Brigadoon

Brigadoon
Cover of original cast recording
Music	Frederick Loewe
Lyrics	Alan Jay Lerner
Book	Alan Jay Lerner
Productions	1947 Broadway 1949 West End 1954 Film version 1957 Broadway revival 1963 Broadway revival 1966 U.S. television 1980 Broadway revival 1988 West End

Brigadoon is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. Songs from the musical such as "Almost Like Being in Love" have become standards. The story involves two American tourists who stumble upon Brigadoon, a mysterious Scottish village which appears for only one day every hundred years. Tommy, one of the tourists, falls in love with Fiona, a young woman from Brigadoon.

The original production opened on Broadway in 1947 and ran for 581 performances. It starred David Brooks, Marion Bell, Pamela Britton, and Lee Sullivan. Brigadoon then received a West End production opening in 1949 that ran for 685 performances, and many revivals followed. A 1954 film version starred Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse. A 1966 television version starred Robert Goulet and Peter Falk.

Background

Lyricist and book writer Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe had previously collaborated on three musicals; the first, Life of the Party, closed during pre-Broadway tryouts, and the second and third, What's Up? and The Day Before Spring had met with moderate success.^[1] Inspired by Rodgers and Hammerstein's successful collaborations Oklahoma! and Carousel, they created Brigadoon, about a magical village in the Scottish highlands.^[2] Like Oklahoma! and Carousel, Brigadoon included a serious love story as the main plot and a lighter romance as subplot.^[3] Thematically, the musical depicted the contrast between empty city life and the warmth and simplicity of the country, focusing on a theme of love transcending time.^[1][4] Agnes de Mille, who had previously choreographed Oklahoma! and Carousel, was hired as choreographer, and her work for Brigadoon incorporated elements of traditional Scottish folk dance; her dances for the musical included a traditional sword dance, a chase scene, and a funeral dance.^[1][2] Though Lerner and Loewe originally took Brigadoon to producer Billy Rose, Cheryl Crawford was the producer who actually brought Brigadoon to Broadway.^[1] Lerner explained the change in producer by saying "The contract which [Billy Rose] wished us to sign negated Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves".^[1] Under Loewe's guidance, Ted Royal received a sole orchestrator credit for his work on the original production. His atmospheric arrangements have been frequently used for the revivals.^[5]

The New York Times's theatre critic George Jean Nathan wrote that Lerner's book was based on a much older German story by Friedrich Gerstäcker, later translated by Charles Brandon Schaeffer, about the mythical village of Germelshausen that fell under a magic curse.^[6] However, Lerner denied that he had based the book on an older story, and, in an explanation published in The New York Times, stated that he didn't learn of the existence of the Germelshausen story until after he had completed the first draft of Brigadoon.^[7][8] Lerner said that in his subsequent research, he found many other legends of disappearing towns in various countries' folklore, and he pronounced their similarities "unconscious coincidence".^[7]

Lerner's name for his imaginary locale was probably based on a well-known Scottish landmark, the Brig o' Doon (Bridge of Doon). Other sources suggest that the fictional village's name was constructed from the Celtic word "briga", which means "town" (such as in the old city names of Segobriga and Brigantium) and the Scottish Gaelic "dùn", which means a fort. The name may also be a reference to the Celtic goddess Brigid. However the simplest explanation remains the most likely.

Synopsis

Act I

New Yorkers Tommy Albright and Jeff Douglas have traveled to the Scottish Highlands on a game-hunting vacation, but they get lost on their first night out. They begin to hear music ("Brigadoon") coming from a nearby village that does not appear on their map of the area. They head over there to get directions back to their inn, and find a fair in progress ("McConnachy Square"), with villagers dressed in traditional Scottish tartan. Andrew MacLaren and his daughters arrive at the fair to purchase supplies for younger daughter Jean's wedding to Charlie Dalrymple. Harry Beaton is madly in love with Jean and is depressed at the thought of her marrying another. One of the girls asks Jean's older sister Fiona when she'll marry, and she says she's waiting for the right person ("Waitin' For My Dearie").

Tommy and Jeff wander into the village and ask where they are; the villagers answer "Brigadoon." Fiona invites the wanderers to have a meal and rest at the MacLaren home. Flirtatious dairymaid Meg Brockie immediately takes a liking to Jeff and leads him off. Charlie Dalrymple appears, rejoicing in his impending nuptials. He shares a drink with Tommy, toasting to a Mr. Forsythe whom he thanks for "postponing the miracle". When Tommy asks what that means, Fiona shushes him and leads him away as Charlie celebrates the end of his bachelorhood ("Go Home with Bonnie Jean"). Tommy tells Fiona that he has a fiancée, Jane, in New York, but he's in no hurry to marry her, and Fiona reveals that she likes Tommy very much. Tommy insists on accompanying Fiona to gather heather for the wedding ("The Heather on the Hill"). Meanwhile, Meg takes Jeff to a place in the forest with a shack and a cot. She tells him she's "highly attracted" to him, but he spurns her advances, wanting only to sleep. She reflects on her unusual love-life ("The Love Of My Life").

At the MacLarens', Jean's friends help her pack her things to move into Charlie's home ("Jeannie's Packin' Up"). Charlie arrives to sign the MacLarens' family Bible. He wants to see Jean; told that it's bad luck to see her on the wedding day, he begs for her to come out anyway ("Come to Me, Bend to Me"). Tommy and Fiona return with a basket full of heather, and Fiona goes upstairs to help Jean dress for the wedding. Jeff arrives wearing a pair of Highland trews (trousers); apparently his own pants have been damaged on a "thistle". Jeff finds that Tommy is so happy that he can barely contain it ("Almost Like Being In Love"). Tommy notices that all the events listed in the family Bible, including Jean's wedding, are listed as if they had happened 200 years earlier. When he asks Fiona about this, she sends him to the schoolmaster, Mr. Lundie.

Fiona, Tommy, and Jeff arrive at Mr. Lundie's home, where he relates a story that the two New Yorkers can hardly believe: to protect Brigadoon from being changed by the outside world, 200 years ago the local minister prayed to God to have Brigadoon disappear, only to reappear for one day every 100 years. All citizens of Brigadoon are forbidden to leave the town or it will disappear forever. Tommy asks hypothetically if an outsider could be permitted to stay. Mr. Lundie replies, "A stranger can stay if he loves someone here--not jus' Brigadoon, mind ye, but someone in Brigadoon--enough to want to give up everythin' an' stay with that one person. Which is how it should be. 'Cause after all, lad, if ye love someone deeply, anythin' is possible."^[9]

The group leaves to go to the wedding, which opens with the clans coming in from the hills. Mr. Lundie marries Charlie and Jean, and they perform a traditional celebratory wedding-dance. Sword dancers appear, led by Harry, and they perform an elaborate dance over their weapons. All the town joins in the dance, but it abruptly halts when Jean screams as Harry tries to kiss her. In anguish over Jean's wedding, he announces that he's leaving the town (which would end the miracle, causing Brigadoon to disappear forever into the Highland mists) and sprints away.

Act II

The men of the town, including Tommy and a reluctant Jeff, frantically try to find Harry before he can depart the town ("The Chase"). Suddenly an agonized scream is heard. Harry, who appears to have fallen on a rock and crushed his skull, is found dead by the other men. Deciding not to tell the rest of the town until the next morning, the men carry Harry's body away. Fiona and her father arrive to see if everything is all right. As Mr. MacLaren leaves, Tommy sees Fiona, and they embrace. She reveals her love for him, and he tells her he believes he feels the same way ("There But For You Go I"). Fiona reminds him that the end of the day is near, and Tommy tells her he wants to stay in Brigadoon with her. They go to find Mr. Lundie.

Meanwhile, in the village, Meg tells about the day her parents were drunkenly married ("My Mother's Wedding Day") and the townsfolk dance until the sound of highland pipes pierces the air. Archie Beaton enters carrying Harry's body, led by the pipers playing a pìobaireachd. Maggie, who loved Harry, performs a funeral dance for her unrequited love. The men of Brigadoon help Archie carry his son to the burial place.

Tommy finds Jeff and announces his intention to stay. Jeff thinks the idea absurd and argues with Tommy until he has convinced him that Brigadoon is only a dream. Jeff also reveals that he tripped Harry and accidentally killed him. Fiona and Mr. Lundie arrive, and Tommy, shaken by Jeff's confession, tells Fiona that he loves her but he can't stay; he still has doubts ("From This Day On"). Fiona tells Tommy that she will love him forever as she fades away into the darkness.

Four months later, Jeff is drinking heavily at a hotel bar in New York. Tommy, who has been living on a farm in New Hampshire, enters and greets Jeff. Tommy is still in love with Fiona and cannot stop thinking about her. His fiancée Jane Ashton, a beautiful socialite, talks to him about their impending wedding, but everything she says causes him to hear Fiona's voice and dream of Brigadoon ("Come to Me, Bend to Me" (reprise) and "Heather on the Hill" (reprise)). Tommy tells Jane that he cannot marry her, and she argues with him, but he continues to daydream about his true love ("Go Home With Bonnie Jean" (reprise) and "From This Day On" (reprise)). Jane leaves, and Tommy tells Jeff that he wants to return to Scotland, although he knows the village will not be there.

Tommy and Jeff return to the spot where they found Brigadoon and, as they expected, see nothing there. Tommy laments, "Why do people have to lose things to find out what they really mean?" Just as he and Jeff turn to leave, they hear the music again ("Brigadoon"), and Mr. Lundie appears. Tommy walks across the bridge in a daze to him, as Mr. Lundie explains: "Oh, it's you Tommy, lad. You woke me up. You must really love her", to which Tommy, still dazed, stammers "Wha--how....?" and Mr. Lundie replies, "You shouldna be too surprised, lad. I told ye when ye love someone deeply enough, anythin' is possible. Even miracles." Tommy waves goodbye to Jeff and disappears with Mr. Lundie into the highland mist to be reunited with Fiona.

Song list

Act I Overture Prelude (Once In The Highlands) Brigadoon Vendors' Calls Down On MacConnachy Square - Ensemble Waitin' For My Dearie - Fiona and Girls I'll Go Home With Bonnie Jean - Charlie and Ensemble The Heather On The Hill - Tommy and Fiona Rain Exorcism † The Love Of My Life - Meg Brockie Jeannie's Packin' Up - Girls Come To Me, Bend To Me - Charlie Ballet - Jean and Girls Almost Like Being In Love - Tommy and Fiona Wedding Ceremony/Entrance of the Clans ‡ Ensemble The Sword Dance ‡ Harry and Ensemble

Act II The Chase - Ensemble There But For You Go I - Tommy Steps Stately † Drunken Reel † My Mother's Wedding Day - Meg and Ensemble Funeral Dance - Maggie From This Day On - Tommy and Fiona Farewell Music Reprises: Come To Me, Bend to Me / The Heather on the Hill / From This Day On - Fiona and Charlie Finale (Brigadoon) - Ensemble

† Added in 1980 revival
‡ Moved to Act II in 1980 revival

Productions

The original Broadway production, directed by Robert Lewis and choreographed by Agnes de Mille, opened March 13, 1947, at the Ziegfeld Theatre, where it ran for 581 performances. It starred David Brooks as Tommy, George Keane as Jeff, Marion Bell as Fiona, Lee Sullivan as Charlie, Virginia Bosler as Jeannie, James Mitchell as Harry, and Pamela Britton as Meg.^[10] The concertmistress of the orchestra was noted American violinist Joan Field. De Mille won the Tony Award for Best Choreography, and Bell and Mitchell won the Theatre World Award. The production enjoyed an extended North American tour.

The musical's original West End production opened on April 14, 1949, at Her Majesty's Theatre, running for 685 performances. It starred Philip Hanna as Tommy, Patricia Hughes as Fiona, James Jamieson as Harry, and Noele Gordon as Meg. Bruce Trent took the leading role in 1949 at His Majesty's Theatre. Two telegrams, one from impresario Emile Littler and another where the signature is difficult to identify, to Bruce Trent are dated 24 February 1949.

David Brooks reprised his role of Tommy in the Summertime Light Opera's production in Houston, Texas in 1950, with Gregg Juarez as Jeff and Dorothy MacNeil of the New York City Opera as Fiona. Stage direction was by John Brownlee, principal baritone of the Metropolitan Opera, and the musical director and conductor was Frederick Fennell of the Rochester Eastman Kodak Symphony.

The musical was revived at New York City Center in May 1950.^[11] It was revived on Broadway seven years later, directed by George H. Englund and choreographed by De Mille, opening on April 15, 1957, at the Adelphi Theatre, where it ran for 24 performances. The cast included David Atkinson, Helen Gallagher, Patricia Birch, and Marilyn Cooper. Another Broadway revival, directed by John Fearnley and choreographed by De Mille, opened on January 30, 1963, at New York City Center, where it ran for 16 performances. The cast included Peter Palmer, Russell Nype, Sally Ann Howes, and Edward Villella. It was Tony-nominated for Best Actress in a Musical (Howes), Best Direction of a Musical, and Best Conductor and Musical Director.^[11]

The next Broadway revival, directed by Vivian Matalon and choreographed by De Mille, opened on October 16, 1980, at the Majestic Theatre, where it ran for 133 performances and eight previews. The cast included Meg Bussert, Martin Vidnovic, and John Curry. Vidnovic received Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations, Bussert earned a Tony nomination and won the Theatre World Award, and the production was Tony-nominated for Best Reproduction.^[11]

New York City Opera staged the musical in 1986 and 1991.^[12]

The musical was revived in the West End at the Victoria Palace Theatre, opening on October 25, 1988, and closing August 5, 1989, starring Robert Meadmore (Tommy), Jacinta Mulcahy, and Lesley Mackie. The director was Roger Redfarn and de Mille's dances were rechoreographed by Tommy Shaw. The Times reviewer noted that those dances were "the main source of the magic."^[13][14]

In 2014, a major revival was staged at the Goodman Theater in Chicago. Directed and choreographed by Rachel Rockwell, with a revised book by Brian Hill, Charles Isherwood of the New York Times called the production "a first-class revival that boasts an infectious buoyancy of spirit and a welcome absence of postmodern flourishes."^[15]

Adaptations

Film

A Cinemascope film version of Brigadoon, directed by Vincente Minnelli, was released by MGM in 1954 with Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, and Cyd Charisse in leading roles.

Television

In 1966, a television film version was broadcast.^[16][17] This version won five Primetime Emmy Awards.^[18]

The 1966 television version used a modernized, abbreviated script that accommodated much more of the score than the 1954 film version had, though the entire production ran only ninety minutes with commercials. "My Mother's Wedding Day" was restored to this version, though "Once in the Highlands", "Jeannie's Packin' Up", and "The Love of My Life" were still absent. In this version, Tommy and Jeff were participating in an auto race when their car stalled just outside of Brigadoon.

The TV film starred Robert Goulet as Tommy, Peter Falk as Jeff, and Sally Ann Howes as Fiona. Additionally, there was Finlay Currie in one of his last roles as Mr. Lundie, Edward Villella as Harry Beaton, and Marlyn Mason as Meg.^[16][17] The TV film was directed by Fielder Cook.^[16]

The 1966 telecast of Brigadoon has not been shown since its 1968 rebroadcast, nor has it ever been released on videocassette or DVD. It may, however, be viewed on the Internet Archive^[19] and on YouTube.

Reception

Brigadoon opened to very positive reviews with praise for its originality and integration of song and story, though some critics had minor points of criticism.

Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times praised the musical's integration, saying "For once, the modest label "musical play" has a precise meaning. For it is impossible to say where the music and dancing leave off and the story begins. Under Bob Lewis's direction all the arts of the theatre have been woven into a singing pattern of enchantment".^[4] Atkinson also emphasized Agnes de Mille's contributions as choreographer: "Some of the dances are merely illustrations for the music. One or two of them are conventional, if lovely, maiden round dances. But some of them, like the desperate chase in the forest, are fiercely dramatic. The funeral dance to the dour tune of bagpipes brings the footstep of doom into the forest. And the sword dance, done magnificently by James Mitchell, is tremendously exciting with its stylization of primitive ideas".^[4]

Robert Coleman of the New York Daily Mirror said, "It took courage to produce Brigadoon, an unconventional musical show of marked originality...[that] still manages to pack a tartan full of popular appeal".^[4] In the New York Herald Tribune, Howard Barnes pronounced Brigadoon "A bonny thing for Broadway, a scintillating song and dance fantasy that has given theatregoers reason to toss tamoshanters in air".^[4] Robert Garland of the New York Journal American particularly praised Pamela Britton as Meg Brockie: "Pamela Britton escaped from both M.G.M. and Frank Sinatra in time to be tough as a Scottish temptress, and rough as a singer of raffish songs".^[4] He also opined that famed Russian choreographer George Balanchine should watch Brigadoon to learn how a musical should be choreographed. Ward Morehouse of The New York Sun deemed it "A stunning show", saying, "It has whimsy, beguiling music, exciting dancing--and it has a book....Brigadoon is by far the best musical play the season has produced, and it is certainly one of the best within my entire play-going experience".^[4]

John Chapman of the Daily News enjoyed the dances but thought there were too many and that they interrupted the story: "Just when I get pleasantly steamed up about the love of Mr. Brooks and Miss Bell, I don't want to be cooled off by watching a herd of gazelles from Chorus Equity running around".^[4] He particularly praised William Hansen's performance as Mr. Lundie, declaring that he "is so irresistibly able to persuade you that if there isn't a village named Brigadoon, there ought to be".^[4] Louis Kronenberger of PM said, "the musical fantasy [Brigadoon] not only has charm; it shows a good deal of independence...its charm must lie less in any story it tells than in the general mood it creates; and it has created that mood by fusing a number of theatre elements as densely as possible".^[4] Kronenberger, however, disliked the ending, calling it "an outright blunder" done "in the corniest Broadway fashion".^[4] Richard Watts, Jr. of the New York Post wrote, "I have seen other musical comedies that I enjoyed more, but few for which I have a deeper admiration".^[4] He opined that Lerner and Loewe's score for The Day Before Spring the previous year was better than theirs for Brigadoon, explaining that, "If my first emotion last night was admiration rather than sheer enjoyment, it was because the proceedings seemed to me more marked by taste and style than by emotional warmth in book and music, but there is no denying that the authors have matured as theatrical craftsmen".^[4]

Recordings

The following list of recordings is based on John Kenrick's discography for the site Musicals 101.^[20]

• 1947 Original Broadway cast recording (incomplete, due to recording limitations of the period; some lyrics were censored)
• 1954 Original motion picture soundtrack (originally incomplete, but re-released on CD with deleted songs, alternate takes, and undubbed vocals)
• 1957 studio cast recording (starring Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy, with Frank Poretta and Susan Johnson).
• 1959 studio cast recording (starring Robert Merrill, Jan Peerce, and Jane Powell)
• 1966 Television cast recording (starring Sally Ann Howes, Robert Goulet, and Peter Falk)
• 1988 London revival cast recording (starring Robert Meadmore; Lesley Mackay, Robin Nedwell and Maurice Clarke; some character names and dates were altered to make the show more historically accurate)
• 1991 Studio cast recording (starring Rebecca Luker and Brent Barrett, Judy Kaye, and Gregory Jbara)
• 1995 Studio cast recording (starring Janis Kelly, Maurice Clarke, and Megan Kelly)

Production notes

• The echoing calls heard during "The Chase" sequence strongly resemble similar calls heard in Weber's 1821 Romantic opera Der Freischütz, particularly in the famous "Wolf's Glen" scene.

Notes

References

• Bloom, Ken and Vlastnik, Frank (2004). Broadway Musicals: The 101 Greatest Shows of all Time. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. ISBN 1-57912-390-2.
• Stempel, Larry (2010). Showtime: A History of the Broadway Musical Theatre. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-92906-5
• Suskin, Stephen (1990). Opening Night on Broadway: A Critical Quotebook of the Golden Era of the Musical Theatre. New York: Schrimmer Books. ISBN 0-02-872625-1.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Brigadoon

• Brigadoon at the Internet Movie Database
• Brigadoon (original 1947 Broadway production) at the Internet Broadway Database
• Information about the original 1949 West End production
• Brigadoon (1957 Broadway revival) at the Internet Broadway Database
• Brigadoon (1963 Broadway revival) at the Internet Broadway Database
• Brigadoon (1980 Broadway revival) at the Internet Broadway Database
• 1966 Television production at internet archive

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