Brigadoon

My husband hates Brigadoon so much. He says it takes itself way too seriously... which it does. But, to Brigadoon's credit, I think if THAT is the story you're going to tell, you BETTER take yourself seriously.

If you've never seen Brigadoon, don't worry about it. It's the story of a mystical Scottish village where, to "protect" the people, a priest asked God to put a spell (?) on it, so the village only appears once every 100 years. In their life, this must have happened just 3 days ago, so they SHOULD be pretty well-versed on what happened. Tommy and Jeff, two New Yorkers on a hunting trip, stumble upon the village on it's one day this century of being there, and Tommy falls in love with Fiona, a woman from the village. He is told the people of Brigadoon can't leave, otherwise the village will disappear forever, but that if an outsider loves someone enough, they are able to stay there. HOW they know this is anyone's guess. Did God tell the evil witch-priest?? Did this REALLY happen or are they living like in that movie "The Village"??

So, Tommy has to decide what to do. I mean, in all reality, they basically disappear every evening, so if the entire town just disappeared forever, I don't think it would be that bad for them. If Fiona left, she wouldn't see them ever again ANYWAY, so who cares? If Tommy stays in Brigadoon, he's giving up his cosmopolitan NYC life anyway, so, again, who cares? Tommy ends up leaving... but then regrets it and goes back to where the Brigadoon was... and suddenly it appears! The priest guy or schoolteacher or whoever the hell he is says that Tommy's love for Fiona brought forth the "miracle" once more! Tommy can stay with Fiona! Woo hoo. Way to go, Tommy!

This, to me, makes it seem like Tommy is a total sucker, and that this village is ALWAYS there. Good on you, Jeff, for leaving him behind.

I don't care about the music to Brigadoon... it's FINE, I guess. It really seems like Lerner and Loewe really wanted to copy a Rodgers and Hammerstein show, which they did, but they weren't as good, so it's not as good. It's not even as deep as Oklahoma! so... that's saying something. My favorite character in Brigadoon is Jane Ashton, Tommy's fiancee that he doesn't love and leaves to go back to this weird town. She's in one scene. Oh, also, Jeff murders a townsperson while he's there. Granted, the guy was trying to leave the town, making them all "disappear" forever, but still. Do you believe that would actually happen to this town? If yes, then Jeff saved the day. If no, Jeff just straight out murdered a guy and has to live with that forever.

Brigadoon
Music by Fredeick Loewe
Book and Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner