A very holy Franciscan nun, Mother Angelica, once said, "We don't know what we're doing - but we're doing it great!"

That was the place that HCH drama was in when we performed Brigaoon, our first musical in a very long time. We had no stage, we had no costumes, no set, no budget - no orchestra! - but gosh darn it, we were going to put on a musical. What we lacked in practical assistance, we made up for in enthusiasm and perseverence.

The stage came through - Saint Mary's Parish graciously allowed us to use their facilities free of charge, the students and their parents pulled together for all the technical elements, and one student - Nate Baran - even learned the whole secondary male lead part (songs, dances and lines!) in two weeks when the original character had to drop out before performance.

One of the things that we focussed on in our Brigadoon was the curious characters of Harry and Maggie. In the story, Harry is the obligatory plot point - the lone disgruntled citizen of Brigadoon - the one who wants "out" since he is now doomed an eternity of watching the girl of his dreams married to another.

The character of Maggie, who is merely meant to be a featured dancer with a name, is given one piece of character information - she has a "yearnin'" for Harry. In the script, after "Go Home to Bonnie Jean" they are meant to dance together. This dance gave way to a whole character piece that showed their relationship - a relationship which stood in contrast to the hasty dalliances of the first and secondary lead couples. Check out the videos for yourself below!

Best of all, though, Brigadoon really pushed HCH drama forward. Because if you can conquer a musical with nothing more than "I've got a barn," then you can tackle anything at all.

Tommy Albright...Brin LePire Fiona McClaren...Becca Cornell Jeff Douglas...Nate Baran Meg Brockie...Alice Mullane

Charles Dalrymple...Adrian Angus Jean McClaren...Casey Doyle Harry Beaton...T. J. Coolidge Maggie Anderson...Jessica Carlson

Mr. McClaren...Garrett Marques Mrs. McClaren...Amanda Kelly Mr. Beaton/Mr. Lundie...Daniel Hickey

Angus MacGuffie/Bartender...Sean Murphy Kate...Jess Daigneault Jane Ashton...Ashley Robinson

Members of the Chorus

Jackeh Biando Melissa Bruen Natalie Magni

Caitlin Mrphy Maureen O'Leary Heather Sliney

Stage Managers: Jill Hall, Christy DeSocio
Crew: Filipe Chaves, Jerry Cournoyer
Directed/Choreographed by: Emily C. A. Snyder

Sound Head: Tom Prunera, Jim Babish
Light Head/Set Construction: Jeff Prunera
Light Crew: Ryan Gonor
Set Painters: Erin Kelly, Julie Fleming, Jenny Janusis, Jeff Kelly, Suzanna Pawlik, Katrina Scheiner
Props: Donna Dupre

(c) 2008
Updated 22 February, 2008
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