There’s as much distance between now and when this show was created more than two decades ago as there is between its creation and the time in which it takes place, which is the mid-1960s, all of which is a sobering thought. Add to that the fact that this show played for years at the Royal George and has had countless productions and incarnations, and you can see that this is one of those shows that audiences of a certain disposition have a real nostalgia for and can never see too often. Loosely using the premise of a post-death concert of a four-member vocal group as its set up, “Forever Plaid” is essentially a revue show of 1950s and sixties cover tunes that represent the mainstream, middle-class, middle-of-the road taste of that era that is the opposite of the more marginal Motown and British Invasion material now so indelibly associated with those times. For those who lived through this era and found style in gaudy tuxedos, tantalizing cuisine in TV dinners, entertainment in television ventriloquists and twirling plates, artistic merit in accordions playing “Lady of Spain” and bland, expressionless four-part harmonizations of pop ditties that wore their heart on their sleeve, this show really is like a time capsule that is frightening in how much it brings to mind that vast wasteland that passed as culture in a former era. For those who were not here the first time around, this show can serve as a somber reminder that the “good ol’ days” we older folks reminisce about were not necessarily better, so count your blessings. (Dennis Polkow)
1:30pm/Wed-Thu; 8pm/Thu & Sat; 8:30pm/Fri; 5pm/Sat; 2:30pm & 7pm/Sun, Drury Lane Oakbrook, (630)530-0111. $22-$41.50. Through Dec 17.
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