Are you ready for the holidays? If that was a collective groan I just heard, let's try this: Are you ready to be reminded to start thinking about the holidays? The answer to that better be yes because the world is changing around you, in TV commercials and in the catalogs arriving in the mail. The lights are already going up Downtown ... even The Plaids are polishing their Christmas show.

What? You didn't know The Plaids had a Christmas show? That's not surprising. It turns out, they didn't know either. And that's the premise for Stuart Ross' musical revue, "Plaid Tidings," a holiday-themed sequel to his immensely popular "Forever Plaid," which ran for 16 months beginning in 2004, opening CLO's Cabaret at Theater Square.

The Plaids, if you haven't been introduced, are a fictional '50s-style boy band, run down on their way to a show by a busload of Beatles fans. "Forever Plaid" brought them back to the land of the living to perform their unsung concert. In "Plaid Tidings," Rosemary Clooney rings the boys up from heaven so they can spread some much-needed holiday cheer.

When CLO says The Plaids are coming back, it really means it. Returning for "Plaid Tidings" are "Forever Plaid's" director, Guy Stroman, who originated the role of Frankie in the New York premiere of the show, musical director Deana Muro and CLO's original cast: J.D. Daw (Jinx), Joseph Domencic (Smudge), Adam Halpin (Frankie) and Marcus Stevens (Sparky).

In the year and a half since "Forever" closed, the plaid boys have been busy doing things that didn't (always or necessarily) require the donning of their spiffy plaid jackets. Domencic and Stevens have been in several of the same shows around Pittsburgh, including CLO's "Forbidden Broadway" (Daw also performed in this as a swing) and Pittsburgh Public Theater's "A Comedy of Errors." Daw finished up his degree at Penn State, and both he and Halpin moved to New York and have been working in regional theater.

But all four jumped at the chance to wear the plaid yet again, partly because they love the show but mostly because they love each other. Stevens recalls what Stroman told them at the start of "Forever Plaid": "You'll be closer to the people in this show than you ever have been in any other show." And it turned out to be true. "We look at each other like brothers," Stevens says.

Perfectly focused during rehearsals, these handsome young men are all wisecracks and energy when set loose. "Now you see what it's like backstage," laughs Halpin.

Domencic says that The Plaids are characters you bring a lot of yourself to. They all admit to sharing some features with their plaid alter egos, and the four of them are more than happy to describe each other's characters -- both the on stage and personal kinds -- to prove the point.

Halpin helpfully chips in that "J.D. is shy around girls." Presumably the point is that Jinx shares this characteristic, though Daw seems none too thrilled with the comparison. He, however, has no qualms about finding parallels between Smudge and Domencic and takes the opportunity to imitate him, deep voice, furrowed brow and all. His playmates give a thumb's down to the imitation but heartily agree with the diagnosis: Smudge/Joe is the worrier of the group.

Domencic decides that a little clarification is in order, feeling that The Plaids have only touched on the surface of Smudge's personality.

"I think underneath, Smudge's exterior is a sexy beast," Domencic deadpans. "He's a matinee idol underneath those Clark Kent glasses. Smudge is a wild man and you just don't see it."

"Are you a wild man?" asks Halpin.

"You know I am," Domencic zings back, prompting Halpin to acknowledge, "Joe's a lot funnier than Smudge."

Only two things could stop this pleasant sparring: the director and food.

So, when the director announces that lunch has arrived, that really gets the guys' attention. Stroman takes the few quiet moments to remember his own stint as a Plaid, recalling how Rosemary Clooney loved The Plaids and how she saw them whenever she could. The original Plaids, including Stroman, even had the opportunity to sing with Clooney. "Plaid Tidings" was written just after Clooney passed away.

Now, as director, Stroman describes his job as being fairly straightforward. "All you can do is craft the piece, keep it simple and get the sound right."

The tough part is finding the actors who can blend their sound and get the humor to work. "It's only funny when it's played for keeps," Stroman says. "There's very little text to support this world. It's just those faces and those personalities."

And what faces and personalities they are.