Musical tribute to 50s male bands

Forever Plaid, the musical about the fictional music group, The Plaids, will be at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday in the Mains Rotunda in the Riffe Center at Ohio University Southern in Ironton.

It will be performed by The Paramount Players and presented by the Ironton Council for the Arts.

The show is only a one-time performance and is produced through a special arrangement with Music Theater International.

The musical is about a clean-cut 1950s music group of four guys, Sparky, Smudge, Jinx and Frankie, who idolize such groups as the Crew Cuts, the Four Lads and the Four Freshmen.

They practice their songs in the basement of plumbing supply with a dream of recording an album. They die in a tragic bus accident on the way to see The Beatles perform on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” but the close harmony group is given a chance to return from the afterlife to achieve their shot at music glory.

The musical has run in various forms since 1987 and was made into a movie of the same name in 2009.

Cast members for the show include Joshua Jannotta as Frankie, Thaddeus Stambaugh as Sparky, Rick Payne as Smudge, and Matt Hammond as Jinx. The sounds of tight harmonies will bring back memories of sock hops and romantic evenings with songs including “Three Coins in the Fountain,” “Moments to Remember,” Sixteen Tons,” “Workin’ on the Chain Gang,” “Perfidia,” and “Heart and Soul and Love is a Many Splendored Thing.”

Admission to “Forever Plaid” is $10, and tickets are available at the door of the performance. Ohio University students are admitted free with a valid student ID.