Carousel (musical)

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Carousel
File:Carousel 1945 Bdwy.jpg Original Broadway Cast Album
Music	Richard Rodgers
Lyrics	Oscar Hammerstein II
Book	Oscar Hammerstein II
Basis	Liliom, a play by Ferenc Molnár
Productions	1945 Broadway 1950 West End 1957 Broadway revival 1992 West End revival 1994 Broadway revival 1996 US Tour 2002 Broadway concert 2008 West End revival

Carousel is a musical by Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics) that was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting the Budapest setting of Molnár's play to a New England fishing village. The show includes the hit musical numbers If I Loved You, June Is Bustin' Out All Over, and You'll Never Walk Alone. Carousel was innovative for its time, being one of the first musicals to contain a tragic plot.

The original production opened on Broadway on April 19, 1945, and ran for 890 performances. The musical has enjoyed award-winning revivals (particularly the 1994 revival at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre) and has been adapted as a Cinemascope 55 film in 1956 and as a made-for-television special on videotape in 1967. It is particularly well-regarded among musicals by the theatre community, and Richard Rodgers, in his autobiography Musical Stages, said it was his favorite musical. Time magazine named it the best musical of the 20th century.

History

Theresa Helburn and Lawrence Langner of the Theatre Guild, producers of the blockbuster musical Oklahoma!, proposed to Rodgers and Hammerstein that they turn Molnár's Liliom into a musical. At first reluctant—they felt that audiences might be put off by the original setting (Hungary), the dark story, and a criminal anti-hero leading character who kills himself—they agreed to take on the project. Moving the setting to the New England coast was the key.

Both Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II said Carousel was their favorite collaboration. They broke new ground in musical theater storytelling with their extended music-and-dialog scenes, such as the "bench scene", which features "If I Loved You", and the haunting "Soliloquy" in which Billy imagines his future child. These scenes, especially the former, treat singing like spoken dialog set to music (much as in opera recitative, with the "recitative" singing leading up to the actual song). The final anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone" has assumed a life of its own as a funeral and graduation standard. It is also customarily sung by supporters of several association football (soccer) clubs, beginning with Liverpool F.C. in the 1960s. Since 1964 Jerry Lewis had ended the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon with an emotional rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone.

In 1999, Time magazine in its "Best of the Century" list, named Carousel the Best Musical of the 20th century, writing that Rodgers and Hammerstein "set the standards for the 20th century musical". Ironically, in a highly critical review of the 1956 film version Time, in its March 19, 1956 issue, had also been critical of the stage musical. The anonymous Time critic who reviewed the 1956 film version of the show had referred to the plotline as "goo".

Plot synopsis

Act I

Two young female millworkers in freshly industrialized 1870s New England visit the town's carousel after work. One of them — demure Julie Jordan — shares a lingering glance and is flirted with by the carousel's barker, Billy Bigelow (instrumental piece: "Carousel Waltz").

Mrs. Mullin, owner of the carousel, arrives and tells Julie never to return to the carousel because Julie let Billy put his arm around her during the ride. Julie's friend, Carrie Pipperidge, and Julie argue with Mrs. Mullin. Billy arrives and initially sides with Mrs. Mullin (who flirts with him outrageously) until he realizes that Mrs. Mullin is just jealous of Julie, at which point he switches sides and is fired from his job. Carrie presses Julie for information about the carousel ride with Billy, but Julie is reticent about the encounter ("You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan"). Eventually satisfied, Carrie confides that she has a beau of her own: local fisherman Enoch Snow ("Mister Snow"). Billy returns and makes it clear that only Julie should stay with him. Carrie leaves after revealing that, if they stay out, they will lose their jobs at the mill. Mr. Bascombe, owner of the mill, and a policeman appear and warn Julie that Billy has taken money from other women. Bascombe offers to take Julie home so she can keep her job, but she refuses and gets fired, too. She and Billy, now alone, can talk freely (in a scene that is performed partly as recitative), but neither can quite confess the growing attraction they feel for each other ("If I Loved You").

A month passes. At a spa owned by Julie's cousin, Nettie Fowler, sailors appear with clams for the evening's clambake. They are noisy, which spurs Carrie and the other female townfolk to jeer at them (this section is sung as a sort of recitative, rather than spoken). Nettie arrives and, spotting the sexual tension, leads them all in celebrating love and spring. An elaborate dance ensues ("June Is Bustin' Out All Over"). The men leave as Julie, now married to Billy, arrives. (He and his whaler friend Jigger have been missing all night.) Nettie tells Carrie to comfort Julie.

To divert the other girls from their eavesdropping, Nettie then unsuccessfully encourages the girls to clean up. Julie confides in Carrie that Billy, now unemployed and living with Julie at Nettie's, is unhappy over the loss of his job and, out of frustration, has slapped Julie. Carrie also has happier news — she and Enoch are to be married. At this, the girls who have so far been feigning work, rush over, congratulate Carrie, and imagine the wedding day (reprise: "Mister Snow"). Enoch has arrived and startles the girls by joining them in song. The girls leave Julie, Carrie, and Enoch alone.

Carrie tries to converse with Julie and Enoch, but Julie's unhappiness overcomes her: she bursts into tears in Enoch's arms. As she pulls herself together, Billy arrives with Jigger. He is openly rude to Enoch and then Julie, and he soon leaves along with Jigger, followed by a distraught Julie. Left alone, Carrie and Enoch extol the virtues of a life plan. Enoch reveals how he expects both to become rich selling herring and to have a large family with Carrie ("When The Children Are Asleep").

Meanwhile, Billy, Jigger, and other whalers sing of life on the sea ("Blow High, Blow Low"). The singing segues into a dance, with the local girls flirting with the whalers. Jigger tries to recruit Billy to help with a robbery, but Billy declines when Jigger tells him that the victim - Julie's former boss Mr. Bascombe - might have to be killed. Mrs. Mullin arrives and tries to tempt Billy back to the carousel (and to her), and he reveals he is unhappy with Julie. Julie arrives. There is almost an argument, but Mrs. Mullin leaves to go to the bank. Julie tells Billy of her pregnancy and they go inside. Mrs. Mullin and Jigger return and spar until Billy comes back out and tells Mrs. Mullin to leave. Overwhelmed with happiness by the news, and determined to provide financially for his future child, Billy decides to be Jigger's accomplice after all ("Soliloquy").

Act 1 ends with the whole town leaving for the clambake. Billy, who previously shunned the idea of going to the clambake, now realizes it is integral to his and Jigger's alibi: he decides to go too. Julie is delighted.

Act II

The act begins with the town reminiscing about the huge meal that they have just eaten ("This Was a Real Nice Clambake"). As everyone leaves to help clear up before the treasure hunt, Jigger tries to seduce Carrie. Unfortunately, Enoch walks in while Carrie is in a compromising position. He declares that he is finished with her ("Geraniums In The Winder"), as Jigger jeers ("Stonecutters Cut It On Stone"). The girls try to comfort Carrie, saying all men are bad. When Carrie turns to Julie for comfort, she reflects simply that all that matters is that "he's your feller and you love him" ("What's The Use Of Wondrin'?"). Then Julie sees Billy trying to sneak away with Jigger and, while trying to stop him, feels the knife hidden in his shirt. She begs him to give it to her, but he refuses and leaves to commit the robbery. Julie realizes that Billy is about to do something that may get him into trouble.

Jigger and Billy gamble, using cards. At stake are their shares of the anticipated robbery spoils. Billy loses his share of the expected proceeds: his participation is now pointless. Unbeknownst to Billy and Jigger, Mr. Bascombe, the intended robbery victim, has already deposited the money he was expected to be carrying. He instead carries a gun. The robbery fails: Bascombe pulls his gun and starts shooting. Jigger escapes unharmed, but the police corner Billy. Billy accidentally stabs himself with his knife and dies; Julie arrives just in time for him to say his last words to her.

Carrie tells Julie that Billy's death is not necessarily a bad thing. Enoch gets back together with Carrie and supports this view. Mrs. Mullin arrives, much to the disgust of the townfolk, but Julie lets her view the body. Mrs. Mullin does so, then runs off weeping. Everyone leaves except Julie. Nettie arrives on the scene and comforts her ("You'll Never Walk Alone").

Billy arrives at heaven's gate. There, a pair of blunt-spoken angels explain that, to enter, he must alleviate the distress he caused. Billy refuses to see a simple magistrate in Heaven: he demands to be taken directly to God to be judged ("The Highest Judge Of All"). The Starkeeper sends him back to earth. Stealing a star on the way down, he returns fifteen years after his suicide. His daughter, Louise, has grown up to be very like Billy, the Starkeeper says. She is lonely and bitter, and mocked by Mr. Snow's snobbish and wealthy children because her father was a thief (instrumental: "Louise's Ballet").

Enoch and his children stop by Julie's house to pick up Carrie on the way to the graduation, and Enoch's son (Enoch Jr.) waits behind to talk to Louise. Louise reveals that she plans to run away from home with a carnival troupe she met, but when Enoch Jr. proposes, she decides to stay. He reveals, however, that his father would not think Louise an appropriate match. Insulted, Louise orders him to leave and bursts into tears.

Billy, able to make himself visible or invisible at will, reveals himself to Louise; he pretends to be a friend of her father. Trying to cheer her up, he offers her a small gift — the star he stole from Heaven. She refuses it and, frustrated, he slaps her. As he makes himself invisible, Louise tells Julie what has happened. She reveals that the slap miraculously felt like a kiss, not a blow. Without allowing her to actually see him, Billy finally confesses his love to Julie (reprise: "If I Loved You"). Having thus made amends, he invisibly attends Louise's high-school graduation. The whole town shuns her and refuses to applaud her. Dr. Seldon, who strangely resembles the Starkeeper, tells the graduating class not to rely on their parents' success (advice directed at Enoch Jr.) or be held back by their parents' mistakes (directed at Louise). Seldon then leads everyone in a final chorus (reprise: "You'll Never Walk Alone"). Billy, still invisible, whispers to Louise, telling her to have confidence in herself. His silent words enter her mind and, inspired, she – along with Julie – joins the singing. This good deed redeems Billy, who wins entry into Heaven.

Note: The graduation scene is a complete departure from Molnár's Liliom, in which Liliom is presumably condemned to Hell after slapping his daughter (in Molnár's play, the slap feels like a caress).

Musical numbers

Act I

• "The Carousel Waltz"
• "You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan" (omitted from the 1956 film, but included on the film's soundtrack album)
• "Mister Snow"
• "If I Loved You"
• "June Is Bustin' Out All Over"
• "June Is Bustin' Out All Over Dance Sequence"
• "Mister Snow (reprise)" (omitted from the 1956 film)
• "When the Children Are Asleep" (moved to just before "A Real Nice Clambake" in the 1956 film)
• "Blow High, Blow Low" (omitted from the 1956 film, but included on the film's soundtrack album)
• "Soliloquy"
• "Act I Finale" (omitted from the 1956 film) (reprise of "June Is Bustin' Out All Over")

Act II

• "Entr'acte" (omitted from the 1956 film)
• "A Real Nice Clambake"
• "Geraniums in the Winder" (omitted from the 1956 film)
• "Stonecutters Cut It On Stone"
• "What's the Use of Wond'rin'?"
• "You'll Never Walk Alone"
• "The Highest Judge of All" (omitted from the 1956 film)
• "Louise's Ballet"
• "If I Loved You (reprise)"
• "Finale Ultimo: You'll Never Walk Alone (reprise)"
• "Exit Music" (omitted from the 1956 film)

Production history

Original productions

The original Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre on April 19, 1945. Directed by Rouben Mamoulian and choreographed by Agnes de Mille, the show ran for 890 performances, closing on May 24, 1947. The original cast included John Raitt as "Billy", Jan Clayton as "Julie", Jean Darling as "Carrie", Eric Mattson as "Enoch Snow", Christine Johnson as "Nettie Fowler" with Bambi Linn as "Louise". After closing on Broadway, the show went on a national tour for two years, returning to New York in 1949.

The show transferred to London's West End where it opened at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in June 1950 soon after Oklahoma! closed. The cast included Stephen Douglass and Iva Withers. Carousel played in London for over a year and a half.

Revivals

In 1957, a revival opened at New York City Center, presented by the New York City Center Light Opera Company. Opening on September 11, 1957, it ran for only 24 performances. This production was directed by both John Fearnley and Robert Pageant while Agnes de Mille recreated her original choreography. The cast featured Barbara Cook as "Julie", Howard Keel as "Billy", Pat Stanley as "Carrie", Russell Nype as "Enoch Snow" and James Mitchell as "Jigger". In 1965 the Music Theater of Lincoln Center, New York, produced Carousel with John Raitt reprising the role of "Billy". The roles of the "Starkeeper" and "Dr. Seldon" were played by Edward Everett Horton in his final stage appearance.

Director Nicholas Hytner directed a new production of Carousel at the Royal National Theatre in London with choreography by Sir Kenneth MacMillan. It opened at the National's Lyttelton Theatre on December 10, 1992, and ran for sixteen weeks before transferring to the Shaftesbury Theatre in the West End, running from September 1993 to March 1994. The cast included Joanna Riding as "Julie", Patricia Routledge as "Nettie" and Michael Hayden as "Billy". Riding won the Olivier Award for her performance and Hayden was similarly nominated. The National Theatre cast recording is available..

The Royal National Theatre joined with the Lincoln Center Theater to produce Hytner's London revival of Carousel on Broadway. The show opened at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre on March 24, 1994 and ran for 337 performances and 38 previews. The majority of the cast (apart from Hayden) was re-assembled, and this version of the show was the first interracial production to play Broadway. It featured Sally Murphy as "Julie", Audra McDonald as "Carrie", Shirley Verrett as "Nettie" and Hayden, again, as "Billy". This production won five Tony Awards and five Drama Desk Awards including Best Revival of a Musical. McDonald, in her first Broadway role, won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. McDonald and Hayden each received the Theatre World Award. A cast recording of the 1994 revival is available.

A Japanese tour followed and this production of the show toured the U.S. for fifteen months. This was the first national exposure for Patrick Wilson, who played Billy Bigelow. Other cast members who eventually went on to Broadway and film careers include Sarah Uriarte Berry, Jennifer Laura Thompson and Brett Rickaby.

On June 6, 2002, Hugh Jackman, Audra McDonald, Norbert Leo Butz and Judy Kaye starred in a special concert at Carnegie Hall in New York. Ben Brantley in his New York Times review, wrote of the "stirring" concert that this was "Richard Rodgers's most beautiful score", and that Jackman had an "embattled air of virility that, combined with his conversational way with a song, makes him a natural for the hardy heroes of Rodgers and Hammerstein..." Audra McDonald was "incomparable".

After a Bromley tryout from 26 September 2008, a revival opened at the Savoy Theatre in the West End on December 2, 2008, starring Jeremiah James as "Billy", Alexandra Silber as "Julie", and Lesley Garrett as "Nettie Fowler". Directed by Lindsay Posner and choreographed by Adam Cooper, initial reviews of the show were fair to positive but the production closed early.

Carousel was translated and presented for the first time in Spanish on December 12 and 13, 2009. Presented in Puerto Rico's most prestigious theater, Sala de Festivales Antonio Paoli in Centro de Bellas, Luis A. Ferré presented by Santa Bernardita Productions for a charitable purpose. The money collected went Puerto Rico's Protected House Julia de Burgos, a shelter for women and children victims of domestic violence. The cast of 67 actors included Damaris Rivera as "Julie", Miguel Marrero as "Billy", Indira Maneiro as "Carrie", Christian Laguna as "Enoch Snow", Raysa López as "Louise" and Lorraine Harbbison as "Nettie Fowler". The production was directed by Idamaly Jimenez, choreographed by Ana Y. Rosario Paris and designed by Jose Manuel Diaz.

Recordings

Cast albums were released of the original 1945 production, the 1965 Lincoln Center production, and the 1992 and 1994 productions. The 1957 revival was not recorded.

Themes and issues

Carousel was an opportunity for Oscar Hammerstein II to explore societal attitudes and prejudices in a musical play. The main social themes are spousal abuse, social class, hypocrisy and conduct. The second act illuminates differences between these two families. South Pacific would go on to return to social themes by highlighting and attacking racial prejudice.

Domestic violence is another significant and controversial theme in the play. Billy's physical abuse of Julie is condemned by some of the characters, but endured by Julie herself, because she loves him and understands his emotional pain. This also makes her blind to and defensive of his faults. In the scene after Billy has slapped his daughter Louise she discusses with her Mother Julie, how a slap can feel like a kiss.

The carousel theme can be seen as an analogy for the "wheel of life" -- the birth, death, birth cycle Bhavacakra. Julie and Billy are very quickly drawn into love, marriage, and Billy's death, with their child having been conceived to carry the carousel around another turn. Near the end of the musical, the child Louise is shown as beginning a hopeful stage of her life, much as her mother was at the start of the show.

Film versions

Main article: Carousel (film)

A film version of the musical was made in 1956, starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones. There was also a 1967 network television versionwhich starred Robert Goulet . There are plans for a remake starring Hugh Jackman on the "wish list".

External links

• ​Carousel​ at the Internet Broadway Database
• Carousel at guidetomusicaltheatre.com
• Carousel info page on StageAgent.com - Carousel plot summary & character descriptions
• Flyrope.com page
• Review of 2008 UK revival
• R&H Theatricals