Saturday, November 10, 2012

BRIGADOON


The Queanbeyan Players,

The Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre until 17th November

Reviewed by Bill Stephens
Charles Hudson as Charlie
Photo: Rebecca Doyle Photography

Queanbeyan Players have built their reputation in presenting unsophisticated, proudly amateur productions of popular musicals and operettas. So if you’re expecting magical transformations and misty glens, forget it. This “Brigadoon”, directed by Greg Wallace, is a rather Spartan affair presented mostly in front of a backdrop depicting Canadian redwood pines, with other scenes performed in front of black drapes with basic set-pieces.

This most delicate of musicals is a fantasy about two young Americans who, while hiking in the Scottish highlands,  discover a mystical village called Brigadoon which appears for just one day every hundred years.

For this, their third production of “Brigadoon” over the years, Queanbeyan Players have assembled a large cast headed by Gerard Ninnes and Paul Jackson, both excellent as the two Americans. Among the inhabitants of Brigadoon, Alyssa Morse is a lovely Fiona singing prettily and acting with sincerity, and Janet Tweedie is delightfully feisty as Meg. Playing Charlie, handsome Charles Hudson was inexplicably un-amplified for his important tenor solos. Phil Perman is excellent as Mr Murdoch, and Peter Smith and Rob Grice add gravitas to the other senior roles.    

The gorgeous Lerner and Lowe score, is , for the main, well sung by the company, accompanied by an impressive 28 piece orchestra conducted by Jennifer Groom,. Even if your preference is towards a more ethereal presentation, this production still provides a welcome opportunity to revisit this classic Lerner and Lowe musical.
                       This review appears in City News November 8 - 14 issue