lack of plot development. This is not the fault of the actors, but that of the play wrights. The singing had good moments, and several weaker moments. The dancing took center stage in the minds of the audience as the strongest piece of the performance.

The Sound of Plaid is worth seeing, and will undoubtedly overcome the first night hiccups that they experienced when The Color Plaid returns to the stage this Friday and Saturday.