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Pasadena Playhouse’s "Brigadoon" is a near-miraculous revival

The classic musical "Brigadoon" receives an enchanting revival at the Pasadena Playhouse. While not quite a once-in-a-century event, it comes close to capturing the magic of the mysterious Scottish town.

Variety Music·May 27, 2026·via Variety Music

Pasadena Playhouse’s "Brigadoon" is a near-miraculous revival

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May 27, 2026 12:45pm PT

‘Brigadoon’ Review: Pasadena Playhouse’s Enrapturing Revival Isn’t Quite a Once-a-Century Phenomenon, but Close Enough

The long-standing problems with the book have largely been solved, to help make this resurrection of the 1940s classic ready for prime time again, with a phenomenal cast nailing down a sizzling production.

By Chris Willman

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Chris Willman

Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic

ChrisWillman

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In the classic musical “ Brigadoon ,” the Scottish townspeople who inhabit the mysterious town of the title keep referring to “the miracle,” which confounds the two American travelers who stumble across it one dark and shroudy night. Our two Yank interlopers spend some time puzzling over what that supernatural secret might be, before all is revealed in a burst of fantastical exposition toward the end of Act 1.

At Pasadena Playhouse , where a revival of the 1947 musical is occurring, some of the audience may already have a different miracle in mind, unrelated to any mystical Scottish hokum coming up in the plot. That would be the miracle of how work this wonderful is continually being done in humble Pasadena, on a Broadway scale. (And “at popular prices!,” to borrow a phrase once used for cinematic road shows back in the ’50s, when the “Brigadoon” movie came out.) If some version of this should make it to Broadway — and it ought to — you’d be paying several times as much, in an auditorium at least a couple of times as large, to see what’s currently being realized as a perfectly intimate epic on the outskirts of L.A. The M-word doesn’t seem like so great an exaggeration.