The thing is--the show as it stands has, if not a "moral" in the strictest sense, a deeper theme that is very subtle.
In his autobiography, Alan Jay Lerner discussed the script with someone--I can't remember who--giving a run-down of what the show was about.
And the other person said, "No, Alan, that's not the show you've written at all. What we have here is a story about a romantic who is searching and a cynic who has given up. And the romantic lets himself be talked into cynicism for a while, and that's why he leaves Brigadoon. But he returns, and he's proven right in his philosophy."
So that's what the show's about at heart--the conflict between two different worldviews. Tommy is able to make the leap of faith in the end. Jeff's cynicism is proven wrong. I always wonder where Jeff's going to go from the end of the show now that he's witnessed this.
The Nonesuch studio cast is the best and most cmplete OH, KAY! around.
Same with EMI's excellent 1991 BRIGADOON, which includes a lot of the dialogue. I have always preferred Columbia's studio cat with Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy. It plays like a cast album if the show had opened in the mid-1950s. (It is mono, recorded just before the full switch to stereo - but as with other Columbia albums of the era, has a full rich sound.
RCA Victor's OBCR has poor sound quality and the performances don't really come across with any theatricality. (To be fair, it was Victor's first OCR.)
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks." Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
Yeah, the 1991 EMI Brigadoon is great for its authoritative version of the score, but I'm also quite partial to the Shirley Jones/Jack Cassidy version. In addition to those two, it has the indomitable Susan Johnson as Meg, belting out "The Love of My Life," and "My Mother's Weddin' Day".
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
"Guare has rewritten the original Alan Jay Lerner book: Brigadoon is now "a pacificist town that 'disappeared' in 1939 because its inhabitants didn't want to live in a world torn apart by war."
Do you see that description in this week's news story, linked below? What you quoted, Tom, was what Playbill picked up from incorrect information several weeks earlier in a NY Post story by Michael Riedel. Playbill - Brigadoon
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
I do not think the show will benefit from this update.
One of the "mysteries" is that when Jeff and Tommy find Brigadoon they are startled to see everyone in 18th century dress. Fashions of 1939 are not THAT different.
Guare is an amazing writer and who knows, he may bring out other values of the story. But without Lerner there to change lyrics will Guare have to do that himself?
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks." Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com
I have a question. In the 1991 studio cast recording, which character does Greg Jbara play?
<--- the set of A Midsummer Night's Dream that I was assistant stage manager for during the 2007 season at the STNJ outdoor stage.
-Dre-
You must remember all the same that at the crux of every game is knowing when it's time to leave the table... And it's important to be artful in your exit. No turning back, you must accept the con is done... It was a ball, it was a blast. And it's a shame it couldn't last. But every chapter has to end, you must agree. ~Dirty Rotten Scoundrels~
There's a special kind of people known as show people. We live in a world full of dreams. Sometimes we're not too certain what's false and what's real. But we're seldom in doubt about what we feel. ~Curtains~
It is a far, far better thing I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest I go to, than I have ever known. ~A Tale of Two Cities ~