Brigadoon

She went on to cover Elsa in the original West End cast of Frozen, before starring in Mandela, Macbeth and The Secret Life of Bees.

last year danielle starred as fiona in brigadoon at regents park open air theater sharing the role with georgina honora and receiving an olivier award nomination danielle is someone i wanted to record with for ages so it was wonderful to head backstage at the tom stoppard theater where rent is playing to record this episode in danielle's lovely dressing room we discussed all things rent including why this contract came around at the right time for danielle the joanne look which i am obsessed with and what makes this show so special and lots more Then we also discussed the path of Danielle's career, from growing up in Scotland to moving to London and carving out a career in theatre, which has already included some crazy moments.

We spoke about Anne Juliet, we spoke about going on as Elsa, we spoke about everything that came with Brigadoon.

Danielle is a total dream.

This was a really special one to record.

Do you know what I mean? I come off stage and I'm like, oh, I could have played, I could have played a little bit more then or thought about that.

That's a really exciting place to be for me because sometimes you can you just I'm a thinker I can really think and think and think and when I'm not thinking I'm just like oh this is bliss this is this should be fun and I said that to myself I made that promise to myself for rent you know a point if I'm not having fun at this point in my career like something isn't quite on something's not working and I am having the most fun I've ever had I think

boom yeah Before we finish, I wanted to talk about Brigadoon and

the opening scene sets it up with you seeing them over a certain period of time and then when we get to the start of the main play Jack and Melissa here played by Alex Brightman and Sarah Chase are having a few difficulties in their relationship and so they go away on a holiday they cross a bridge and all of a sudden they're in a little town called Schmigadoon and they can't get out of that town uh Apparently, so a leprechaun tells them, you can't get out until you find your true love and then you can leave it.

It's based on Brigadoon, of course, the old musical.

But there's all sorts of characters in town.

You know, some terrific characters are all over the top.

heard.

Now, if this man will stick with us, Here's a tune and a goody from Brigadoon.

What a day this has been What a rare mood I'm in Why, it's almost like being in love There's a smile on my face For the whole human race Why, it's almost like being

in

And I also did Denver Public Schools musical, one between junior high school and high school.

So I did a production of Brigadoon.

And one of the other people in it was Don Cheadle.

We were both like 14.

And I, um, had a different life and future, and I was mar- he was writing, uh, Paint Your Wagon at that time.

He had already written Brigadoon, which is a beautiful musical.

Yeah.

And then he wrote My Fair Lady, dedicated to me.

... who was a most gifted composer, when Alan left Fritz to work with, who was it, Burton Lane?

Yes.

Uh, he, Fritz felt after Brigadoon, he felt that, that he had been thrown away and not, and this was extremely difficult for him.

And he went around talking about how terrible Alan Lerner was and, uh, that he would never, ever even consider working with him again.

And I was pleased to see it again because it's packed full of references.

You know, especially sh- the golden age shows like Carousel and Oklahoma! and Music Man and Brigadoon, um, The Sound of Music.

So to see it again, I defo picked up some more details, and I was just taken aback by the whole thing.

It's a big old production with lovely sets, an amazing ensemble, and there's lots to enjoy.

Like...

Which I don't know if she actually like fully hates musicals 'cause she keeps talking about how she did Brigadoon.

Brigadoon.

Brigadoon.

Yeah.

Ooh, excellent Scottish accent.

But it, and that's an interesting choice of musical.

Uh-

And I was this little gay boy dancing around to show tunes.

In my grandmother's living room, she introduced me to a cast recording of Brigadoon and the original soundtrack of Sound of Music and the original cast recording of My Fair Lady.

And I remember listening to those and going, what is this I'm listening to? I really, really like it.

And she was smart enough and intuitive enough to look at me in a way that the rest of my family didn't and say, this kid needs something else.

Sitting in that classroom with those students all the way back to the very moment I told you about with my grandmother.

And it was fascinating to see how each thing happened because of the moment before and the door I walked through before and the door I walked through before and the door I walked through before.

All the way back to my grandmother saying, hey, do you want to listen to Brigadoon? Yes, yes, yes.

That's

What the hell is Schmigadoon doing? That's the name of one of these Broadway shows.

I feel like Brigadoon is actually something, but I don't know.

It's probably a play on that.

Right on.