`BRIGADOON' SHINES THROUGH MIST ENGAGING DUO LEAD WELL-VOICED CAST.

Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic

A DAFT SHOW Lerner and Loewe's ``Brigadoon'' is. Get your head around a tale of two people meeting and falling in love in a single day and committing to each other before the lassie's spellbound town disappears into the Highland mists of Scotland for 100 years.

Still, a body can be forgiving of plot stupidity when listening to the bewitching voices of Jason Danieley and Marin Mazzie, fast on their way to becoming the first couple of musical theater. Playing the century-crossed lovers Tommy Albright and Fiona MacLaren (the Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse roles for those who remember the movie), Danieley and Mazzie brought down the house Wednesday as Reprise's eighth season took its bow with ``Brigadoon.'' The pair can flat-out sing. And - even in roles as silly as these - they can act, too.

The emphasis of Stuart Ross' gauzy/dreamy production at the Freud is - thankfully - voice and movement. Deborah Gibson and Sean McDermott are equally pipe-strong as ``Brigadoon's'' comic relief and second romantic lead, respectively. Gerald Sternbach's orchestra takes up a significant portion of the Freud Playhouse stage, but not enough to inhibit Lee Martino's wonderful dancers from executing every conceivable Highland fling. And where Mazzie, Danieley and McDermott can leave an audience awe-struck through song, petite Kim Mikesell as the spurned lass, Maggie, pulls off the same feat with her dancing.

Scenery is at a bare minimum. A curved road sweeps up and back, and a couple of raised platforms left and right are scene space. Everything else is brought on by actors, most notably swirling bolts of fabric trailed like ocean waves. The first glimpse of Brigadoon by lost New York huntsmen Tommy and Jeff (played by Larry Cedar) is of a scale model.

Tommy and Jeff arrive in a city that's not on any map. Brigadoonians are dressed (beautifully costumed by Alex Jaeger) as if from another age (wonder why!), and they don't seem to understand much of 1940s customs. Still, there's a fair and a wedding coming up between Charlie Dalrymple (McDermott) and Jean McLaren (Elisa Nixon). Tommy, who has felt an emptiness and is more than a little taken with Jean's elder sister, Fiona, decides to stick around. He'll learn the village's secret soon enough. Then it's decision time: love or New York.

Ross' production had a few ragged edges peeking through the elegance opening night - which is not atypical for a company forced to put up an entire professional show in two weeks. McDermott in particular seemed a bit behind the beat in the early goings (nothing wrong with his voice, though). Some spotty microphones will hopefully have been mended once you read this.

For all its ensemble beauty, ``Brigadoon'' serves very much as a Danieley/Mazzie showcase. The real-life husband and wife - who do most of their work in New York - recently hit a home run with ``110 in the Shade'' at the Pasadena Playhouse. Where that production highlighted the characters' inner turmoil and sexual tension, ``Brigadoon'' affords them blander and more traditional musical theater roles.

Still, they're convincing and thoroughly charismatic; he as the slightly dreamy New Yorker, she as the hopeful colleen who talks straight and loves forever. Not a bad pairing. And their voices soar.

Evan Henerson, [phone]

evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com

BRIGADOON - Three stars

Where: Freud Playhouse, UCLA, Westwood.

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday; through Aug. 29.

Tickets: $60 to $65. Call [phone].

In a nutshell: Silly but beautiful, and the leads are fantastic.

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Photo:

Young Bella Hicks, left, Marin Mazzie, Deborah Gibson and Sean McDermott populate the fanciful Scottish Highland world of ``Brigadoon.''

Michael Lamont