Dancing in film
Gene Kelly as Tommy Albright, Van Johnson as Jeff Douglas, and Cyd Charisse as Fiona Cambell,
in Brigadoon (1954), dir. Vincente Minnelli
choreographed by Gene Kelly
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On March 13th 1947, the musical Brigadoon opened at the Ziegfeld Theatre, in New York City.
Brigadoon, a musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe that tells the story of a mysterious Scottish village that appears for only one day every hundred years, though to the villagers, the passing of each century seems no longer than one night.
Two American tourists, Tommy and Jeff, lost in the Scottish Highlands, stumble upon Brigadoon. The schoolmaster, a Mr. Lundie, explains to them that 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 the village 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.
By now, Tommy is falling in love with one of the villagers, Fiona. Tommy asks Mr. Lundie 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.”
Tommy has fears and doubts about the strangeness of the situation, and he and Jeff go back to New York. But Tommy can’t forget Fiona. Months later, the two men travel again 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 stares incredulously as Tommy and Mr. Lundie disappear into the mist.
The wonderful music includes “Brigadoon,” “I’ll Go Home with Bonnie Jean,” “The Heather on the Hill,” and “Almost Like Being in Love"
The original theatrical musical ran for 581 performances. It starred David Brooks, Marion Bell, Pamela Britton, and Lee Sullivan. In 1949, Brigadoon opened at the West End theatre and ran for 685 performances; many revivals have followed. AMost of us will know Brigadoon from the 1954 film version which starred Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse, and a 1966 television version starred Robert Goulet and Peter Falk, yes Columbo himself!
I can’t speak for the theatre version, but I looked through the cast of Brigadoon, and naturally there are no Scots in the movie, we have Americans and English, we even have a Welshman and a Northern Irishman but, like the village itself the Scots are missing!
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Dancing in film
Gene Kelly as Tommy Albright & Cyd Charisse as Fiona Campbell
in Brigadoon (1954), dir. Vincente Minnelli
choreographed by Gene Kelly
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hi two versions because i knew this piece would look amazing with shading, but right now I'm not good at that. Thanks to @adorkastock references below
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