The mystery and beauty of the Scottish Highlands is the backdrop for Lerner and Loewe’s magical tale about following your heart and the power of love, as The Production Company presents Brigadoon at Arts Centre Melbourne for 11 shows only from 28 October 2017.
Brigadoon tells the story of New Yorkers Tommy Albright and Jeff Douglas who get lost on their vacation to the Scottish Highlands, and stumble upon Brigadoon – a mythical village that appears for one day every hundred years. Tommy – who has a fiance in New York – soon falls in love with Fiona, a young woman from Brigadoon, while Jeff enjoys a harmless flirtation with Meg Brockie.
It is only when Harry Beaton, the rejected suitor of Fiona’s sister, Jean, tries to leave Brigadoon that the two men realize the complicated truth: at the end of the day, this town will disappear into the mist for the next hundred years – and if anyone succeeds in leaving Brigadoon, the town and the people in it will be lost, forever. Tommy is forced to choose between returning to the world that he knows – or taking a chance on life and love in a mysterious new place.
Australia’s leading man of song and dance, Rohan Browne stars as Tommy, as soprano Genevieve Kingsford makes her Production Company debut as Fiona. The heart and soul of Brigadoon, the legendary Nancye Hayes plays the matriarch Mrs. Forsythe, while Elise McCann plays the hilarious Meg – who looks for love in all the wrong places. Luke Joslin plays Jeff, Tommy’s fun but cynical best friend who doesn’t believe in love. Also starring Stefanie Jones, Matthew Manahan, Stephen Hall, Sally Bourne and Joel Granger.
The Company will feature: Adele Parkinson, Embla Bishop, Ella Burns, Emma Clark, Patrick Cook, Zack Curran, Nelson Gardner, Courtney Glass, Belinda Hanne Reid, CJ Joy (Piper), Andrew Kroenert, Sam Marks, Scott McConnell, Jensen Overend, Mike Snell, Caitlin Spears, Blake Testro, Karla Tonkich, and Romina Villafranca.
Directed by award winning director Jason Langley (Dusty, Loving Repeating), he is joined by musical director – Michael Tyack conducting The Production Company Orchestra; choreographer – Cameron Mitchell; costumes – Isaac Lummis; set – Christina Smith; lighting – Matt Scott, and sound – Peter Grubb, Kelvin Gedye, John Scandrett (System Sound).
A musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, and music by Frederick Loewe, Brigadoon‘s lush score features such standards as Come to Me, Bend To Me and Heather on the Hill. It’s most famous song, Almost Like Being in Love became a romantic standard and has been recorded by the likes Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Anthony Warlow and Rufus Wainwright.
Inspired by Rodgers and Hammerstein’s successful collaborations Oklahoma! and Carousel, Lerner and Loewe’s Brigadoon featured a serious love story as the main plot and a lighter romance as subplot. The original Broadway production, directed by Robert Lewis and choreographed by Agnes de Mille, opened at the Ziegfeld Theatre in March 1947, where it ran for 581 performances. De Mille won the 1947 Tony Award for Best Choreography.
The original West End production opened at Her Majesty’s Theatre in April 1949, running for 685 performances. A number of productions followed including Australia in 1951, directed by James Jamieson – who starred as Harry Beaton in the original West End production.
Vincente Minnelli directed Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, and Cyd Charisse as Tommy, Jeff and Fiona, in MGM’s 1954 film version, while Fielder Cook directed a 1966 TV version starring Robert Goulet and Peter Falk, that went on to win five Primetime Emmy Awards.
“… a scintillating song and dance fantasy that has given theatregoers reason to toss tam o’shanters in the air.” – New York Herald Tribune
Brigadoon
State Theatre – Arts Centre Melbourne, 100 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne
Season: 28 October – 5 November 2017
Bookings: www.artscentremelbourne.com.au
For more information, visit: www.theproductioncompany.com.au for details.
Image: Rohan Browne and Genevieve Kingsford star in Brigadoon (supplied)