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Los Angeles Times
Adam Lambert: The ultimate interview, Part Two
August 5 2009
by Fred Bronson
latimesblogs.latimes.com/americanidoltracker/2009/08/adam-lambert-the-ultimate-interview-part-two.html
atop.proboards.com/post/89503/thread

I did a production of “Brigadoon” in Texas at Theatre Under the Stars, so I had my Equity card finally, which felt like I had arrived. I was a professional now. I was getting paid enough money to live on, to really pay my bills, and it was going to lead to more work.

Lost in Translation
TUTS's Brigadoon tries to pull 1940s charm into the present day
By Lee Williams Thursday, Mar 25 2004
www.houstonpress.com/2004-03-25/culture/lost-in-translation/

Rising from the Scottish mist flowing over the stage at the Hobby Center is the magical world of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's Brigadoon. The 1947 musical is a throwback to that era. Melodies lilt into heights where only the headiest sopranos and tenors can go, and the choreography floats across the stage on the long legs of only the most capable ballet dancers. Under the direction of Roy Hamlin, Theater Under the Stars' production has dutifully tried to capture that old-time 1940s charm, but the results are sometimes less than enchanting.

It all begins with Tommy Albright (George Dvorsky) and Jeff Douglas (Mark Zimmerman), two Americans hiking through the forests of Scotland. Their cell phone and backpacks let us know that they're from modern times. But Tommy's problems aren't new. Though he's got a good job and a fine fiancée back home in New York, he longs for something more and is even considering postponing his marriage. Jeff, on the other hand, is a practical guy who thinks it's time Tommy stopped his dreaming and just got on with the business of living, which includes getting married.

Of course, the magic that will change everything is hinted at from the beginning, in the music floating across the Highland mist through which the Americans are traversing. It isn't long before the arguing friends go looking for a town they can hear in the distance but can't find on any map.

Brigadoon turns out to be the sort of magical place where everyone knows everyone else, and they all come together in the town square. Among the shoppers are sisters Fiona (Rachel deBenedet) and Jean (Laura Scott). There's also Charlie (Adam Lambert), Jean's handsome, blond-haired betrothed. Everyone's deliriously happy because today Jean and Charlie will be married at last. But darkness lurks in the shadows in the form of Harry Beaton (Angelo Fraboni). He loves Jean too, and now he can't ever have her. We also learn that Jean's pretty older sister Fiona has never married, which she sings about in "Waitin' for My Dearie."

Into all this energy come Tommy and Jeff, who show up at just about the time Fiona finishes her song about how she's willing to wait forever for the right man. We know immediately that Tommy and Fiona have finally found what they've been longing for. There is, however, one tiny hitch: Brigadoon is bewitched. But Tommy doesn't discover that until he's head over heels.

Like Tommy's friend Jeff, the cell-phone-carrying audience will have to suspend their modern-day cynicism to buy into the story, but that's only part of what troubles this production. The show's real magic should be the love between Fiona and Tommy. But deBenedet and Dvorsky generate so little chemistry that they aren't able to cast much in the way of a theatrical spell over the show. Adding to their problems is the fact that deBenedet's capable voice is ill suited to the light, high music her character sings. And Dvorsky's Tommy never seems quite comfortable in the fantastical place that Brigadoon is. Even the classic duo "Almost Like Being in Love" doesn't bubble to life as it should.

Still, the secondary story of the love triangle among Jean, Charlie and Harry is full of fire. Lambert's gorgeous tenor voice makes Charlie's love songs -- especially the unforgettable "Come to Me, Bend to Me" -- swoon-worthy. And Susan McCarter Olson's choreography, based in part on the original by Agnes DeMille (she worked with DeMille as a young dancer), is made fresh and exciting by the fine dancing of Scott's lovely Jean and Fraboni's angry Harry.

But something has clearly gotten lost in the translation from the 1940s to the present. And while a few elements of the show are worth seeing (especially if you're a fan of big old-fashioned musicals), in the end, this modern production of an old and magical love story fails to enchant.

Houston Chronicle
Chron.com Review:
TUTS' 'Brigadoon' is an enchanting rendition of Scottish neverland
Heather and yon
By Everett Evans | March 15, 2004
www.chron.com/entertainment/article/Review-TUTS-Brigadoon-is-an-enchanting-1970159.php

Enchantment is in short supply these days, both in the entertainment world and the so-called real world.
Not so in Brigadoon. That's why I suspect audiences will warm again to Lerner and Loewe's 1947 classic, which still generates enchantment aplenty in Theatre Under The Stars' latest revival. The show's unique (if admittedly far-fetched) premise and piquant Scottish flavor combine with a glorious score and charming dances to give Brigadoon a virtually irresistible appeal.

Like a master mixologist preparing the perfect cocktail, Brigadoon blends ideal portions of fantasy, humor and poignant romance in its story of two Americans who stumble upon a Scottish village that appears for one day each century.

Tommy, the romantic looking for something to believe in, finds it in village lass Fiona. Even after learning of her peculiar circumstances, Tommy wishes to stay, even though that means giving up everything and everyone in his world. His pal Jeff, the realist, tries to persuade Tommy that would be a mistake, convinced their experience is some crazy hallucination they'll forget as soon as they leave.

In the skillfully interwoven subplot, Fiona's sister Jean and her beloved Charlie are to wed that very day. Yet their joyous wedding brings heartache and risk, as Jean's rejected suitor Harry threatens to flee Brigadoon -- and if any resident leaves, the town and all in it will disappear forever.

Brigadoon arguably is the finest all-round achievement of librettist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe. Though My Fair Lady was their biggest hit, Brigadoon boasts their most perfectly balanced blend of story, song and dance -- as well as an incomparable succession of soaring love songs.

Director Roy Hamlin keeps a steady pace and maintains conviction in the narrative (no mean feat in itself), treading lightly through the neverland terrain.

Susan McCarter Olson has restaged the famous Agnes de Mille dances, generally hewing to the original outlines, augmented with her own variations in the de Mille manner. If a bit of the rich character slips away from time to time, the re-thought choreography usually retains the grace and flavor of the original.

As Tommy, George Dvorsky sings with robust feeling and gives urgency to his romantic dilemma. Rachel de Benedet is a fetching Fiona with a crystalline soprano, passionately romantic yet sensibly firm-minded. When she and Dvorsky rhapsodize in The Heather on the Hill, Almost Like Being in Love, There But for You Go I and From This Day On, the show (and hearts) take wing.

Adam Lambert's vibrant tenor makes the most of genial Charlie's bubbly "I'll Go Home With Bonnie Jean" and his achingly beautiful "Come to Me, Bend to Me". Laura Scott dances Jean with maidenly delicacy, especially her lovely prenuptial ballet. Angelo Fraboni is all brooding intensity as Harry, leading the dynamic Sword Dance with precision. Ilene Bergelson's Maggie (whom Harry has spurned in his hopeless love for Jean) shines in her stark, eloquent Funeral Dance.

Reprising his role as Jeff from the 1980 Broadway revival, Mark Zimmerman fires off his caustic quips (many of them updated here) with biting sarcasm. Ruth Gottschall projects brash exuberance as saucy milkmaid Meg, a Scottish cousin of Oklahoma!'s Ado Annie, capping her two comic turns with a spunky yip.

In one departure from tradition, Lundie (the town sage who explains the miracle of Brigadoon to the visitors) is now a woman. Alley Theatre company member Bettye Fitzpatrick imbues Elder Lundie with grandmotherly warmth and wisdom.

Desmond Heeley's sets and costumes (from the New York City Opera) enhance the storybook flavor. And Steven Smith conducts smoothly and with spirit.

For hopeless romantics, Brigadoon is a dream destination. Yet after hearing its siren song, even realists may find themselves reluctant to return to the real world.

Stage preview: Actor George Dvorsky comes home for CLO
June 11, 2013 12:12 am
By Sharon Eberson / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
www.post-gazette.com/stories/ae/theater-dance/stage-preview-actor-george-dvorsky-comes-home-for-clo-691206/#ixzz2VvqOpqBM

A role the he often hears is a favorite of fans is his Tommy Albright from "Brigadoon," which Mr. Dvorsky performed here in 2001.

"I also did it in 2004 in Houston, and Adam Lambert was Charlie," the actor said of the former "American Idol" finalist. "He was this little red-head, freckle-faced 21-year-old who sang the most beautiful version of 'Come to Me, Bend to Me.' I saw he's going to be here [for a Pride Fest concert Saturday]. Adam stayed in my apartment when he first came to New York, and then we lost touch. ... I hope I get to see him when he's here."