Brigadoon

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More About

• Chanhassen
• Peggy Joyce
• Keith Rice
• Tony Vierling
• Julianne Mundale

Brigadoon
Chanhassen Dinner Theatres

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Brigadoon's appearance on the Broadway stage. Brigadoon, a mythological 18th-century Scottish village that appears for only one day every 100 years, is perhaps more popular nowadays as a metaphor than as a musical. Which is as it should be.

There was perhaps a time--say, the late '40s--when the ideal woman was seen as a pliant, pleasant 18th-century Scottish village girl. Tommy (Keith Rice) and Jeff (Mark Rosenwinkel), the contemporary New Yorkers who accidentally stumble on Brigadoon, certainly think so. Tommy is engaged but reluctant; as he explains to the docile lass Fiona (Peggy Joyce), if a man wants to keep his lady friend he must propose "or else she'll torment you so you'll marry her for relief or be so sweet to you you'll feel guilty." Tommy treats his fiancée--a strong-minded, thoroughly modern career woman--terribly, but she doesn't mind. As Jeff points out, "You scratch the surface of any woman...and she'll enjoy it." Chanhassen's production doesn't do a lot to temper the myriad manifestations of sexism. There is something unpalatable to the modern eye about watching a bunch of women wearing pastel country dresses adorned in lace and bows prance around in a dainty ballet whilst singing, "What do you do when you're waiting for a laddie to come your way?" in vibrato-infused soprano.

Sopranos aside, the show, which features a ridiculous conceit, plastic characters, and a forgettable score (can you name a song from Brigadoon?), proves painfully dated. It does allow for some invigorating Scottish folk dancing, including a jaw-dropping sword dance by Tony Vierling, and a heart-wrenching mourning dance performed by Julianne Mundale--an incredible feat when you haven't cared about the death itself. I'd keep the dancing and let Brigadoon itself float off into the mist.

Brigadoon plays indefinitely at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres; call 934-1500.