Grand performance of 'Brigadoon'

Imagine a town full of bagpipes, kilts, bonnets, and true love. Sounds like your average, ordinary Scottish village, right? Now, imagine if this town could only be found once every hundred years. This spellbinding mystery is the focus of the show Brigadoon, recently performed by Chestnut Hill Academy and Springside School.

Written by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, Brigadoon tells the tale of two American friends, Tommy Albright (Patrick Dwyer) and Jeff Douglas (Griffin Horter), who stumble across a seemingly unusual town while wandering through the Scottish Highlands. Tommy quickly falls in love with one of the villagers, Fiona MacLaren (Elena Markos), and is faced with the difficult decision to either abandon his life in the real world forever, or to permanently leave the town and attempt to forget about his new love.

The cast of Brigadoon successfully brought the audience into their mystical world by their clear commitment to their characters, commendable Scottish accents, and often effective utilization of the auditorium aisles. Full-cast songs such as "Brigadoon" stood out from the rest with their full vocals and visible energy.

Portraying the only two American characters in the show, Patrick Dwyer and Griffin Horter provided a strong contrast to the Scottish villagers. Dwyer brought delightful charisma to the stage, while Horter skillfully delivered the humor of the 1940s in a fresh and relevant way. Elena Markos, playing the innocent Fiona, made her stage presence known with unwavering poise and charm. Also noteworthy were Lauren Ritter as Meg Brockie and Alec Rankin as Harry Beaton, two villagers who provided essential comic relief to a highly sentimental story.

The ensemble was a key factor in making the world of Brigadoon come to life as it invited the audience in with its appropriately homely, small-town demeanor. Although only involved in a minor portion of the show, the actors effectually set the scene and tone every time they were seen, helping to back the leads.

The technical aspects of the show were simple and accomplished their purpose. They had a few difficulties, and scene changes tended to be a bit lengthy, but the performers on stage maintained their focus and never let any of it faze them.

Chestnut Hill Academy and Springside School's Brigadoon provided the perfect mix of fairytale love, biting one-liners, and memorable melodies, all in all creating a grand performance of this classic musical.