Plaid Tidings
A Special Holiday Edition of Forever Plaid

Written, directed and choreographed by Stuart Ross
November 27 – December 26, 2010 / Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre

Plaid Tidings — A Special Holiday Edition of Forever Plaid continues the story of the singing group whose lives were lost in an accident involving a busload of teens en route to see “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Encouraged by a heavenly phone call from Rosemary Clooney, the high-spirited boys of Forever Plaid – Frankie, Sparky, Jinx and Smudge – are transported from the ethereal cosmos to stage a nostalgic holiday extravaganza for world-weary mortals on Earth. Stuffed with such “Plaid-erized” Christmas standards as “Mr. Santa,” “Let It Snow” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” Plaid Tidings is one holiday treat that is truly heaven-sent.

Coming Soon!  


Production Photos
u
u
u
(clockwise from top left) Leo Daignault, Michael Winther, David Brannen and Jason Heil in Plaid Tidings - A Special Holiday Edition of Forever Plaid, at The Old Globe Nov. 27 - Dec. 26, 2010. Photo by Henry DiRocco.
(from top) Jason Heil, Michael Winther, Leo Daignault and David Brannen in Plaid Tidings - A Special Holiday Edition of Forever Plaid, at The Old Globe Nov. 27 - Dec. 26, 2010. Photo by Henry DiRocco.
Leo Daignault in Plaid Tidings - A Special Holiday Edition of Forever Plaid, at The Old Globe Nov. 27 - Dec. 26, 2010. Photo by Henry DiRocco.
u
u
 u
Michael Winther, Leo Daignault, Jason Heil and David Brannen in Plaid Tidings - A Special Holiday Edition of Forever Plaid, at The Old Globe Nov. 27 - Dec. 26, 2010. Photo by Henry DiRocco.
Jason Heil, Leo Daignault, David Brannen and Michael Winther in Plaid Tidings - A Special Holiday Edition of Forever Plaid, at The Old Globe Nov. 27 - Dec. 26, 2010. Photo by Henry DiRocco.
Leo Daignault, David Brannen, Jason Heil and Michael Winther in Plaid Tidings - A Special Holiday Edition of Forever Plaid, at The Old Globe Nov. 27 - Dec. 26, 2010. Photo by Henry DiRocco.
u
u
 u
David Brannen in Plaid Tidings - A Special Holiday Edition of Forever Plaid, at The Old Globe Nov. 27 - Dec. 26, 2010. Photo by Henry DiRocco.
Jason Heil in Plaid Tidings - A Special Holiday Edition of Forever Plaid, at The Old Globe Nov. 27 - Dec. 26, 2010. Photo by Henry DiRocco.
Michael Winther in Plaid Tidings - A Special Holiday Edition of Forever Plaid, at The Old Globe Nov. 27 - Dec. 26, 2010. Photo by Henry DiRocco.


Publicity Photos
 
 
Forever Plaid and Plaid Tidings creator Stuart Ross.
RGB logo in jpeg format for print and web use.
  


Cast and Creative Team

(click on image to download a high-resolution photo)
David Brannen (Sparky) has previously been seen at the Globe as The Grinch in Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (‘03 and ‘04). He has appeared regionally as Bobby Child in Crazy for You, Bill Snibson in Me and My Girl, both Don Lockwood and Cosmo Brown in Singin’ in the Rain, Huck Finn in Big River, Dick in Dames at Sea, the Fiddler in Fiddler on the Roof, Frank Schultz in Show Boat, Mike in A Chorus Line and Benjamin in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Leo Daignault (Jinx) is a proud member of the Actors’ Equity Association and lives in New York City. He returns to the Globe having previously appeared as The Grinch in Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (’05).He has appeared on Broadway in Avenue Q and has been featured in the National Tours of Avenue Q, The Full Monty, The Scarlet Pimpernel and Miss Saigon. A Plaid veteran, Daignault originated the role of Jinx in Plaid Tidings at Pasadena Playhouse and in Forever Plaid in Boston, San Diego, Tokyo and Chicago, where he won an Ollie Award for best vocal performance by a male. His regional theater credits also include Jim Henson’s Emmet Otter and Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas (Goodspeed Musicals), Miss Saigon (The Muny), Come Rain or Come Shine (Mark Taper Forum), A Little Night Music (Apple Tree Theatre) and My Three Angels (Center Theatre). His film and television credits include How to Marry a Billionaire: A Christmas Tale, “The Sopranos,” “Silk Stalkings” and “Pensacola: Wings of Gold.” He was also one of Rosie’s Broadway Boys appearing on “The View” and “The Rachael Ray Show".
Jason Heil (Smudge) is proud to be making his Globe debut. His New York and regional credits include 31 Bond (Brooklyn Lyceum), Cabaret (Arkansas Repertory Theatre), The Taming of the Shrew and Dracula (Tennessee Repertory Theatre), James Joyce’s The Dead (American Conservatory Theater), Richard III, Henry IV Part 1, Henry VIII, The Three Musketeers, My Fair Lady and 1776 (Utah Shakespearean Festival), Romeo and Juliet and The Taming of the Shrew (Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival), Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It and Cyrano de Bergerac (Marin Shakespeare Company), The Winter’s Tale and The Learned Ladies (A Noise Within), Richard II, Antony and Cleopatra, The Fantasticks and Guys and Dolls (Texas Shakespeare Festival) and Camelot and Oklahoma! (Downey Civic Light Opera). Heil has appeared in San Diego in Lucy Simon's Zhivago (La Jolla Playhouse and New York/London readings), The Glory Man, Harvey, Joyful Noise, The Glass Menagerie, Room Service, The Voysey Inheritance, An American Christmas, Enchanted April, Into the Woods and The Winslow Boy (Lamb’s Players Theatre – Associate Artist), Noises Off (Cygnet Theatre Company), A Christmas Carol (San Diego Repertory Theatre), Three Days of Rain (Compass Theatre), Dracula (North Coast Repertory Theatre), The Goodbye Girl (Moonlight Stage Productions) and Into the Woods (Starlight Theatre). His directing credits include Barefoot in the Park (January 2011), Ring Round the Moon and You Never Can Tell (Moonlight Stage Productions), Twelfth Night (Actors’ Rep - Ohio) and Brilliant Traces (Finishing the Hat Productions, Los Angeles).  He received his M.F.A. from UC Irvine.
Michael Winther (Frankie) has previously appeared at the Globe in King Lear, Damn Yankees and Forever Plaid. His Broadway credits include 33 Variations, Mamma Mia!, The Crucible, 1776, Artist Descending a Staircase and Damn Yankees. He has appeared Off Broadway in Songs from an Unmade Bed (New York Theatre Workshop/CD on Ghostlight Records, 2006 Drama Desk and Drama League nominations), Radiant Baby (New York Shakespeare Festival and the Public Theater) and Hapgood (Lincoln Center Theater). His recent regional credits include Band Geeks! (Goodspeed Musicals), Grey Gardens (TheatreWorks, Palo Alto), Most Wanted (La Jolla Playhouse), Falsettos (George Street Playhouse), The Boys from Syracuse (CENTERSTAGE) and The People’s Temple (Guthrie Theater and PerseveranceTheatre). Other regional credits include Yale Repertory Theatre, McCarter Theatre, Barrington Stage Company, Syracuse Stage, Ford’s Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, Coconut Grove Playhouse, Sundance Institute Theatre Lab at White Oak, New York Stage and Film, and Orchard Project. Winther has recently been featured in the concerts of William Finn’s Songs By Ridiculously Talented Composers… (Barrington Stage Company), The Songs of Fred Hersch and Hear and Now (Lincoln Center’s American Songbook), What Makes It Great? with Rob Kapilow (Lincoln Center and Cerritos Center), The Songs of James Taylor and Broadway Close Up Series (Merkin Concert Hall), New Love Songs (Metropolitan Room), New New York Voices (Symphony Space) and Broadway Cabaret Series, Broadway by the Year and Broadway Unplugged (Town Hall). Winther’s recent film and television credits include Meet Dave, Jumper, The Break-Up, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, “Leverage” and “Law & Order.” He is a graduate of Williams College.
Stuart Ross (Playwright, Choreographer and Director) directed the original New York production of Forever Plaid and many of the long-running productions around the world.  He also helmed Forever Plaid: The Movie, which is slated for release in the spring of 2011.  The Sound of Plaid, the coed glee club version of Forever Plaid, has been performed in schools and colleges around the country.  At The Old Globe, Ross also directed Michael Cristofer’s play Breaking Up and The Boswell Sisters (which he co-wrote for the Globe with Mark Hampton).  He directed the critically acclaimed revival of Enter Laughing: The Musical (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Award nominations) last season in New York.  At The Public Theater, he wrote the script and co-wrote the lyrics for the musical Radiant Baby, based on the life of artist Keith Haring.  His adaptation of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers was workshopped at Roundabout Theatre Company.  On Broadway, Ross co-wrote the book (with Barry Keating) of the Tony-nominated musical Starmites as well as The Radio City Music Hall Easter Show.  Off Broadway he wrote A Leap of Faith (a one-woman show for Faith Prince), The Heebie Jeebies, Not-So-New Faces, Tea with Bea and Fun with Dick and Jane: The Musical.  His current projects include Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays, opening this fall in Los Angeles, and the Broadway transfer of Enter Laughing: The Musical.