‘Brigadoon’ Appears From The Mist With Romance, Magic

If theater is about magic, illusion and romance, then “Brigadoon” is one of musical theater’s more canny creations.

This show, which opens tonight at the Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre, is all magic, all romance. It’s about two American hunters who stumble upon a misty Scottish village which seems to come from another, more romantic time. In fact, the town does come from another epoch - the village of Brigadoon emerges from the Highland fog only once every hundred years. Thus, it is a village untouched by the ages, a virtual romantic heaven with bagpipes instead of harps.

This was a theme that resonated strongly with audiences in 1947 when it first opened on Broadway. After all of the ugliness and death of World War II, audiences were charmed by such a serene vision of old-country life, not to mention by a world where love remains eternal, even after death.

Critics were also charmed, not to mention surprised. The songwriting team of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe had never had a hit before. They had only one moderate success (“The Day Before Spring”) and one flop (“What’s Up”).

With the lovely score of “Brigadoon,” which includes “Almost Like Being in Love” and “The Heather on the Hill,” several critics immediately recognized Lerner and Loewe as a major force. (Lerner and Loewe later went on to score big with “My Fair Lady,” “Paint Your Wagon” and “Camelot”).

One of the things critics liked best was that the music did not pander to Tin Pan Alley tastes. It was a true original.

“It took courage to produce ‘Brigadoon,’ an unconventional musical show of marked originality,” wrote Robert Coleman of the New York Daily Mirror after opening night. “But in this instance, courage will be richly rewarded. Compromising less than ‘Finian’s Rainbow’ with Broadway and Tin Pan Alley … it still manages to pack a tartan full of popular appeal.”

Brooks Atkinson of the New York Times was equally effusive.

“To the growing list of major achievements of the musical stage add one more - ‘Brigadoon,’ ” wrote Atkinson. “… A kind of idyllic rhythm flows through the whole pattern of the production.”

Ward Morehouse of the New York Sun would not have been the least bit surprised to learn that “Brigadoon” would go on to become one of the most produced shows in dinner theater and summer-stock.

” ‘Brigadoon is by far the best musical play the season has produced, and it is certainly one of the best within my entire play-going experience,” wrote Morehouse the morning after the opening.

The CDA Summer Theatre production features the husbandand-wife team of Terrence Kelley and Angela Kelley in the lead roles of Tommy and Fiona. Eric Englund plays the other hunter, Jeff. Susannah Mars and Kurt Raimer, fresh from starring roles in the CDA Summer Theatre’s “Evita,” play Meg and Charlie, two of the Scottish lovers.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Musical “Brigadoon” will be presented tonight through Sunday and Aug. 29-31 at Boswell Hall at North Idaho College. All shows are at 8 p.m., except the Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. Tickets are $19 for adults, $14 for children 18 and younger, available by calling (800) 4-CDA-TIX or in Coeur d’Alene, (208) 769-7780.