Brigadoon — Page 3

Updated On: 11/19/17 at 05:06 PM

I burst out laughing more than once at how ridiculous the Irish accents were, though I was thinking had they mastered Scottish accents, hardly anyone here in America would be able to understand a word they were saying. Besides that, the whole production was one of the most impressive Encores! I've seen and it gave me goosebumps and brought tears to my eyes repeatedly. The choreography from the Balcony was some of the most beautiful I've ever seen on a stage. Thank you so much again Weisenbachfeld for selling me your extra ticket at regular price! This site has brought so many theatre miracles my way and tonight was one I'll surely never forget.

Beautiful production, so much talent on stage, seems like some kind of miracle they could pull it off

Does anyone have an idea how much rehearsal time a show like this gets? I'm so curious about the whole process of how they put these things together, but this one in particular because it was so good and had such a special cast

New York theater is stuck in the 20th century. The availability and distribution of all other forms of entertainment has exploded. A small cable channel can produce a first rate television series and after first run it can soon be had on Netflix and Amazon and gaming consoles and whatever else. Live concerts from Taylor Swift to Andrea Bocelli are carefully recorded in high def and are soon available on your local PBS station and from there to DVD or streaming. NFL fans used to be for a long time restricted to watching two games on Sunday afternoon and another on Monday night. Now a determined fan can watch every game live and even simultaneously when more than one game is being played at the same time. Recordings of missed games are available a day later.

As I understand it, this little gem of a show which showcases so much Broadway talent will now disappear after seven performances never to be seen by a potential audience of millions around the world. This industry, which always seems to have its hands outstretched looking for money, passes up a substantial source of revenue and compensates in part by charging those fortunate enough to be able to attend $250 a seat.

The woman whom I sat next to at Brigadoon had come in from Scranton with a friend to catch a couple of shows. She regretted that the distance limited her to only a handful a year. She would gladly pay to see high quality recordings of shows that she could not attend. Recordings of the quality of the Live at Lincoln Center South Pacific or Roundabout's She Loves Me.

There are many like her.

Wick3 said: "I'm not familiar with NY City Center shows but I guess these are not professionally recorded?"

A New Brain had a cast recording, but it seems that was an exception. Fingers crossed for a Brigadoon recording!



Anybody else sit orchestra right? I was ecstatic at O'Hara's appearance at the end of Act 2!

I noticed the opening chorus was missing and also noted that there's a reprise of THERE BUT FOR YOU GO I in the last scene that is not in the original book and score. Patrick Wilson has a tendency to go flat but not at the Sunday 2 pm performance. It also sounds like his voice has gotten fuller since I saw him in the revival of OKLAHOMA! years ago. As expected, Kelli O'Hara's Fiona was excellent. And I am really glad they trimmed some of the dialogue including the exchange between Tommy and Fiona in THE HEATHER ON THE HILL where Tommy was supposed to say, "Yes. It almost sounded like I was making love to you, didn't it?" in response to Fiona's, "You see? You can say nice things when you want to." Extremely cringe worthy. So glad for its deletion.

But there's also a darkness to BRIGADOON even though it's always been regarded as fluffy: the mob mentality that led to Harry Beaton's death resonates differently now compared to other times I've seen this show.

Indeed. He had planned to attend university and he couldn't do that given the pact that Forsythe made with God. And he's stuck forever in the same town to see the love of his life presumably happily living a married life with Charlie.

And I forget if the original script had Jeff shooting a gun causing Harry to fall off a ravine like the City Center production showed or if Jeff was the one who actually physically smashed Harry's head with a rock. Again, due to mob mentality and Jeff's poor judgment that was also impaired by his alcoholism...

When you think about it, the townsfolk of Brigadoon are members of a cult that followed Forsythe blindly and gave up their free will to him except for Harry. And for that Harry was punished by death caused by an outsider.

And strictly speaking, according to the miracle's logic, did Harry's departure actually have to spell the doom of everyone else? Couldn't the townspeople have just shrugged and said "Oh well, that didn't last long. Guess we'd better make sure everyone else leaves the town ASAP." (The libretto says that if somebody leaves, "That night when the people go to sleep, Brigadoon will disappear forever." Seems to technically permit a small window for mass evacuation! I know, nitpicking.)

Regarding how Harry died, according to my copy of the libretto, Jeff says "I killed him. Accidentally, of course, but nevertheless I killed him. Out in the forest tonight I suddenly saw him rushing past me from behind a bush. Without even thinking what I was doing, I stuck out my foot and down he went. And I heard his head hit a rock with a very nasty thud." There might have been approved variations before or since. To my memory, a gun was involved in the film version.

One critic called Harry Lerner and Loewe's answer to poor Jud in Oklahoma. Harry as a character did not descend to the nasty blockheaded Jud, but in each case the character was used to inject some tragedy into a generally light and cheerful story featuring amiable characters and in each case I feel that they went further than was called for with the death of the character.

Not often, but at times City Center releases cast albums. In 2012 - and I can't believe it was that long ago - they presented one of the Rodgers and Hammerstein's commercial flops, "Pipe Dream," based on the John Steinbeck novels Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday. It featured a strong cast with principals Will Chase, Laura Osnes, Leslie Uggams and Tom Wopat. The score was not recorded in a studio, but was recorded right from the last live performance and released on CD.

Brigadoon certainly seems worthy of a cast recording, but unless they similarly produce an album from a recorded live performance it seems very unlikely that they can now reassemble the cast after the last performance to do a studio recording.

If anyone hears of a video or cast recording, I'd be grateful to hear about it. Thanks!