STAGE REVIEW : Harmony From Heaven : Deathless Pop Songs in Breezy ‘Forever Plaid’

Four-part harmony is a many-splendored thing.

It replaced “love” in the lives of the four guys who make up the singing group Forever Plaid in the Old Globe Theatre’s “Forever Plaid.” For them, finding their place “inside a good tight chord” is, well, heaven. And you can take that literally, for their show is billed as their comeback from the great beyond.

As the story goes, they were killed in a traffic accident on Feb. 9, 1964, while on their way to pick up custom-made plaid tuxedos. But now they have returned to Earth, channeled here in order to soothe human discord with their music.

Their show, created and staged by Stuart Ross, is just about as silky--and as silly--as the songs they sing. For anyone in search of breezy, undemanding summertime fare, this one fills the bill beautifully. You’ll certainly go home humming the tunes.

It might help if you remember the era (that is, if you’re at least 35). Certainly the generation that never saw “The Ed Sullivan Show” might have trouble deciphering a manic, New Vaudevillian re-enactment that the quartet does near the end of their concert. For those of us who do remember the Sullivan hour of national unity every Sunday night, however, Forever Plaid’s rendition of it is rrr-eally, rrr-eally funny.

Then again, anyone should be able to appreciate at least some of this show. There is something heavenly about the harmonies these guys produce, and there’s a gentle hilarity in the contrast between their ethereal music and their often clumsy stage movements, between their everlasting-love lyrics and their re-collections of their own lives.

They didn’t have much time for romance, see, what with their rehearsals at night and their day jobs in dental supplies, auto parts, bathroom fixtures and better dresses.

Besides, how could true love ever top the experience of singing about it?

And sing they do. James Raitt arranged and directs 28 songs for this intermissionless show, most of them familiar ditties from long-ago charts. That doesn’t include “Hava Nagilah,” which they begin singing as a sample of their ability to do bar mitzvahs--until they realize they don’t know any of the lyrics beyond “Hava Nagilah.”

For sheer musical bliss, Jinx (Stan Chandler) is the man to listen to. In his high register, he makes the introduction to “Moments to Remember” sound like his remembrance of the moment when he entered the pearly gates.

Unfortunately, when Jinx stops singing, he’s prone to nosebleeds--even in death. Halfway through “Cry,” though, he suddenly drops an octave or two and delivers the rest of the song in a full-throated, manly growl. It’s a remarkable reminder of the hidden dimensions within the most unprepossessing personalities.

Holding down the bass end of the quartet is Smudge (David Engel). He can’t remember his left from his right, and his glasses look as if they might fall off his nose. His “16 Tons” is accompanied by the sound of a fork hitting a ketchup bottle, filling in for the sounds of miners.

But he, too, gets a moment of transformation. As he breaks into “Rags to Riches,” we get a whiff of real rock ‘n’ roll. Smudge, alone among the guys, might have been able to make it in the ‘60s.

Francis (Guy Stroman) has the smoothest personality of the four. He looks as if he might have realized that the group wasn’t all that cool, in 1964 terms, before the others did (when they do their token Beatles number, it’s “She Loves You, Yes-sir-ree”). Yet he is fiercely loyal and acts as chief spokesman for the group, summing up the Plaid credo in an impassioned speech near the end.

Sparky (Larry Raben) lives up to his nickname; more than the others, he itches to get out there and do those steps. When it’s his turn, he seizes the spotlight voraciously. It was Sparky who stole Perry Como’s carburetor long enough so that the group could do their act for the great man.

Ross’ book includes a few such memories, but it mostly makes way for the songs and for his increasingly complex staging. A calypso number carries Neil Peter Jampolis’ purposefully gaudy set into the audience; one of the group even ascends to the balcony.

As the show becomes more animated, Debra Stein’s costumes become more plaid. And so do we. At least for a moment, these guys make us true believers. If only Ed Sullivan were around today . . .

“Forever Plaid,” Old Globe Theatre, Simon Edison Centre for the Performing Arts, Balboa Park, San Diego. Tuesdays-Sundays, 8 p.m., Saturday-Sunday matinees, 2 p.m. Ends Aug. 25. $21-$28.50. (619) 239-2255. Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes.

‘Forever Plaid’

Stan Chandler: Jinx

David Engel: Smudge

Larry Raben: Sparky

Guy Stroman: Francis

Written, directed and choreographed by Stuart Ross. Musical continuity, arrangements and musical supervision by James Raitt. Sets Neil Peter Jampolis. Costumes Debra Stein. Lights Jane Reisman. Stage manager Peter Van Dyke. Pianist/musical director James Raitt (through Friday), Steven Freeman (next Saturday-Aug. 25). Bass Rob Thorsen.