Contentment is a state of being
July 9, 2014
Bayou Belle bike ride aids Houma shelter
July 9, 2014
The sticky Houma summer cedes to Christmas, at least in spirit, when Le Petit Theatre de Terrebonne opens its 77th season with the summer musical “Plaid Tidings.”
The all-male show is both a contrast to the all-female musical that opened the playhouse’s 2013-14 season and the long-awaited sequel to “Forever Plaid,” produced by Le Petit in 2002. Quality on-stage music, including four-part harmonies and live instrument play – the accordion! – is billed as the premiere offering in a musical light on plot.
“The music is fantastic, for the most part,” said Matt Chauvin, who plays one of the singers. “It’s really good. It’s written well. It didn’t seem as difficult as it actually turns out it is.”
Stuart Ross’ “Forever Plaid” was the first posthumous (re?)incarnation of the Plaids, a quartet of men killed in a car accident with a school bus filled with Catholic teenagers (who escaped uninjured) just before their first big gig on the Ed Sullivan Show. Potential untapped, they made the “biggest comeback since Lazarus,” 20 years later and spent the one-act show performing a revue of 1950s pot hits.
“Plaid Tidings,” also by Ross, is the vehicle by which the Plaids can perform their Christmas special. Among other songs, they are set to perform “Sh-Boom,” “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” “Let It Snow,” “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” and, perhaps most spectacularly, a version of the Ed Sullivan Christmas Show condensed into 3 minutes, 11 seconds. Some of the songs the Plaids are performing are Christmas twists of straight classics, such as the conversion of “Mr. Sandman” to “Mr. Santa.”
“We have a lot of older patrons who come, and they just loved (‘Forever Plaid’),” Director Pat Hornsby-Crochet said. “It was music that they knew. Sometimes when you produce a musical, it may be music nobody’s heard before. We like to do things that the community will know something about and recognize because they seem to enjoy that.”
Doug Hamilton reprises his role as Sparky, and is the lone actor returning from the ‘02 Le Petit production, which was also under Hornsby-Crochet’s direction. Hamilton is returning to the stage for the first time since Le Petit produced “The Apple Tree” in 2005.
“Bottom line is, I like to sing,” said Hamilton, who plays the piano. “I’ve played music my whole life. Sparky plays the piano for one song, so I guess from that standpoint, it’s a role that I’ve played before, and I enjoy it.
“I’m pretty much the comic relief,” Hamilton continued. “I’m always pulling the practical jokes, which some people have said fits my real character.”
Chauvin, in returning to the stage for the first time since high school, is Sparky.
“My character is the leader of the quartet,” Chauvin said. “There’s not a whole lot of story development or character development. It’s more based upon the show, the do-op quartet is back to put on a show.”
Chauvin compensates for any lack of on-stage experience with talents honed over the course of an extensive background in music. He began playing the piano at 6, participated in the high-school band and obtained a bachelor’s degree in music from Nicholls State University. Now employed in the oil industry, Chauvin is a former band director at Sixth Ward Middle and former brass instructor.
“We are very fortunate,” to have Chauvin’s musical talent, Hornsby-Crochet said.
Josh Martin, who graduated Nicholls with a degree in music this year, plays Jinx. His last Le Petit musical was 2012’s “9-to-5.”
“Musical theater is predominant in my life,” Martin said. “It’s something I enjoy doing. In some ways, I would rather invest my time and my energy into doing a musical that I would to do a straight play.”
Dillon Hughes, who regularly lends his stage experience to directing local children in their school-year productions, completes the cast as Smudge.
“The blend of voices is wonderful,” Hornsby-Crochet said, “all the way from bass to high tenor.”
Behind the scenes, Greg Whitney produces the musical, and Sarah Todd is the musical director, as she was in 2002.
Although the musical’s plot is sparse, each scene is driven by the quirks of specific characters, which prompts several moments of comedy, Hornsby-Crochet said.
As to why Christmas in July, the theater’s scheduling habits is the culprit. Because musicals are typically more popular than straight plays, Le Petit schedules its one song-driven production each year in the summer, which affords actors, directors, producers and stagehands more time to present an extra weekend showing.
“The only time we have to do this is in the summer,” Hornsby-Crochet said.
Plus, the production functions as a welcome reprieve from the sweltering heat.
Smudge (Dillon Hughes), Sparky (Doug Hamilton), Frankie (Matt Chauvin) and Jinx (Josh Martin) are the Plaids, a doo-wop quartet who bring Christmas cheer to Le Petit.
