- The name Brigadoon is used in several contexts related to the main entry; see below for other uses.
Brigadoon is a musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, first
produced in 1947. It tells the story of a mysterious village in Scotland, which comes to life only once every hundred years. Two American tourists stumble upon the village by chance, as a wedding is about to be celebrated, and their arrival has serious implications for the
village's inhabitants.
Songs from the show include Almost Like Being in Love, My Mother's Wedding Day and The Heather on the
Hill.
The musical was filmed in 1954 with Gene
Kelly, Van Johnson and Cyd Charisse in leading roles. Vincente
Minnelli directed it.
The original Broadway production opened March 13th, 1947, and starred David
Brooks as Tommy, Marion Bell as Fiona, Lee Sullivan as Charlie, and Pamela Britton as Meg. It ran for 581 performances and shared
a Tony Award for Agnes DeMille's choreography. It also
won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, and has had many well-received
revivals over the years.
Synopsis
New Yorkers Tommy Albright and Jeff Douglas have traveled to the
Scottish Highlands on a game-hunting vacation, only to get lost their first night out. While
consulting a map and discussing Tommy's general ennui, they begin to hear music
("Brigadoon"); then they notice, in a valley nearby, a small village where the map says there should be nothing! Tommy and Jeff
decide to visit it, if only to get directions back to their inn, and they walk off towards it.
Meanwhile, in the town itself, a fair has begun ("McConnachy Square"), with the local
vendors selling milk, ale, wool, and other products. Everyone is dressed in traditional Scottish apparel, replete with kilts, sporrans, and ghillies. We are
introduced to Meg Brockie, a dairy vendor with a taste for gentlemanly companionship; Angus McGuffie, her employer; Archie Beaton, seller of wool and plaids; and his son Harry.
As the fair continues, the McLaren family enters, consisting of patriarch Andrew and his two daughters Fiona, a beautiful girl
of about 24, and Jean, who is dainty and sweet and approximately 18. They are there to purchase supplies for the wedding of Jean
to Charlie Dalrymple. It is revealed that Harry Beaton is still madly in love with Jean, and is very depressed at the thought of
her marrying another. One of the other girls asks Fiona when she will get married, and she responds, "When I find someone who
makes me think of it." She explains why she would rather wait than marry the wrong person ("Waitin' For My Dearie").
Just then, Tommy and Jeff wander in from the hillside. They and the Scottish folks stare at each other with bewilderment until
Tommy asks where they are, and is told "Brigadoon." Fiona introduces herself to Tommy, and offers the Americans a bite to eat and
a place to rest. Meg immediately takes a liking to Jeff and leads him off, as Charlie Dalrymple appears. He's a handsome young
man of about 24. He shares some celebratory claret with Tommy, toasting to a Mr.
Forsythe whom he thanks for "postponing the miracle." Tommy asks what he means by this, but Fiona shushes him and leads him away,
as Charlie sings about the end of his bachelorhood ("Go Home with Bonnie Jean").
Tommy and Fiona return and talk about his impending marriage to his fiancee Jane; clearly Tommy is in no hurry to marry her,
and sparks begin to fly between him and Fiona when she reveals that she likes him very much, although "dinna" likes anything he
says. She attempts to leave to gather heather for the wedding, but Tommy insists on going with her ("The Heather on the
Hill").
In the next scene, Meg has taken Jeff to a place in the forest with a cot where he can rest. She tells him she's "highly
attracted" to him, but he wants nothing but sleep and spurns her advances. She reveals her sordid love life ("The Love Of My
Life") as he falls asleep.
The scene changes again, this time to the McLaren home, where all of Jean's friends are helping her pack her things to move
into Charlie's home ("Jeannie's Packin' Up"). Charlie appears to sign the McLaren family bible, and tries to see Jean, but is told 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"). The girls disperse as Tommy and Fiona enter with a basket full of heather they've picked.
Fiona follows Jean upstairs to help her dress for the wedding, and Jeff
enters wearing a pair of Highland trews (trousers); apparently his own pants have been damaged on a "thistle." Jeff asks Tommy
how he feels, and Tommy is so happy that he can barely contain it ("Almost Like Being In Love").
Then Tommy notices the family bible, which contains the names of all the people he's met that day, but all the important
events attached to them have dates two hundred years in the past. He calls Fiona down to question her about this, and she tells
him he'll have to see the local schoolmaster, Mr. Lundie, to get the full
explanation.
Fiona, Tommy, and Jeff arrive at Mr. Lundie's home, where he gives the two New Yorkers a story they can hardly believe: two
hundred years ago, the local parish pastor
prayed to God to have Brigadoon disappear, only to reappear for one day every 100 years, to
protect it from being changed by the outside world. None of the people of Brigadoon can be permitted to leave the town or it will
disappear forever. Tommy, looking at Fiona, 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 he love someone deeply, anythin'
is possible."
The group leaves to go to the wedding, which opens with the Clans coming in from out of
the hills. Charlie and Jean are married by Mr. Lundie, and they perform a traditional wedding dance to celebrate. After a time, sword dancers appear, led by Harry, and they put their weapons on the ground and
"spin like dervishes." The rest of the town joins in the dance, but abruptly halt as Jean's scream alerts them to Harry trying to
kiss her. He announces that he's leaving the town (thereby ending the miracle and causing Brigadoon to disappear into the
Highland mists) and sprints away as Act I ends.
Act II begins with the men of the town frantically trying to find Harry before he can set foot outside of the town ("The
Chase"). There is a horrific scream, and tragically Harry is found to have fallen on a rock and crushed his skull. The men decide
not to tell the rest of the town until the next morning, so that the wedding can continue without further grief. The men carry
Harry's body away, and Fiona and her father come on stage to see if everything is all right. Mr. McLaren leaves as Tommy
reenters; he and Fiona 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
leave to find Mr. Lundie.
Meanwhile, the men have returned to town, where Meg is telling about the day her parents were drunkenly married ("My Mother's
Wedding Day"), and the townsfolk begin to relax and dance again, until the sound of the Highland Pipes pierces the air. Archie
Beaton enters carrying Harry's body, led by the pipers playing a piobaireachd, and Maggie 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 tells him of his plans to stay. Jeff thinks the idea absurd, and argues with Tommy until he has convinced
him that Brigadoon is nothing but a dream. Fiona and Mr. Lundie enter, and Tommy tells Fiona that even though he loves her, he
can't stay because he can't shake his fears and doubts ("From This Day On"). Fiona tells Tommy that she'll love him forever as
she fades away into the darkness.
Four months later, we find Jeff back in New York, drinking heavily at a hotel bar.
Tommy enters, and the two have a joyous reunion, as Tommy has been living on a farm in New Hampshire since his return from
Scotland. He tells Jeff that he's still in love with Fiona; he can't stop thinking about her, and daydreams of her constantly, to
the point of being unable to hold a conversation with anyone. Jane Ashford, his fiancee, a beautiful socialite in her late 20s,
enters as Jeff exits, and begins to talk to Tommy, but everything she says causes him to hear Fiona's voice and dream of
Brigadoon (Reprises of "Come to Me, Bend to Me," "Heather on the Hill"). Tommy suddenly interrupts her and tells her that he
can't marry her. She argues with him, but he continues to daydream about his true love (Reprises of "Go Home With Bonnie Jean,"
"From This Day On"). As Jane leaves, Tommy calls Jeff and tells him he wants to return to Scotland, even though he knows it won't
do any good.
In the final scene, Tommy and Jeff have returned to the spot where Brigadoon was; as expected, there's 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 to him, as Mr. Lundie explains: "You shouldna be
too surprised, lad. I told ye when ye love someone deeply, anythin' is possible. Even miracles." Tommy waves goodbye to Jeff, who
stands there incredulous as Tommy and Mr. Lundie disappear into the mist.
Other uses of the name
- From its use above, Brigadoon also means a remote, unspoiled or idyllic place, compare with Shangri-la.
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