Brigadoon

[Avonlea22]

I enjoyed watching brigadoon.

Several years ago I was able to see the stage musical, and it was certainly one of the best I've ever seen. I'd love to be able to see it again.

[mudd]

This reminds me of the first I seriously thought of getting a Kilt. I was about 20, on a date at a dinner theater that was doing Brigadoon. The guys were dancing on stage and she grabs my arm, leans her… uuuh, chest, onto my shoulder and says into my ear; “You should get one of those.” :-D

Of course, in those days it wasn’t easy to figure out where to get one short of going to Scotland.

[Freedomlover]

About six or seven years ago the original kilts from Brigadoon were on Ebay. I bought the one Gene Kelley wore, with the silver thread added, for $125.00. Later sold it for a lot more to a collector of memorabilia.

[auld argonian]

Having been involved in a lot of theatre productions, I can tell you that Brigadoon is one of those shows that theatre companies avoid like the plague and that actors make fun of unmercifully. I once heard that it was thrown together by Lerner and Lowe to fufill some kind of contract and that THEY thought it was a dubious achievement at best.

The movie is saved by the presence of Cyd Charisse...phenomenally babe-alicious and legs from here to the corner. She showed up on an Oscar telecast several years back and danced...she must have been in her seventies by this time but she was still amazingly fine. I'm saying all of this and trying to remember - not to be morbid - if she's still with us or if she passed away...there's some website out there that keeps track this and I'll check it after I get through here...

The remake suggestion, however, sounds like a plan.

Best

AA

[auld argonian]

...and she is still with us...just checked.

Best

AA

[Colin]

About six or seven years ago the original kilts from Brigadoon were on Ebay. I bought the one Gene Kelley wore, with the silver thread added, for $125.00. Later sold it for a lot more to a collector of memorabilia.

I don't remember Gene Kelly actually ever wearing a kilt in that movie....Maybe I am wrong, but I thought he was in his hunting gear for the first part and in another outfit at the end. When did he wear a kilt?

[auld argonian]

There was also a made-for-tv version in the sixties or seventies...Robert Goulet taking over for Gene Kelly. Somewhere in all of this old junk I have a copy of the soundtrack for this...was produced by Armstrong Flooring.

I mention this because there was a kilt listed on ebay that had a provenance of having been from a film of Brigadoon but they mention that it also had a date on it that was ten years past the production date of the Gene Kelly flick.

Best

AA

[Freedomlover]

I don't remember Gene Kelly actually ever wearing a kilt in that movie....Maybe I am wrong, but I thought he was in his hunting gear for the first part and in another outfit at the end. When did he wear a kilt?

You got me thinking. I haven't seen the film for years so I couldn't say where in it he wore it. I went off the Ebay listing, and that is what it claimed. The movie buff I sold it to never raised the question. Now I'm wondering if what I bought and sold was genuine. I had a Hollywood costumers label in it, but who knows?

[Nick]

I know that what some call "Brigadoonery" is much lamented, but "Brigadoon" is what got me wearing kilts. And the funny thing is, I played Tommy! One of two men in the entire cast who never wore a kilt! But during the show some of us expressed interest in our choreographer teaching a class in Scottish dancing (she's a competitave dancer), since she was getting a job as a prof at the local university. I took the class, and wore a kilt the first time during an out-of-class practice. So yes, it's silly, but I owe a debt of gratitude to Brigadoon: if it hadn't been for that show, I might still be one in trousers!

[Hamish]

I recently bought, but have not yet viewed, the DVD of 'Brigadoon' so I'll run it through tomorrow and check the Gene Kelly/ kilt question. I must admit, I saw the film when it was first released (not since) but I do not remember Gene Kelly or Van Johnson wearing kilts.

As I recall, the film was made in the era when American actors made little or no attempt to adopt the correct accents when portaying characters in other lands. All those original 'Lassie' films, and the 'Robin Hood' sagas - ruined by the all-American accents!! I think it was Dick Van Dyke's horrendous London cockney in 'Mary Poppins' that put an end to most of that!!