'Brigadoon' opens at the Manatee Performing Arts Center in Bradenton

Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe were a little-known writing team in the 1940s, with only a couple of unsuccessful Broadway shows to their credit.

Then they came up with the idea for a musical love story about a mystical Scottish village that comes to life only once every 100 years, and of some contemporary Americans who stumble across it.

The show was called "Brigadoon." It featured the now-classic song "It's Almost Like Being in Love." It also sparked a string of huge hits for Lerner and Loewe, including "Paint Your Wagon," "Camelot" and "My Fair Lady."

"Brigadoon" is the next offering from the Manatee Players. It opens today at the Manatee Performing Arts Center.

It's not a show that's often produced these days. It hasn't been staged on Broadway for 35 years. But the 1954 film with Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse remains a TV staple.

"The movie's not the best version," director Steve Dawson said. "On stage it can be much more beautiful."

Besides its charming story and its great songs, "Brigadoon" has always been known for its dance sequences, which is no doubt one reason Kelly and Charisse were cast in the movie. (Agnes DeMille, fresh off of "Oklahoma!" and "Carousel," choreographed the original Broadway production.)

Dawson designed the dances for the Manatee Players production, and he said they're among the show's highlights.

"I actually added some dance," he said, "because (the cast members) are such good dancers "

The play is set in 1947, and that magical village is living in 1747. The villagers, unhappy with encroaching modernity, have made a wish that causes their town to appear for just one day every 100 years.

Two American hunters hear singing, even though there is no nearby village marked on their maps. They investigate and discover the secret.

One of the hunters, Tommy (played here by Bill Shideler) falls in love with a Brigadoonian named Fiona (Lindsay Yarbrough). He has to decide whether to remain with her in Brigadoon or return to the modern world he knows.

One challenge of the play, Yarbrough said, is that almost all of the cast has to use Scottish accents.

"The accents have to be consistent among the whole cast," She said. "We were lucky enough to work with a man from Edinburgh. But we're supposed to be in the Highlands, far from Edinburgh, where the accents are so strong it's almost like another language. So we had to soften it so we could be accurate but understandable."

Details: Jan. 8-25, Stone Hall at the Manatee Performing Arts Center, 502 Third Ave, W., Bradenton. Show times: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $27-$37. Information: 941-748-5875, manateeplayers.com.

Marty Clear, features writer/columnist, can be reached at 941-708-7919. Follow twitter.com/martinclear.

This story was originally published January 8, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "'Brigadoon' opens at the Manatee Performing Arts Center in Bradenton."