Cover of album recording of original Cast Recording of the musical Brigadoon.
But there’s also a broader community that extends beyond the borders of Appomattox, spilling over into Lynchburg and Farmville…and I’ve been promising myself to find out exactly what these locations – in art, music, and theater – have to offer. And in truth, it doesn’t take much more than thirty minutes to get to either place.
This weekend, I started to make good on that promise with a little help from my wife, Elizabeth. Our destination was Farmville, where the Waterworks Players would perform the second showing of Brigadoon, which had opened on Friday, May 22nd.
For those unfamiliar with the Waterworks Players, the origins of the group date back to the 1970s, making it one of the oldest theatre outfits in the surrounding counties. In 1995, they moved to their current location on Industrial Park Rd., about a mile outside of downtown Farmville. The theatre itself is a classic black box with three-way seating, a design that places nearly everyone in the audience close to the stage.
Brigadoon is set in the Scottish highlands, and the plot revolves around a clash between the present and past when two Americans—Tommy and Jeff—find a village that seem lost in time. The themes of belief, community values, and the power of true love will probably seem as relevant and moving today as they did when Alan J. Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s play opened on Broadway in 1947. Many people may also remember the film version in 1954 with Gene Kelly.
Brigadoon is an ambitious undertaking, which obviously required a great deal of effort by director Dudley Sauve, the cast, and an extensive crew to bring the play together so well. The leads, Jordan Whiley, Trospy Jarrett, Brenda Barringer, and Christy Moore, delivered fine performances, and the vocal work was handled very well. The set layouts were both simple and attractive, an important quality in a play that has 11 scenes in two acts. The orchestra also played an important role, providing a firm underpinning for the vocals throughout the show.
The highlight of the show? That’s easy. Nearly halfway through the play, Tommy, realizing that he’s experienced an important transformation in the village of Brigadoon, breaks into “Almost Like Being in Love.” He’s later joined by Barringer on this wonderful song, and the two of them fill the lyric with emotion. Also particularly enjoyable are Moore’s rollicking versions of “The Love of My Life” and “My Mother’s Wedding Day.”
It was somewhat difficult to get used to the fact that a number of the players were wearing headsets, and I wasn’t sure whether they were necessary in a theater that seated 100 people. The three-way seating also seemed awkward at times. This meant, on occasion, that an actor would have his or her back to part of the audience. These quibbles, however, never interrupted the flow of the storyline or affected the overall enjoyment of the play.
After the play, Elizabeth and I decided to get something to eat, which brings me to another nice thing about Farmville: there is more than one place to eat after 11:00 p.m. on the weekends. Not that I have anything against the Huddle House, especially when I’m up for a pecan waffle with sausage. But Macado’s had plenty of frosty beverages not to mention killer quesadillas. It was also a perfect night for outdoor seating, though the folks at the table next to ours were a bit rowdy, which may have had something to do with mixing blue motorcycles and pitchers of beer.
The drive home seemed a little long, and we had a good fright when we saw several deer grazing at the edge 460, but it was nice evening, and we were glad we’d ventured beyond the borders of Appomattox proper for one evening.
The Waterworks Players will also perform Brigadoon on May 29th and 30th at 8:00 p.m. Tickets can be reserved by calling 234-392-3452.
Ronnie,
Many thanks to you for not only coming to see “Brigadoon”, but also writing an actual “review”. Our folks in Farmville just tend to write a synopsis of the show, so it’s nice to see an honest-to-goodness review! We typically ask reviewers to come in the Wednesday or Thursday night prior to opening in an effort to get a review out in time for folks who hadn’t caught an advertisement to attend the show. Perhaps you will consider being a reviewer for future shows?
A couple of comments in regards to your review. On the subject of headsets, they actually are very necessary for our musicals. We tend to only use area mics for straight shows, but use headset mics for musicals for a few reasons. First, we are a community theatre. That being said, we cast people who may have nothing more than an appreciation for music, not necessarily any musical training. Due to this fact, I only have time to teach notes as the music director and give brief pointers on how to sing “properly” without the cast members hurting themselves. We rehearse musicals for approximately 6 weeks (if we’re lucky), Sunday through Thursday nights. For the voice that is not used to that much rigorous singing, trying to project without a mic could be harmful. We try to help “preserve” the vocal health with the aid of a mic. Even for me, someone who sings daily and has a very active performance schedule, this is important. For the many Appomattox folks who know me, I’m a “belter”. As you know, the style of singing required of my role as “Fiona MacClaren” is far different from what you’ve heard at Baines Books & Coffee. Given that I haven’t done that style of singing in over 10 years, let alone as a soprano, I don’t quite have the same push in the high range, so the microphone literally made it possible for me to face the challenge of playing the role of Fiona. Secondly, as you saw, a lot of this show took place from the lobby, the house, and even the dressing rooms, so the mics were definitely needed to cover all areas. Third, the mics serve to keep a healthy balance between the band volume (AND allow the band to hear us through a monitor upstairs) as well as combat the large curtains and audience members which soak up the sound. We want to ensure our audience doesn’t miss a word, and as is the case with even professional theatre, the mics taped to faces are quickly overlooked.
As far as the seating is concerned, I especially appreciate your comments. Our new seating and layout is still relatively new to us, and modeled after the Barksdale Theatre. We continue to face the challenge of blocking and building sets in such a way where the audience can see from all angles. It has become quite the challenge indeed, especially when we’re all a bunch of amateurs who sometimes forget the rules of which way to turn and as Dudley can be heard time and time again, “Cheat” in the direction of the audience. We’ll continue to work on it, but we have found that our patrons are far more appreciative of the current setup over the old “tables and chairs” we used to have.
“Ay”, I’m glad to see that, overall, you seemed to have enjoyed the production. Many thanks again for your patronage of our theatre, and we hope to see you and many more members of the Appomattox Community back for future shows!
All my best,
Brenda Barringer (a.k.a. “Broda”; a.k.a. “Fiona MacClaren”)
Waterworks Players Board Member, Music Director, and Cast Member of “Brigadoon”