Brigadoon, The Low Down Story:
By fortunate coincidence, a couple New Yorkers visiting
Scotland on a hunting trip stumble upon a remote, misty glen on the very day when
Brigadoon makes its brief, centennial appearance. No doubt as a courtesy to the hordes of American tourists who drop in uninvited
every hundred years, the accommodating denizens of the village have taken time out from their hectic social schedule to abandon
Gaelic and learn modern-day English -- but they have thoughtfully retained a slight Scottish burr and a few pungent Scotticisms
to add just the right touch of ethnic flavor to their speech.
Introductions being thus facilitated by Scots who speak
American English as their lingua franca, tourist boy, Tommy, meets resident girl, Fiona. For
the young couple it's love at first sight -- another improbable quirk of fate essential to the success of old Broadway musicals.
Unfortunately, the love birds have a large problem to resolve. Fiona cannot leave Brigadoon, without breaking the centuries-old
magic spell, thereby dooming all her friends and relations. On the other hand, if Tommy chooses to stay with her, he must
leave behind everything and everyone in the modern world that he knows.
However a much more pressing problem arises. Tommy happens
to have arrived in town on the wedding day of Fiona's younger sister, Jean -- and Jean's ex-boyfriend disapproves of her new
marital arrangement. In a titanic funk, the abandoned lover threatens to leave Brigadoon, with the ensuing dire consequences
for the rest of his community. Luckily, a convenient solution soon presents itself.
Brigadoon is great fun if you have little
concern for cultural authenticity. But who cares! Because we are going to do it Flagler Style!
