Having recently been IN one of those classic musicals, Brigadoon, let me opine here for a moment.
Brigadoon is stupid.
The music (for the most part) is wonderful. But the story is profoundly ridiculous. And I don't mean the premise, which is fine, it's the execution. For example, the town only appears once every hundred years, in order to protect the town from the evils of the outside world. This is, in the words of Mr. Lundie, a "highly organized miracle". Hello? In less than a month, Brigadoon-time, the earth will passed THREE THOUSAND YEARS! Even one day every ten years would make it so two hundred years passes in less than a month. There is not only no chance the outside world will influence Brigadoon, it's likely no one will speak 18th century English, and it's just as likely that the Island will be gone as well.
So, yeah, it was sweet of Forsyth to wait until Charlie Dalrymple got back from Edinburgh before creating the miracle, to not make anything go wrong with the wedding. Yet, Charlie will, if he's lucky, be married for a month or so before the end of the earth. That's not the worst thing.
The worst thing is treating Harry Beaton like he's the villain. I mean, Mr. Forsyth is supposedly the kindest man in Scotland, but he makes a bargain with God that no one can ever leave Brigadoon or everyone will die, but he doesn't bother to tell anyone IN Brigadoon that he's made this bargain, and bound them without their consent. So Harry Beaton wakes up on Thursday and finds out that he's trapped in Brigadoon forever. And THEN, he has to sit and listen to lectures from Andrew McClaren, his true love's self-important father, about how it's all in his mind, and he could be happy if he really wanted to.
So, yeah, the music, great. But I kind of wish someone would write a brand new story and book for it, (which you could, since you'll notice that none of the songs are exposition).
Brigadoon is stupid.
The music (for the most part) is wonderful. But the story is profoundly ridiculous. And I don't mean the premise, which is fine, it's the execution. For example, the town only appears once every hundred years, in order to protect the town from the evils of the outside world. This is, in the words of Mr. Lundie, a "highly organized miracle". Hello? In less than a month, Brigadoon-time, the earth will passed THREE THOUSAND YEARS! Even one day every ten years would make it so two hundred years passes in less than a month. There is not only no chance the outside world will influence Brigadoon, it's likely no one will speak 18th century English, and it's just as likely that the Island will be gone as well.
So, yeah, it was sweet of Forsyth to wait until Charlie Dalrymple got back from Edinburgh before creating the miracle, to not make anything go wrong with the wedding. Yet, Charlie will, if he's lucky, be married for a month or so before the end of the earth. That's not the worst thing.
The worst thing is treating Harry Beaton like he's the villain. I mean, Mr. Forsyth is supposedly the kindest man in Scotland, but he makes a bargain with God that no one can ever leave Brigadoon or everyone will die, but he doesn't bother to tell anyone IN Brigadoon that he's made this bargain, and bound them without their consent. So Harry Beaton wakes up on Thursday and finds out that he's trapped in Brigadoon forever. And THEN, he has to sit and listen to lectures from Andrew McClaren, his true love's self-important father, about how it's all in his mind, and he could be happy if he really wanted to.
So, yeah, the music, great. But I kind of wish someone would write a brand new story and book for it, (which you could, since you'll notice that none of the songs are exposition).
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