PSST! Presents “Forever Plaid” June 16-July 15

Peach State Summer Theatre presents "Forever Plaid" on the Valdosta State University Sawyer Theatre stage June 16-July 15. Individual admission is $32 for adults, $26 for students and senior citizens, and $24 for Peach State Summer Theatre fans in groups of 10 or more, including taxes and fees. "Forever Plaid" stars Steven Bidwell as Frankie, Olin Davidson as Smudge, Andrew Poston as Sparky, and Imari Thompson as Jinx. The popular musical revue is known for its boyish charm, brotherly bickering, quirky choreography, and classic barbershop quartet harmonies.

VALDOSTA — Peach State Summer Theatre will take an engagingly youthful, harmonic trip through the 1950s when it kicks off a 10-performance run of “Forever Plaid” at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, June 16, at Valdosta State University’s Sawyer Theatre. Tickets are on sale now. 

Known as one of the most popular and successful musicals in recent memory, “Forever Plaid” is a rather amusing Off-Broadway musical revue written by Stuart Ross. It was first performed in New York in 1989 and is now performed around the globe — entertaining audiences of all ages with its boyish charm, brotherly bickering, quirky choreography, and classic barbershop quartet harmonies.

“Once upon a time, there were four guys — Sparky, Smudge, Jinx, and Frankie — who discovered that they shared a love for music and then got together to become their idols — The Four Freshman, The Hi-Los, and The Crew Cuts,” according to a synopsis provided by Music Theatre International. “Rehearsing in the basement of Smudge's family's plumbing supply company, they became Forever Plaid. On the way to their first big gig, the Plaids are broadsided by a school bus and killed instantly. It is at the moment when their careers and lives end that the story of ‘Forever Plaid’ begins....”

Directed by VSU’s H. Duke Guthrie, Peach State Summer Theatre’s production of “Forever Plaid” is rated G.

Individual admission is $32 for adults, $26 for students and senior citizens, and $24 for Peach State Summer Theatre fans in groups of 10 or more, including taxes and fees.

The Peach State Summer Theatre Box Office is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays. It is located on the first floor of the VSU Fine Arts Building, at the corner of Brookwood Drive and Oak Street, and can be reached by calling (229) 259-7770. The online box office at www.valdosta.edu/psst is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Peach State Summer Theatre, or PSST!, is Valdosta’s premiere professional summer stock theatre. Each summer, dozens of singers, dancers, technicians, managers, and creators gather on the campus of Valdosta State University for 10 weeks, and during that time, they rehearse, build, and present three musicals in rotating repertory. “Shrek the Musical” kicked off a 16-performance run in early June. “My Fair Lady” opens on Friday, June 23.

The 2017 Peach State Summer Theatre season marks the 28^th year of VSU producing professional theatre for the city of Valdosta, the state of Georgia, and beyond. From 1990 to 2004, VSU produced the Jekyll Island Musical Theatre Festival. In 2005, the summer theatre program was relocated to the university and renamed PSST!

The Georgia Legislature designated Valdosta State’s summer stock theatre program the Official Musical Theatre of the State of Georgia.

VSU’s Jacque Wheeler serves as the artistic director of Peach State Summer Theatre. H. Duke Guthrie is the managing director.

Sawyer Theatre and the PSST! Box Office are located on the first floor of VSU’s Fine Arts Building, at the intersection of Oak Street and Brookwood Drive.

Visit www.valdosta.edu/psst for more information.

Visit www.facebook.com/vstatenews to view photos and learn more about the cast and crew.

“Forever Plaid” Performance Schedule
• 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 16
• 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 17, Pay What You Can Performance
• 3 p.m. Sunday, June 25
• 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 28
• 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 30
• 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 1
• 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 6
• 2 p.m. Saturday, July 8
• 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 12, Interpreted for the Deaf in American Sign Language
• 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 15