Brigadoon - Review

Open Air Theatre, London

****

Music by Frederick Loewe

Book & Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner

In a new adaptation by Rona Munro

Directed & choreographed by Drew McOnie

Chrissy Brooke as villager Maggie Anderson

Written in the 1940s, Lerner & Loewe’s Brigadoon is a love letter to Scotland. In Rona Munro’s new adaptation, Tommy (Louis Gaunt) and Jeff (Cavan Clarke) are the crew of a US Air Force bomber that has crashed into the Scottish hills on its return from a bombing run over Germany in the Second World War.

It’s a tale of enchantment, conceived and written by Alan Jay Lerner, that sees the American airmen stumble across the magical village of Brigadoon that only appears through the Highland mists once very 100 years. Munro has sought to give the narrative an edgy contemporary message, but thankfully her tweakings pale into insignificance when set against a show whose core imagery is as much of a Scottish cliché as a tin of Walker’s Shortbread or a dram of a fine Scotch whisky. Back in the day, the Broadway audiences must have found it charming!

But you know what? For all of Munro's meddling, this is still a delightfully whimsical fairytale. There’s a love story that emerges (no spoilers here) along with a gorgeous treatment of some of Lerner & Loewe’s lesser known smash hits. The Heather on the Hill and Almost Like Being In Love are perhaps the show’s most famous numbers - both handled fabulously at Regents Park by Gaunt and Georgina Onuorah as the Brigadoonian Fiona. It is Nic Myers as Meg however who steals the show with her sensational take on The Love of My Life in the first act and My Mother’s Wedding Day after the interval.

Some of the cast’s Scottish accents need some work, but credit to the producers for casting a fair few authentic Scots in the show, not least the always wonderful Norman Bowman who plays Brigadoon’s patriarchal figure Archie Beaton.

Drew McOnie directs and choreographs with an array of swirling Scottish routines that are a delight. Basia Bińkowska has fashioned an intriguing stage design that cleverly suggests Scotland’s hills and streams.

There's an impressive kickstart to the evening as with an impressive backing of drums, pipers David Colvin and Robin Mackenzie skirl through the audience, setting the scene and the tone for a magical night of theatre.

Runs until 20th September

Photo credit: Mark Senior

White Christmas - Review

The Mill at Sonning

****

Music and lyrics by Irving Berlin

Book by David Ives and Paul Blake

Directed by Jonathan O'Boyle

Nic Myers, Connor Hughes, Gabriella Williams and Jason Kajdi

White Christmas, that perennial festive favourite is given a delightful treatment at The Mill Theatre in Sonning. Based on the 1954 classic movie, the stage iteration of this yuletide charmer was only penned in 2000 and yet, with its score of some of Irving Berlin’s greatest songs, the show feels as though it has been around forever.

Jonathan O’Boyle directs an accomplished cast through the wonderfully corny plot that's all about love and loyalty, through the prism of two nationally famous ex-US Army singers who set about trying to woo the sister act of two lesser known chanteuses. Set, for the most part, in snowy Vermont in a 1950s December, the visual white Christmas charm that Hollywood's cameras could create has to be imagined here. O’Boyle however helms his cast and crew magnificently and theatrical magic really does descend onto this intimate auditorium by the Thames.

Elliot Allinson, Connor Hughes, Nic Myers and Gabriella Williams play the four star-crossed leads and they forge a terrific chemistry within this show that is little more than a Yuletide whirl through some of the American Songbook’s favourites. The two guys set the scene with Happy Holidays, while Myers and Williams have their chance to shine early on with Sisters. Perhaps the greatest singing surprise of the evening is Shirley Jameson’s act-one take on Let Me Sing And I’m Happy, a glorious celebration of life and humanity that’s powerfully performed. And of course, as the proceedings conclude, there’s a glorious singalong of the show’s eponymous title number.

The design and staging is ingenious for The Mill’s compact space, with Gary Lloyds choreography an equal treat as the cast of only 14 souls fill the stage with perfectly drilled movement. If there is one criticism, it is that the floor of the stage is too soft and sound-absorbent to really project the aural magnificence of the show’s several tap-numbers, not doing justice to the cast’s remarkable talents. Tucked away out of sight, Jae Alexander's seven-piece band make fine work of Berlin's compositions.

One is left smiling throughout White Christmas – it is a delightfully festive fantasy!

Runs until 25th January 2025

Photo credit: Pamela Raith