Actors do what they love at DeSoto

Stars of “Forever Plaid” say the musical has elements that reflect their lives.

Four men donning white dinner jackets and bow ties shifted around the dressing room at the DeSoto Theatre, joking among themselves in the final minutes before taking the stage Sunday.

Kevin Garland, as Sparky, Todd Williams, as Smudge, Brian Sikes, as Frankie, and James Swendsen, as Jinx, performed before a full crowd in the final performance of Rome Little Theatre’s production of “Forever Plaid.”

Sikes said the music took the audience back to the 1950s and 1960s and, for many, provided a trip down memory lane.

“We’re keen on preserving nostalgia,” he added.

The musical picks up as the group of friends returns from the afterlife, after being killed in a wreck, for a final shot at singing in the their first big gig.

Sikes, a teacher at Rome High School, said the theme of the play fits into three of the actors’ real lives.

He, Swendsen and Williams all dreamed of being professional actors.

But, said Swendsen, who works in customer service at Georgia Highlands College, performing at the DeSoto Theatre is still a chance at doing what they love.

“A lot of people don’t realize the quality of the shows here,” he said. “It’s great entertainment.”

An overarching theme of the musical is to appreciate what an individual

has while they have it, Swendsen said.

A bonus, said Williams, is that actors in the theatre’s productions don’t perform in an effort to be noticed by talent recruiters, so they all focus on the group over themselves.

“This is why I keep coming back. It’s the best place in town to do that,” Williams continued.

Garland is the outlier in the group because he may still have a career in acting ahead of him. He is a junior at Young Harris College, and was performing in his first RLT production.

The next RLT production will be “The Ascension of Twyla Potts,” which will be showing Oct. 13 to Oct. 16.

Todd Williams, who plays Smudge, walks backstage and is followed by Kevin Garland, who plays Sparky, at the DeSoto Theatre on Sunday prior to the start of the final performance of “Forever Plaid.”

Brian Sikes (from left), as Frankie, Todd Williams, as Smudge, James Swendsen, Jinx, and Kevin Garland, as Sparky, walk down the sidewalk on Sixth Avenue practicing the singing numbers in the musical “Forever Plaid” before the start of the last showing...