Roger Peace steps back onto Ed Sullivan's stage

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February 5, 2015

Montreal Gazette
January 31, 2015
By Pat Donnelly


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Ladies and Gentlemen: Forever Plaid.

The spunky little musical about four guys who get killed in a car accident while on their way to make their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, has returned to Montreal, after an almost 20-year absence.

Performances begin Sunday at the Segal Centre.

And this time, Forever Plaid is under the direction of someone who actually appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show: noted Montreal musical theatre director, Roger Peace. This is probably a first within the show’s 25-year history.

Peace, 79, who produced and/or directed a long line of musicals in Montreal starting from the heyday of La Diligence dinner theatre, was once a freelance performer who did a mime act as Mr. Pastry (originally created and performed by Richard Hearne) on the Sullivan show in the mid-1960s. Working on this show, which includes a brief (three minute, 11 seconds) spoof of the Sullivan show, brought back strange memories, Peace said.

“I was very young and didn’t understand how important it (playing the Sullivan Show) was until I started doing tours. And the signs would say “as seen on” or “directly from” the Sullivan show. I did a tour with Jimmy Durante. It was Jimmy Durante and Mr. Pastry. I had no idea how it was going to impact on my life.”

Forever Plaid, by Stuart Ross, is set in 1964.

Suffice it to say, Peace knows the era like the back of his hand.

The sketchy tale of this mini-musical revolves around four nerdy guys in bow ties and tartan plaid jackets who specialize in four-part harmonies. They have just got their big Sullivan Show break. But when their car plows into a bus full of Catholic schoolgirls, they all die on impact and find themselves together in the hereafter, with their guitars.

So they decide to put on one last show, singing all their favourite songs. Unlike the oft-compared Jersey Boys, which features the music of the Four Seasons, these guys have the pick of the hit parade, much-beloved earworm songs by many different songwriters and composers.

Forever Plaid began as a modest off-Broadway musical revue in 1990. With its jukebox lists of beloved hits like Love is a Many Splendored Thing, Sixteen Tons and Heart and Soul, it struck an irresistible chord and spread around the globe.

In 2009, it was transformed into a movie, written and directed by Ross.

We’ve seen it at least twice before in Montreal, at Centaur Theatre in 1995 and 1996. It played the Piggery in North Hatley in 2000. But that was the Canadian touring production. This time, the show is locally produced (by Copa de Oro Productions) and locally cast.

Chris Barillaro, who recently served as musical director and did orchestrations for Belles Soeurs at the Segal Centre, is once again serving in that capacity, while also playing the role of Jinx. Gab Desmond is Frankie, Michael Daniel Murphy is Sparky and Jonathan Patterson plays Smudge.

“It’s a busy year. I’m very lucky,” said Barillaro, a Dawson College theatre graduate who did a BA in music, with a minor in theatre at McGill.

He’s the kind of guy who actually wears bow ties, he said, adding that he normally ties his own. In the show, however, everyone wears clip-ons

In addition to this show, he’s also assistant musical director for The Lyric Singers, who are preparing a show for June. Over the past few years he has done many gigs around town, including accompanying the late Joan Rivers at the Just for Laughs festival in 2013.

As Forever Plaid’s musical director, Barillaro said he’s in charge of teaching the musical parts to the actors, including the harmonies. “In this case there a lot more harmonies than any other show I’ve done,” he said. “I’m also in charge of putting together the band and rehearsing the band. And just generally making musical decisions if things need to be edited, or changed around or (setting) tempos.”

This means a lot of extra work. But Patterson is doing double duty, too, as assistant director and dance captain. “So we’re there performing and always giving a listen,” Barillaro said.

Peace is always listening and watching, too. But he has had to take several rehearsal breaks since last Sunday in order to speak to local media about the death of his longtime friend, Geraldine Doucet, who once co-starred in Peace’s long-running production of Nunsense.

“I’ve known her since 1968,” Peace said. “We did our first show at Expo Theatre. We’ve been friends ever since.” In addition to Nunsense, he worked with her on her one-woman Sophie Tucker show.

He spoke of Doucet’s many philanthropic endeavours. “She had a heart as big as all outdoors,” he said.

Peace and Doucet performed together at her 80th birthday party five years ago.

What was the song? After a lengthy pause, he remembered, “It was ‘Ah yes, I remember it well.’ I forgot my words. And she prompted me.”

Forever Plaid, by Stuart Ross, runs Feb. 1 to 22, at the Segal Centre. Tickets $32 to $64. Call 514-739-7944 or visit www.segalcentre.org

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