Brigadoon

by Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe

196 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1975

About the author

Alan Jay Lerner was an American lyricist and librettist whose work helped define the golden age of musical theatre, on stage and on screen. Born in New York City to a cultured and well connected family, he was educated in England and the United States, studying at Bedales School, Choate, and Harvard, where his lifelong love for musical theatre took shape through the Hasty Pudding productions. Like several of his contemporaries, Lerner began his professional path while still a student, combining literary wit with an instinctive feel for character and song. An accident during his Harvard years left him blind in one eye, preventing military service during World War II and redirecting him toward writing for radio before he entered the theatre world full time. His career changed decisively after meeting composer Frederick Loewe in the early 1940s, a partnership that would become one of the most celebrated in musical theatre history. Together they created works that blended romance, intelligence, and emotional clarity, beginning with early efforts and achieving major success with Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, and later the landmark My Fair Lady. Their adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion became a cultural phenomenon, breaking box office records and later winning multiple Academy Awards in its film version. The Lerner and Loewe collaboration continued with the film musical Gigi and the Arthurian epic Camelot, whose themes of idealism and loss came to resonate far beyond the stage. Outside this partnership, Lerner worked with composers such as Kurt Weill, Burton Lane, André Previn, Leonard Bernstein, and Charles Strouse, experiencing both triumphs and notable disappointments. His career was marked by ambition, perfectionism, and frequent personal turmoil, including health struggles and financial instability. Lerner also played an important role as an advocate for writers’ rights, serving as president of the Dramatists Guild of America in the early 1960s. He received numerous honors, including multiple Tony Awards, Academy Awards, and induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In his later years he reflected on his career in books that combined memoir, criticism, and affectionate insight into the art of musical theatre. Despite professional decline and personal difficulties, his influence endured. Alan Jay Lerner died in 1986, leaving behind songs and stories that remain central to the musical theatre repertoire, admired for their elegance, emotional honesty, and enduring humanity.