Broadway style musicals are becoming big business in Las Vegas, what with "Mamma Mia!," "Hairspray," and "Phantom of the Opera" all singing out loud for your attention. But long before these big-budget extravaganzas hit The Strip, there was "Forever Plaid," a minor Off-Off-Broadway hit in New York that played at The Flamingo, well, practically forever.

The show, about a '50s style doo-wop group killed in a car accident, has been resurrected (sorry) at The Gold Coast, just west of The Strip on The Flamingo. Whether or not it's worth making the short jaunt is dependent upon two things: if you like the style of music and if you don't require high-art or a substantial plot. Then again, "Mamma Mia!" doesn't have much of a plot and certainly can't be considered high-art so really it all comes down to the music.

The story, such as it is, centers around Forever Plaid, a quartet of wannabe doo-wop singers in the style of The Platters or Dion and the Belmonts who were on their way to their first big gig when their car was hit by a busload of Catholic schoolgirls on their way to see the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. Through a convergence of astral planetary alignment and a hole in the ozone layer the group is given one last chance to perform the big show they never got to do and in the process achieve some sort of heavenly state of harmony.

Don't analyze, just go with it.

So basically what you have is an excuse for some really terrific four-part harmony on classics like "Catch a Falling Star," "Heart and Soul," "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing," "Matilda," "Papa Loves Mambo," and even "She Loves You" redone from Beatles rock to barbershop smooth.

The performers (Greg Davis, Bruce Ewing, Doug Korblick, and Dale Sandish as the Plaids and David Kanscar and Ken Seiffert on piano and bass respectively) are terrific, getting into their geeky characters well as they grow from stage-fright paralysis to confident tunesmiths in the course of 80 minutes. There are diversions along the way - short storytelling vignettes from their lives that contextualize some of the songs - a few laughs too, but really it's all about the singing.

Staging is simple but satisfactory in the Gold Coast showroom, which is filled with tightly packed tables and a few booths. Production values are basically none with a couple of lighting effects and minor stage props taking a back seat to the music.

Which is where we get back to: do you like this kind of music? If you don't, don't go to this show. It's that simple. If you do, it's a fun night with undeniably talented musicians at a very inexpensive price.