STAGE REVIEW : An Enjoyable Production of ‘Brigadoon’ Despite Shortcomings : Theater: Vintage Lerner & Lowe musical comedy is short on plot but tall on song-and-dance numbers.

VISTA —  The 1947 Alan Jay Lerner-Frederick Loewe musical “Brigadoon” revolves around a pretty outlandish premise: When the night mist envelops the fictional Scottish town of Brigadoon, its inhabitants float into the sky and sleep for 100 years. When the Brigadoonites wake up, they are just one day older; the rest of the world has aged a century.

So, when Tommy Albright (Randall Hickman) happens upon Brigadoon and immediately falls in love with the prettiest girl in town, he’s got a tough decision to make. Does he stay with Fiona MacLaren (Catherine Scholl) and abandon his 20th-Century existence, or does he reject true love and return to his unsatisfactory life in modern-day New York City?

For the record: First Tommy decides to stay, then he decides to go, then he leaves, and then he wants to go back. His inner turmoil doesn’t provide much in the way of plot, but then “Brigadoon” doesn’t purport to be much more than a vehicle for great singing and dancing.

The Moonlight Amphitheatre production of “Brigadoon,” which opened Wednesday night at the Vista outdoor theater, is full of powerful singing, but is flawed by clumsy, sub-par dancing. Still, the production is quite entertaining.

The play opens to find Tommy and his deadpanning companion Jeff (Roy Guenther Werner) hunting in the Scottish Highlands. The two become lost and accidentally come across Brigadoon. They walk into town to get some breakfast and wind up staying all day.

Lerner’s script is full of cheeky one-liners, most of them outdated and some of them downright sexist. Early in the play, one character observes: “If all the maidens are so good, then tell me where all the bad wives come from.” Wednesday’s opening-night audience murmured slightly at the repeated misogynist remarks, but seemed willing to forgive the 44-year-old script’s senility.

It’s hard not to forgive this production’s shortcomings--both cast and crew put on a fun, earnest show.

Moonlight Amphitheatre artistic director Kathy Brombacher directed “Brigadoon” to augment her cast’s singing strengths and downplay any dancing deficiencies. As the lead characters Tommy and Fiona, Hickman and Scholl hardly move around the stage at all. Performing either solo or duet, they simply find a spot, stand there and sing.

Interestingly, the 1954 MGM film “Brigadoon” featured transcendent dancing and merely competent singing. In that film, Gene Kelly played Tommy and Cyd Charisse played Fiona. Their dancing--in particular their “The Heather on the Hill” duet--propelled the film.

Without question, it is the singing that propels the Moonlight staging. As the peripheral character Charlie Dalrymple, Eric Kunze stopped the show twice with his beautiful voice. The local performer’s energetic “I’ll Go Home With Bonnie Jean” and his tender, touching “Come to Me, Bend to Me” demonstrate both a technical skill and an emotional believability.

As Meg, Stephanie Huffman blasts her way through “The Love of My Life” with Ethel Merman-esque zeal; Hickman delivers a strong “There, But for You, Go I,” and Scholl gives an intense, heartfelt version of “Waitin’ for My Dearie.”

Thankfully, singing is central to this musical. Unfortunately, the script calls for some big dance productions as well.

Javier Velasco’s choreography is evocative and intelligent, but his dancers, for the most part, simply aren’t up to the task. The performers’ timing is off and their movements seem stilted during the “Bonnie Jean Ballet” and “The Funeral Dance.” Of the show’s six dance numbers, only “The Sword Dance and Reel” manages a sense of fluidity and competence.

The costumes, organized by Sue Team and Kim Johnson, help give this production a professional feel. Both the 18th-Century Scottish costumes and the 1950s American outfits seem right on target. The men’s kilts are appropriately colorful and exotic, as is Don Ertel’s expansive, yet simple scenic design.

Moonlight’s production of “Brigadoon” isn’t a magical experience by any stretch of the imagination, but the show’s strong singing makes this a worthwhile piece of musical theater.

“BRIGADOON”

Book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. Music by Frederick Lowe. Director is Kathy Brombacher. Choreographer is Javier Velasco. Musical director is James R. Cook. Conductor is Jo Anita Bleher. Sets by Don Ertel. Costumes by Sue Team and Kim Johnson. Lights by Mark Sell. Sound by Bruce Blackwell. With Randall Hickman, Catherine Scholl, Roy Guenther Werner, Stephanie Huffman, Eric Kunze, Michael Guarnera, Mel Schuster, Noelle Kenney, Carl Erickson and Gene Howard Klein. At 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays through June 30. At the Moonlight Amphitheatre, 1200 Vale Terrace Drive, Vista. Tickets $6-$12. 724-2110.