FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: November 24, 2004
Contact: Christa Skiles
Public Relations Director
513-345-2242, ext. 232

CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE EXTENDS HIT MUSICAL PLAID TIDINGS THROUGH JANUARY 9

(CINCINNATI) – The men of Forever Plaid will get their wish to stick around Earth a little longer this holiday season as the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park extends Stuart Ross’ hit musical sensation, Plaid Tidings. The show, which had been set to close on December 31, now will run through January 9.

In the third week of what originally was scheduled as an eight-week run, tickets to remaining performances of Plaid Tidings are scarce. The extension adds 10 new shows — and more fun, laughter and music — to this lineup. There are no performances scheduled for New Year’s Day, January 1.

In the late 1950s, Sparky, Smudge, Jinx and Frankie were high school chums who shared a common love of music and entertaining. They spent their nights practicing and dreaming of becoming pop music icons, calling themselves Forever Plaid, a name that encapsulated the traditional values of the time: family, home and harmony. The Plaids’ first real gig was to have been February 9, 1964. But their fate changed forever when a bus — filled with teen girls on their way to see the Beatles make their U.S. television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show — broadsided the foursome’s car. The Plaids were sent to the heavens, leaving them eternally suspended in this forgotten era.

In Ross’ original hit musical, Forever Plaid, the men found themselves returned to the present day for the chance to perform the show they missed that fateful night. Now, in Plaid Tidings, the confused lads again find themselves back on Earth. After carefully contemplating the reasons for this repeat performance, and crooning a handful of favorite songs along the way, the answer hits them: they must create and put on a holiday show or be doomed for all eternity. The group offers a celebration reminiscent of the popular television variety programs of their time. It comes complete with a humorous psychoanalysis of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” a performance with a video projected Perry Como and a hilarious three-minute take on The Ed Sullivan Show. The Los Angeles Times described the show as “enormously entertaining feel-good fare.”

Tickets for the remaining performances of Plaid Tidings are on sale now. Prices range from $44-$52 depending on day and seat location. Prices are $58-62 for the performance on New Year's Eve, which includes a complimentary bar throughout the show’s 20-minute intermission and a free champagne toast with the cast following the performance.

Any unreserved tickets are half-price every day when purchased between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. on the day of the show (for performances Tuesday through Saturday) and from 12 to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The Playhouse is fully accessible. Audio enhancement receivers, large print programs and complete wheelchair access are available.

For tickets or for more information, call the Playhouse box office at 513/421-3888 or toll-free in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana at 800/582-3208. Call 513/345-2248 for TDD accessibility. For single tickets purchased by telephone through the Playhouse box office, there is a $3 convenience fee per call. Tickets also can be purchased on the Playhouse web site at www.cincyplay.com.

Plaid Tidings is sponsored by United Medical Resources. The Thompson Shelterhouse Theatre Series is presented by Heidelberg Distributing Co. The Shelterhouse Season Design Sponsor is The Sheakley Group of Companies.

Artists fly to and from Cincinnati on Delta Connection Comair, the Playhouse’s official airline.

The Playhouse is supported, in part, by the generosity of the tens of thousands of individuals and businesses that give to the Fine Arts Fund.

The Ohio Arts Council also helps fund the Playhouse with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

The Playhouse also receives funding from the City of Cincinnati.

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