"Brigadoon" Makes Appearance In Burns Park

Stage

'Brigadoon' makes appearance in Burns Park

Annual Players' production raises money for school's arts programs

Janet Taylor and Clinch Steward in "Brigadoon," this year's production from the Burns Park Players.

BY JENN MCKEE

Regrettably, the product of Lerner and Loewe’s first theatrical collaboration - a musical about an enchanted town that only appears one day every 100 years - seems to be staged only once in a century, too. But local musical theater fans must have the luck of the, er, Scottish. The Burns Park Players have recently busted out the kilts, swords and plaid hats for a full-scale production of “Brigadoon.”

The play tells the story of two New Yorkers, Tommy Albright and Jeff Douglas, who travel to Scotland on vacation. One day, while out hunting, they come across the town of Brigadoon and learn of its magical secret, but not before Tommy falls for Fiona, one of the town’s inhabitants. She cannot leave Brigadoon - the whole town will perish if she does - so as night falls, Tommy’s forced to make a decision between the life and world he knows and the woman he loves.

The 1954 film adaptation (directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, and Cyd Charisse) didn’t enjoy the critical and commercial success of the preceding Broadway production, and many felt that the show quickly dated itself. To combat this, the Players’ production places Tommy and Jeff in our contemporary world.

“The story and music are so beautiful, but the stuff surrounding it needed work,” said director Adam Fry. “Updating it really brought it to life.”

The show’s magical, fairy tale qualities were a primary draw for Fry, but there were also more personal connections. “Tommy’s a guy who feels lost in modern-day New York,” said Fry. “He’s got a great job, and everyone tells him he’s got a great fiancee, but when he and Jeff go to Scotland, he sees what a great life really is. ... I lived in New York City for two and a half years, so I know how easy it is to get lost there. That’s why I came back to Ann Arbor, which is like my own Brigadoon, where people know you and respect you, rather than just being a part of this big, cold city.”

But with Lerner and Loewe at the helm - the team that would later create the music for “My Fair Lady” and “Gigi,” among others - what may hit home with audiences more than anything else in “Brigadoon” are the songs.

“It’s got a gorgeous score,” said producer and BPP executive director Susan Hurwitz, who’s been involved with the company for 15 years. “I’m a very auditory person. Music is what gets me excited about a show.”

In addition to classic tunes like “Almost Like Being in Love,” “Waitin’ for My Dearie,” “Heather on the Hill,” and “I’ll Go Home With Bonnie Jean,” the show also fulfilled the Players’ criteria: It’s age-appropriate for the adult stars; it has strong potential as a fund-raiser, and it allows for the involvement of lots and lots of young people in the production. “That’s part of our charter,” said Hurwitz. “We’re a family theater group. I don’t know of another like it in the country.”

Attorney Christopher Taylor, who plays Charlie, has enjoyed this unique aspect of the company, as well as the opportunity to return to the stage - for he earned a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance (opera) at U-M. “It’s always tricky to balance ... legal work and caring for a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old,” he said. “Both my wife and I are in the show, so it’s been difficult to maintain all of that while getting to rehearsals, but we’ve had lots of family support. ... It’s occasionally been difficult, but it’s never been a burden.”

Hurwitz, meanwhile, loves the feet that the company introduces young people to a form about which they might otherwise be ignorant. “Early on, when my kids were still involved, the popular song was ‘Material Girl,’ by Madonna,” she said. “But while other kids were listening to ‘Material Girl,’ our kids were walking around singing songs from ‘The Music Man,’ and I thought, how wonderful it is that they’re learning about this uniquely American art form.”

The Players - composed of teachers, parents, and residents of the Burns Park School district - formed in 1983, when a small group of parents put on a talent show to raise money to send sixth-graders to camp. Soon, however, the group grew and began producing one family-oriented production (like “Carousel,” “Annie,” “Damn Yankees” and “The Music Man”) each year.

The money raised by BPP productions supports schools’ arts programs (primarily at Burns Park Elementary and Tappan Middle School), and since 1992, the company has donated more than $150,000. But not only do the shows support a good cause, they bring talented neighbors and families together to have fun.

“I’ve never seen a cast so excited about a show before,” said Hurwitz. “Each day, as they learned the music, it was like watching kids opening gifts every day.”

Jenn McKee can be reached at (734) 994-6841 or jmckee@annarbornews.com.

PREVIEW
'Brigadoon'

Who: Burns Park Players.

What: Lerner and Loewe musical about two Americans who travel to Scotland and discover an enchanted town that only appears one day every 100 years.

Where: Tappan Middle School Auditorium, 2251 E. Stadium Blvd.

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 7:30 p.m. Feb. 10-11; 4 p.m. Feb. 12.

How much: $10 ($30 reserved patron seats, which includes valet parking and no waiting in line).

Information: Tickets may be purchased at the Big Ten Party Store, 1928 Packard St.), or at the door one hour prior to each performance. $30 Reserved patron seats may be reserved by calling (734) 669-0431. For more information, visit www.burnsparkplayers.org.