‘Brigadoon’ reappears for another CLO fling
When Agnes de Mille was pioneering musical theater choreography in the 1940s, she exploded the possibilities of ballet and modern dance, incorporating the grit and swagger of homesteaders to “Oklahoma!” and the joyous release and harsh truths facing New Englanders to “Carousel.”
For “Brigadoon,” she brought the Scottish Highlands to Broadway.
Mark Esposito has worked with the grand dame and danced “The Sword Dance” for Van Kaplan in Fort Worth, Texas, when the CLO’s executive producer was at Casa Manana Theatre. And Mr. Esposito has choreographed “Brigadoon” a handful of times, from the West Coast to Pittsburgh, where he is now, prepping the show about a magical town that appears for one day every 100 years and the sacrifices people are willing to make for love.
Directing for CLO is Dontee Kiehn, who assisted Tony-winning director/choreographer Christopher Wheeldon for Broadway’s “An American in Paris” and the recent Encores! production of “Brigadoon” in New York City. Kelli O’Hara and Carnegie Mellon University alumnus Patrick Wilson starred along with the ballet dancer and Tony nominee Robert Fairchild, who as the spurned and angry Harry Beaton performed “The Sword Dance” — a ceremonial tradition performed as a test of strength and stamina thatdates to the 15th century.
Mr. Esposito brings insights into Ms. de Mille’s interpretations of “the Highland fling and reels and traditional sword dance that feel very authentic to the time ‘Brigadoon’ takes place onstage,” he said.
For Pittsburgh CLO, Garen Scribner, who succeeded Mr. Fairchild in “An American in Paris,” has the role of Harry.
“It’s a wonderful cast all around,” Mr. Esposito said. Jeff Kready, a familiar face on Broadway, and Eryn LeCroy “are a beautiful couple as Tommy and Fiona,” the central lovers of the piece.
The choreographer brings a wealth of experience to the dance elements of the show, which changes “depending on the director and the director’s concept of us,” he said, “but I always want to be influenced by Agnes’ work because I think it’s pretty brilliant and very much what the show needs.”
Changes might depend on the dancers — whether their backgrounds are ballet or specifically musical theater. Mr. Scribner, for example, has been a soloist with the San Francisco Ballet.
“With this particular show, I am sort of reconstructing [Ms. de Mille’s] work and putting my own work on it as well because of what the director is looking,” he said.
The story and setting haven’t changed. A magical town, a love that creates a miracle — that’s what most people will think of, whether they first arrived at “Brigadoon” via a stage production or another Pittsburgh source: Gene Kelly, who starred with Cyd Charisse in the 1954 movie.
It’s a show that has legs, and not just because of its great dance tradition. “What is ‘Brigadoon’?” earned some bucks on “Jeopardy” just last week,” when the answer was: “‘Almost Like Being in Love’ and ‘Heather on the Hill’ are songs from this Lerner & Loewe musical.”
Anyone who has followed Pittsburgh CLO the past 70 or so years got it right. The company has made the show a part of the summer season in every decade starting in 1950 — it has since reappeared in ’55, ’60, ’65, ’74, ’82, ’92, 2001, and on Tuesday, it hits the 2010s.
Mr. Esposito also has a storied past with CLO that includes choreographing “The Music Man” starring Jeff Goldblum in 2004. That production was filled with hijinks, as Mr. Goldblum filmed his homecoming for a movie.
Mr. Esposito laughed at the memory of working with “The Fly.” “It was fun,” he said. And of the distractions, “You just put your mind to the work.”
He was speaking by phone Tuesday evening, having just come from his second rehearsal in the exhausting and exhilarating process of putting up a CLO summer show.
For those who have seen “Brigadoon” before, there willbe some noticeable differences. To describe the vision of this production, Mr. Esposito turned to the aesthetics, in particularthe costumes.
“It’s not this bright colorful look to it that it often has,” he said. “It’s darker, almost like ‘Outlander’ or ‘Braveheart,’ so it has that earthier, more organic feel to it,” he said, referring to the Starz series and Mel Gibson film, respectively, each steeped in elements of Scottish lore and tradition.
With this ninth CLO production of the classic musical, you could say “Brigadoon” is a Pittsburgh tradition, too.