The Armstrong Theater produced four TV musicals in the mid 1960's, all of them having been done as movies in the 1950's: "Carousel", "Kismet", "Kiss Me Kate" and this colorful version of the 1947 Lerner and Lowe musical, previously filmed on MGM's backlot in 1954 with the artistic flair of Vincent Minnelli and the dancing of Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse. That version looked great on the big screen with its Cinemascope photography and all that heather on the hill, but there was something phony about the backdrop mountains that somehow look more obvious today than when it was made. The intimacy of the show's simple story has been returned in this TV production with Robert Goulet and Sally Anne Howes perfectly cast. Goulet, in fact, starred in all but "Kismet" of the Armstrong Theater musicals, and having sung Lerner and Lowe before with "Camelot" on Broadway, he's an expert on this kind of showtune. Howes, already known on Broadway and as a veteran British film actress, sings beautifully, her Scottish accent is not over the top, and she's moderately feisty but completely a lady.
The scene stealer, however, is Marlyn Mason as Meg Brock who gets the hysterical "My Mother's Wedding Day", censored from the 1954 movie but heard on all of the cast albums and studio recordings of this touching fantasy. She sets her sights on Goulet's gruff pal (a non-singing, but slightly dancing Peter Falk) who is bound to break her heart as he intends to return to civilization from this mysterious village lost in time thanks to an ancient curse. It's up to town elder Finlay Currie to reveal the truth to Goulet and Falk, and while his appearance is initially disconcerting, his truthfulness and huge heart befalls that physical characteristic. Famous ballet dancer Edward Villella, who had appeared in several New York City Center productions of "Brigadoon", gets to repeat his role of the embittered Harry Beaton here, angry over the fact that the woman he loves is going to marry somebody else and vows to make the town pay. The ballet sequence of his chase is beautifully done, making it look like a filmed production of the stage play in those sequences.
For some reason, the audio of "Heather on the Hill" was mute on the video I received of this, but there are several other numbers heard practically in their entirety. The opening number of the townspeople singing of their daily lives is slightly edited, but there is a nice version of "I'll Go Home With Bonnie Jean", and Goulet and Howes' duet of "Almost Like Being in Love" is beautifully done. Goulet also gets to sing the forgotten "There But For You Go I", one of the unsung showtunes of the golden age of the American musical, and one that needs re-discovering. Perhaps the success of a recent City Center production might get this revived which would be its first Broadway production in nearly 40 years.
The scene stealer, however, is Marlyn Mason as Meg Brock who gets the hysterical "My Mother's Wedding Day", censored from the 1954 movie but heard on all of the cast albums and studio recordings of this touching fantasy. She sets her sights on Goulet's gruff pal (a non-singing, but slightly dancing Peter Falk) who is bound to break her heart as he intends to return to civilization from this mysterious village lost in time thanks to an ancient curse. It's up to town elder Finlay Currie to reveal the truth to Goulet and Falk, and while his appearance is initially disconcerting, his truthfulness and huge heart befalls that physical characteristic. Famous ballet dancer Edward Villella, who had appeared in several New York City Center productions of "Brigadoon", gets to repeat his role of the embittered Harry Beaton here, angry over the fact that the woman he loves is going to marry somebody else and vows to make the town pay. The ballet sequence of his chase is beautifully done, making it look like a filmed production of the stage play in those sequences.
For some reason, the audio of "Heather on the Hill" was mute on the video I received of this, but there are several other numbers heard practically in their entirety. The opening number of the townspeople singing of their daily lives is slightly edited, but there is a nice version of "I'll Go Home With Bonnie Jean", and Goulet and Howes' duet of "Almost Like Being in Love" is beautifully done. Goulet also gets to sing the forgotten "There But For You Go I", one of the unsung showtunes of the golden age of the American musical, and one that needs re-discovering. Perhaps the success of a recent City Center production might get this revived which would be its first Broadway production in nearly 40 years.