t speech impediment or the inability to tell his left from his right. Over the next 90 minutes, they sang segments of vintage songs that dominated the airwaves in the late 1950s and early '60s. But there's more to the show than just hearing well-sung versions of nostalgic tunes such as "Cry," "Day-O" and "Jamaica Farewell." It's about pursuing dreams no matter the odds, and audiences seem to revel in the lads' slow and often awkward transformation from bumbling geeks to confident performers. All the vocals are live and the audience joins the singing actors on an engaging journey back to a more innocent era when chaperoned teen-agers sought dreamy-eyed romance at the high school prom. As the play unfolds, the Plaids begin to find their confidence and footing onstage. Songs such as Hoagy Carmichael's "Heart and Soul," Sam Cooke's "Chain Gang" and "Moments to Remember" reveal increasing vocal strength and stage savvy. The increasingly assured boys even turn in a manic, prop-laden comic tribute to the odd range of acts that played the Sullivan show, racing about the stage as jugglers and Viking-helmeted opera singers among other characters. The concluding moment is when the group sings faultlessly "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing." The show's wistful undertones and sympathy for the Plaids' plight give way to belated success and thunderous applause from appreciative audiences....
