Life beyond Brigadoon

[hamepages]

Posted: 1/1/06 at 6:51am

In case everyone thinks that Scottish musicals start and stop with Brigadoon can i mention that the cast CD from "Five Pounds And Twa Bairns", the third part of a trilogy of Scottish musicals, is released January 2nd. For further info contact me on [e-mail] or visit the web site at www.hamepages.com

[roquat]

Posted: 1/1/06 at 12:30pm

Thank God! I HATE "Brigadoon!"

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/1/06 at 12:40pm

Brigadoon is one of my favorite shows EVER.

Admittedly, I've seen a few crappy productions of it... and I'm not a fan of the "dance" film that Kelly turned it into.

But if you see a really well-acted production... it's practically life-changing. It can make you fall in love with theatre all over again. But it's not an easy show to pull off well, contrary to what most think.

[roquat]

Posted: 1/1/06 at 12:50pm

I did a production of it with the worst, most hateful cast EVER. And a "genuine" bagpipe-player who produced the most godawful sounds in existence. I can't even hear the name of the show without tearing from the building screaming.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[hamepages]

Posted: 1/1/06 at 1:23pm

To the two people who hate Brigadoon, can I just say "thanks for having good taste"

To the one who liked the show can I explain that people in Scotland really don't go about dressed or speaking like that

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/1/06 at 1:52pm

Really?

You know... I've been to Scotland.

And I thought there were towns that really appeared and disappeared every hundred years like clockwork, too.

Thanks for disillusioning me. At least you set me straight (as it were). It's a big relief to know this.

[jv92]

Posted: 1/1/06 at 1:58pm

I am not a fan of Brigadoon either. Too many ballads.

[jasonf]

Posted: 1/1/06 at 4:26pm

Brigadoon has some of the prettiest music ever written for a show. Some of it may seem "old" or cliche by now (I mean, Almost Like Being In Love is nearly as ubiquitous as Memory), but songs like "Come to Me, Bend To Me," "There But For You Go I," and "Waitin' For My Dearie" are simply beautiful when done well. Frankly, I'd question your taste if you didn't think so.

And who cares how authentic to Scotland it is? The King and I isn't exactly the most "Siamese" sounding show...

You pretty much have to toss authenticity out the window as soon as you decide you're doing a musical anyway.

[Mamie]

Posted: 1/1/06 at 5:19pm

I love Brigadoon too. It's a beautiful classic score and a wonderfully dreamy 'fairy tale' story. A nice break in a world of harsh realities.

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 1/1/06 at 5:24pm

People have very random taste. I'm sure many of the haterz on Brigadoon love schmaltz like Phantom of the Opera.

The film is cute. The play is better.

[michelle4]

Posted: 1/1/06 at 5:36pm

I enjoy Brigadoon. I agree that it contains some beautiful music.

As far as it not depicting Scotland properly, last I checked it was a musical and not a documentary. Musicals in general have a certain ficticious quality. I mean, as much as I would love to hear my cats sing and find a man in a mask who is referred to as "The Phantom" living in the basement of my building I think it all highly unlikely.

[jasonf]

Posted: 1/1/06 at 6:08pm

Don't start bringing up the idea of musicals being real or I may have to stop going to the barber again...

[theninthshow]

Posted: 1/1/06 at 6:57pm

I love Brigadoon. Hated the movie, but the 1980 Broadway revival was great. Of course, that was before I found out that love stories like that never happen in real life.

[roquat]

Posted: 1/1/06 at 9:51pm

I always sympathize with the surly guy who wants to go out in the world and make something of himself and get away from all those kilt-wearing grinning idiots. Of course, this is the 1940s, so he gets killed. I guess the message is, "Conform or die."

[singingwendy]

Posted: 1/1/06 at 10:02pm

No...the message is sometimes you have to sacrifice your own selfish desires for the saftey and in this case, survival, of the group.


I love the music from this show...and also happen to like Gene Kelly in the movie.

I went to Ithaca College and there were many days we referred to it as "Brigadoon" because the fog would roll off the lake and completely engulf the campus.

[roquat]

Posted: 1/1/06 at 10:13pm

Same thing. I refer to this show as "Brigadon't".

[DreamFlyer22]

Posted: 1/2/06 at 12:48am

It was the first theater production I ever saw. I was pretty little, so I don't remember much, but for the time I thought it was really cool.

Still a bit of a sentimental favorite for me.

[DramaDork925]

Posted: 1/2/06 at 1:04am

"Don't start bringing up the idea of musicals being real or I may have to stop going to the barber again... "

HAHAHAHAHAHA

[JackiesBroJoe]

Posted: 1/2/06 at 2:34am

"bridge-a-doom"

but I love the show.

[elmore3003]

Posted: 1/2/06 at 8:18am

One of the most obvious points missed by the people on this site who claim that none of the Scottish characters behave like real Scots, I would point out that every Scottish person in the show is 200 years old! I doubt anyone alive right now behaves like a person from 1806 either. I also love BRIGADOON, and I believe all fantasy-themed shows are hard to pull off well.

[freeadmission]

Posted: 1/2/06 at 9:51am

It's Lerner & Loewe for goodness sake!! How can you NOT like it?!?!

Oh . . . right . . . it's old. Old isn't always bad, ya know?

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/2/06 at 11:18am

elmore3003---Thanks for bringing that up.

I wasn't going to even bother with it. Anyone who thinks they know how Scotsmen behaved, dressed or spoke well over 200 years ago (actually 260 now) is living in a fantasy world all their own.

I didn't think it was worth the effort. But I appreciate the fact that you did.

[fiatlux]

Posted: 1/2/06 at 2:50pm

"Anyone who thinks they know how Scotsmen behaved, dressed or spoke well over 200 years ago (actually 260 now) is living in a fantasy world all their own."

I shouldn't speak too soon one finds an awful lot of North American tourists looking for a disappearing village at the Brigadoon House Hotel in Alloway...apparently unaware that the area is rather better known for another event.

It's such a dreadfully patronizing musical.

[elmore3003]

Posted: 1/2/06 at 3:40pm

"It's such a dreadfully patronizing musical."

Patronizing to whom? A contemporary Scotsman? I think a Scots businessman would apprecate the publicity. BRIGADOON is a post-war weltschmertz fantasy of escape, rather like PLAIN AND FANCY, which the Amish tend to celebrate than feel patronized by. I wonder how the Germans feel about the Brothers Grimm. Your comment, along with your "Let There Be Light" nomenclature seems a bit patronizing to those of us waiting to be elucidated. Updated On: 1/2/06 at 03:40 PM

[fiatlux]

Posted: 1/2/06 at 4:35pm

"Patronizing to whom? A contemporary Scotsman? "

Well as a Scot, yes, now you mention it. The Bridge at Doon doesn't need any help from a musical - it featured rather heavily in a famous poem of the 1790's.


Fiat Lux - not that I need to explain - is my family motto, it's a pun.

Updated On: 1/2/06 at 04:35 PM