Brigadoon- Page 3

[Shakespeare to Sondheim]

Posted: 11/18/17 at 5:06pm

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

[Harriet Craig]

Posted: 11/18/17 at 6:02pm

Plannietink08 said: "Apart from the bad, bad accents this production looks and sounds gorgeous! I've been desperate for a revival of Brigadoon and this is everything I could have hoped for. The voices and the orchestra and the choreography - just divine!

The accents definitely need work but given their short rehearsal period I'll forgive them."

Funny clip of Stephanie J. Block talking about how hard it is to get a Scottish accent right at Brigadoon: The Scottish Accent

 

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 11/18/17 at 6:10pm

They cut the opening number?

[Plannietink08]

Posted: 11/18/17 at 7:08pm

Harriet Craig said: "Plannietink08 said: "Apart from the bad, bad accents this production looks and sounds gorgeous! I've been desperate for a revival of Brigadoon and this is everything I could have hoped for. The voices and the orchestra and the choreography - just divine!

The accents definitely need work but given their short rehearsal period I'll forgive them."

Funny clip of Stephanie J. Block talking about how hard it is to get a Scottish accent right atBrigadoon: The Scottish Accent

 

"But the Scottish - what the heck happened there!?" HAHAHA. God, I love her. I'm glad she knows the difference between a Scottish and an Irish accent. Since Brave came out I've seen a lot of Americans proudly doing, what they think is, a Scottish that's actually totally Irish. 

SJB can do my accent badly all day every day and I'll still listen to her.

 

[Just_John]

Posted: 11/18/17 at 11:37pm

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.   

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 11/19/17 at 4:48pm

I feel so lucky to have seen this show. Wheeldon has absolutely refined and perfected what is great in Brigadoon. By making the romance the thing and by pairing Wilson, in heroic voice, with O’Hara, in one of her greatest performances, giving this challenging but often lyrical fable to two of the finest living actors - who both also happen to have an uncanny understanding of musical theatre performance.
As if if that weren’t enough a superb Aasif Mandvi, the breakthrough tenor and charm of Ross Lekites, and Stephanie J.Block, and Robert Fairchild. This was an extraordinarily intelligent production of a delicate but still intoxicating classic

Updated On: 11/20/17 at 04:48 PM

[Tapdance2]

Posted: 11/19/17 at 11:55pm

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

[TheaterMe]

Posted: 11/20/17 at 12:09am

I was told 10 days of rehearsals.  Seems impossible.  Fantastic show.  Great ballads, dancing, laughs, and the orchestra was solid.

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 11/20/17 at 12:54am

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]

Posted: 11/20/17 at 10:05am

I saw this show last night and the experience was magical. I didn't know anything about the story at all other than it is set in Scotland. 

Wow! I wish they did do a recording or a cast album. I recognized some of the songs from the show that has now become standards and boy Patrick Wilson's voice was so rich and strong. The chemistry between Kelli and Patrick were so strong especially given the short rehearsal time. Wow. From the ensemble's breathtaking dancing to the leads' powerful singing, it was a magical evening.

I'd see this show in a heartbeat. I'm a Patrick Wilson fan and would gladly hear his voice sing songs from Brigadoon again! 

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

[C4b2a3b]

Posted: 11/20/17 at 11:39am

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!

[StageStruckLad]

Posted: 11/20/17 at 12:26pm

Saw it last night and agree that it was one of the best Encores productions so far...right up there with Chicago, Boys From Syracuse, and Most Happy Fella. What a treat to enjoy that large orchestra and perfect cast.

That said, I don't know why they cut the overture and opening choral number. And I really don't know why they changed one major plot point. In the original production (at least according to the liner notes in the Angel recording), during the big chase scene Harry trips over Jeff's foot and falls to his death. Jeff later tells this to Tommy. In the Encores production, Jeff raises his gun during the chase and appears to shoot Harry. The audience last night gasped when this happened. Jeff later told Tommy that he only fired a warning shot, but it startled Harry, who then fell to his death.

[mamaleh]

Posted: 11/20/17 at 12:33pm

Tops all the way, especially O’Hara, Fairchild and Block, the last stealing the show with her exuberant Meg. I still find Wilson on the bland side, but his voice is velvet. Got a kick out of the comedic addition via Mandvi to parts of “Almost Like Being in Love.”

[smidge]

Posted: 11/20/17 at 12:41pm

C4b2a3b said: "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 wasecstatic atO'Hara's appearance at the end of Act 2!"

I did! That was a bonus to hear that gorgeous voice so close.

[jsg03jd]

Posted: 11/20/17 at 2:08pm

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.

[adam.peterson44]

Posted: 11/20/17 at 2:24pm

I agree about the Harry character - such a tragic situation.  Held prisoner against his will for the sake of the group, with no opportunity to offer or withhold consent to becoming part of the time shift.  He makes himself less sympathetic when he attacks the bride, but there's an overwhelming sense that it all could have been avoided if people could have opted into or out of the deal.

[jsg03jd]

Posted: 11/20/17 at 2:42pm

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...  

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 11/20/17 at 2:48pm

The town really has no choice but to search for Harry and prevent his leaving.  Kind of like the Into the Woods folks having no choice but to destroy the giant's wife.  But well said, adam.peterson, about Harry's being trapped against his will in the town.   And I also have issues with miracle-negotiation fears not being of industrialization, or the English, or the gentry, but of witches and sorcerers and the need to defend the church agains tthem.  The real villain in the piece, not that anyone realizes it, may be Forsythe for bargaining with God to begin with and for obligating everyone against their will.  And, notwithstanding the violent sexuality at the wedding, Harry is really a very relatable character not only deprived of choice in his destiny but being forced to live out his life there without love.

Still, I have no problem suspending belief for the joys the show offers, or at least the ones Encores' production did.

Updated On: 11/20/17 at 02:48 PM

[jsg03jd]

Posted: 11/20/17 at 2:59pm

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.

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 11/20/17 at 3:40pm

I think Harry gets accidentally shot by Jeff in the movie but falls on a rock in the stage script, right? The gun part worked here and made Jeff a more interesting character for Act 2.

I didn’t miss the little choral opening, and the original Overture was used at the top of Act 2. (Though as nice as that Overture is, the studio recording has a THRILLING medley Entr-act that would have been great to hear live. A small quibble for a great presentation.)

Updated On: 11/20/17 at 03:40 PM

[Fan123]

Posted: 11/20/17 at 3:41pm

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.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 11/20/17 at 3:51pm

^at Encores, Jeff fired a warning shot, Harry is thrown off balance and falls off a rock into the abyss.

[OlBlueEyes]

Posted: 11/20/17 at 10:02pm

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.

 

[Wick3]

Posted: 12/30/17 at 1:09pm

Missing this production at the moment as I think about 2017. If anyone has an audio recording, I'd love to listen to 'em. Feel free to private message me. Thanks in advance. 

[ps27b]

Posted: 12/31/17 at 12:01am

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