Carousel

[foxy]

I had never seen a live production of Carousel so I was looking forward to seeing this show. With a great score by the legendary team of Rodgers and Hammerstein you have to fight the urge to hum along. This new production has a cast of Joshua Henry as Billy Bigelow, Jessie Mueller as Julie Jordan and Renee Fleming as Nettie Fowler. They all sing wonderfully.

There’s a large orchestra in the pit so the sound is rich and full. The music won’t disappoint.

However there were things about this production I wasn’t crazy about. Firstly the plot. Julie is in an abusive relationship with Billy. I suppose it’s the old story of a woman being drawn to the bad boy. I think we can all relate to this on some level. But the chemistry seemed lacking between Henry and Mueller and it was hard to figure out what they saw in each other. The scenes in heaven were somewhat bizarre with a writhing group of dancers that didn’t make much sense to me. And Billy returning to earth only to wind up slapping his daughter. Well, that’s the plot of the book but I kept wondering that Billy didn’t seem to learn much and become any more sympathetic after he kills himself.

All in all it’s still worth seeing and you can leave the theater humming as you fight the crowd leaving the theater.

 

If you have Amazon Prime and are interested you can watch a PBS production from Lincoln Center recorded in 2013 with Kelli O’Hara, Nathan Gunn, Stephanie Blythe and Jessie Mueller this time in the role of Carrie Pipperage.

Edited March 15, 2018 by foxy

[actor61]

I was a dancer in a company of "Carousel" about 30 years ago. The music is glorious and it is famous for its "serious" book but I found being in it, in spite of very challenging and beautiful choreography, a chore. It is not a happy show. The revival for which Audra McDonald won her first Tony was remarkably good and beautifully sung but it's still a show that requires a lot of work both onstage and in the audience. Some consider it R&H's best score and the music is thrilling but the spouse abuse, the suicide, Billy's return from heaven only to slap his kid doesn't make it a show you leave feeling happy to have spent 3 hours watching.

[edjames]

I saw this new production last night and I'm happy ti say that I thought it was excellent. I've seen several productions over the years. The last was the Lincoln Center NYPhil version starring Kelli O'Hara and Nathan Gunn in 2013. That was hard to top, but this one certainly tries very hard. Yes, the casting is a bit odd. Black man, white woman but it soon fades away and wears off.

As with many Rodgers/Hammerstein productions there is a dark side to the story. “Carousel” tells the tragic story of carnival barker Billy Bigelow and his ill-fated marriage to New England millworker Julie Jordan, balanced against the comic romance of Julie’s best friend, Carrie Pipperidge, and ambitious fisherman Enoch Snow. Billy is abusive and has a quick temper. The musical was adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine.

As Jigger Craigin, the rough ex-con who leads Billy astray, NYCB star, Amar Ramasar does not disappoint. His good looks and toned body, not to mention his excellent dancing skills, make you wish he had more to do.

Joshua Henry has a powerful and commanding voice. I'll be the first to admit that I was not familiar with his previous work. Jessie Muller is excellent as Julie.

Brittany Pollack dances the Act 2 beach ballet, detailing the unhappy life of Billy’s 15-year-old daughter, with sensitivity. In a nonsinging role, Margaret Colin is very good as Mrs. Mullin, Billy’s boss and sometime lover. It was good to see her back on stage.

The music is classic Broadway and the score is one of my favorites. The ballad "If I Loved You," is breathtaking. The choreography is very good. The sets are minimal.

All in all, a very fulfilling and entertaining evening of theater.

[+ WilliamM]

I have seen several production of "Carousel." Most recently, the concert version with Hugh Jackman and Audra McDonald at Carnegie Hall in 2002. Perhaps the concert "Carousel" was less

offensive that this new production fully staged.

 

Also, "Carousel" has never been on of my favorite musical, So I am less critical.

[Cooper]

Went to see the new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Carousel" at the Imperial theater. Richard Rodgers once wrote that of all the musicals he wrote, Carousel was his personal favorite. I can certainly understand why. The songs are incredible and, whether or not you've seen this show, you more than likely have heard them or even sung them. It was wonderful listening to those outstanding voices sing; If I loved You, Mister Snow, June is Busting Out All Over and, my personal favorite, You'll Never Walk Alone. In addition to the musical numbers, you have a stellar cast led by Joshua Henry (Billy Bigelow), Jessie Mueller (Julie Jordan) and Renee Fleming (Nettie Fowler).

 

The show is still in previews and, now that I've seen it, I'd be interested in hearing what the critics have to say. I'm very familiar with this show and thought the voices were excellent. The plot is not the happiest as hard times continue to fall on Julie and Billy but there is some hope at the end with the cast joining hands and singing You'll Never Walk Alone.

 

I agree with @foxy when he wrote about the missing "chemistry" between the parts of Julie and Billy. For me, the "charming" side of Billy didn't come across.

 

The official opening of Carousel will be on April 12th.

[bostonman]

I agree with @foxy when he wrote about the missing "chemistry" between the parts of Julie and Billy. For me, the "charming" side of Billy didn't come across.

 

I've been hearing this comment a lot - and that doesn't bode well. For all of Billy's faults, we have to find some connection to him, otherwise the whole last half of Act II (the Heaven scene onward) has no reason for being.

 

But it is indeed an amazing score. I conducted a production of this a few years ago, and what a kick that was, lol. And, with all the great and famous music in the score, some of my favorite moments are ones most people don't know well - for instance, the "other" tune that Billy sings in the "Bench Scene" (i.e. "If I Loved You") - beginning with the lyric "You can't hear a sound / not the turn of a leaf..." (6;35 in the video below)

 

 

 

or, the women's almost chorale-like intro to the "Mr. Snow reprise"

 

 

 

or the amazing romantic sweep of the pas de deux music, where young Louise is seduced by a carnival boy. (at 8:45 below)

 

 

 

 

Great stuff, all of it.

[edjames]

NYTimes reviewed the musical revival in today's paper:

 

Review: A ‘Carousel’ That Spins on a Romantically Charged Axis

By BEN BRANTLEY. APRIL 12, 2018

 

Blame it on God, or the fates, or — to use the metaphor of choice here — the stars.

 

But when Billy meets Julie in the heartfelt, half-terrific revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Carousel” which opened on Thursday night at the Imperial Theater, you can tell they’ve been felled by a force beyond their comprehension or control.

 

Look at the dazed, questioning expressions on the faces of Billy Bigelow (Joshua Henry), the restless carnival barker, and Julie Jordan (Jessie Mueller), the homebody mill worker, as they sing that greatest of all ballads of romantic ambivalence, “If I Loved You.” They’re scared, all right, him especially.

 

You sense that if they do get together — and though they’ve just met, it’s already a done deal — it’s going to end in tears, and they know it. But to borrow a lyric from a later song in this ravishingly scored musical from 1945, “What’s the use of wond’rin’?” Erotic attraction, as cruel as it is transporting, is not to be denied.

 

The tragic inevitability of “Carousel” has seldom come across as warmly or as chillingly as it does in this vividly reimagined revival. As directed by Jack O’Brien and choreographed by Justin Peck, with thoughtful and powerful performances by Mr. Henry and Ms. Mueller, the love story at the show’s

center has never seemed quite as ill-starred or, at the same time, as sexy.

 

Both sides of that equation are given equal weight in this probing production, which takes the liberty of beginning not on the grounds of a carnival in Maine, as is customary, but in heaven, where destinies are foreseen. Clearly, this is not going to be a gritty, social-realist “Carousel” in the vein of Nicholas Hytner’s benchmark London-born incarnation, which came to Lincoln Center in 1994.

 

Instead, Mr. O’Brien and Mr. Peck (and director and choreographer justly receive equal billing here) are taking a really long view — as in cosmic — of one short, fraught relationship. A celestial character named the Starkeeper (the great Shakespearean actor John Douglas Thompson) assumes new visibility throughout, taking on the role of Billy’s angelic supervisor.

 

But don’t worry that flesh and blood will not be given their due. Julie and Billy may be mere mortal specks in a divine scheme. But they also pulse in the foreground of a palpable here and now, in which people exult in the pleasures afforded the body, from lingering kisses to hard-eating clambakes.

The “Carousel” ensemble in the “Blow High, Blow Low” number, a highlight of the production.CreditSara Krulwich/The New York Times

The same is true of the other supporting humans in this unselfconsciously colorblind “Carousel,” as vibrant a team of courters and sparkers as you could wish for. Lindsay Mendez and Alexander Gemignani turn in expertly crafted and beautifully sung performances as Carrie, Julie’s best friend, and her fish-scented swain, Mr. Snow.

 

As Jigger Craigin, Billy’s pal and nemesis, the ballet dancer Amar Ramasar makes an electric Broadway debut. Margaret Colin offers a razor-sharp take on toxic possessiveness as Billy’s boss and older paramour. And the fabled opera star Renée Fleming is a delightful, refreshingly hedonistic Cousin Nettie. (Oh, she can sing, too, and makes fine, purifying work of that enduring sentimental war horse “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”)

 

It is gloriously clear throughout that what animates these disparate souls, who wear Ann Roth’s handsome period costumes as easily as if they were track suits, is the mating instinct. What’s bustin’ out all over in June, to crib from the show’s sunniest set piece, is sex. And Mr. Peck, the resident choreographer of New York City Ballet, has channeled that urge into some of the most thrilling and original dancing seen on Broadway in years.

 

That includes, as you might expect, the opening fairground number, in which dancers become both the horses and riders of the titular carousel, and that spirited serenade to the merry month of June, in which lust seems to spread across the stage like an epidemic.

 

But Mr. Peck’s great choreographic coup comes, unexpectedly and exhilaratingly, toward the end of the first act with, of all things, “Blow High, Blow Low.” That’s the song with the repeated lyrics, “a-sailin’ we will go,” which usually comes across as a blustery, hokey ode to the maritime life.

 

 

But this production expands that number (with some artfully extended orchestral music) to become a display of hormonal energy run rampant. Led by Mr. Ramasar the male corps de ballet configures itself into a sea-ploughing boat, its industrious crew and, most dazzlingly, the very waves of the ocean.

 

In such moments, the performers become conduits for an irresistible life force, the same spirit that pushes Billy and Julie into each other’s arms. Santo Loquasto’s picturesque, deliberately artificial sets suggest that the world is but a provisional stage in a larger, more mysterious universe.

 

You either go with its natural flow, or you don’t. And it is Billy and Julie’s misfortune that they are opposites in this regard. Ms. Mueller (who won a Tony as

”) uncannily combines strength and serenity, quiet joy and accepting sadness, qualities that flow through her liquid soprano. She is about as close to Zen incarnate as a down-home New England Christian gal can be.

 

Renée Fleming, center, moves from the opera stage to Broadway to play Nettie Fowler.CreditSara Krulwich/The New York Times

In contrast, Mr. Henry (“Violet,” “The Scottsboro Boys”) portrays Billy as a figure of agitated, unceasing rebellion. He refuses to let himself relax into his genuine love for Julie. In the “Blow High, Blow Low” number, he’s the dancer who can’t find his feet.

 

Billy’s great solo, “Soliloquy,” performed with a heaven-rumbling voice by Mr. Henry, is a battle of conflicting feelings. You are always aware of this man’s anger, and where it comes from.

 

That rage propels him to commit the crime in which he loses his life and, most notoriously, to hit Julie. This act of violence is not seen but described, and it is echoed in an awkwardly muffled encounter in the play’s second act.

 

That’s when Billy’s ghost returns to earth years later to visit his unhappy teenage daughter, Louise (Brittany Pollack). The mother-daughter dialogue that falls so abrasively on contemporary ears — about it being possible to be hit loud and hard and “not hurt you at all” — is delivered quietly and unconvincingly, almost as if hoping to pass unnoticed.

 

A similar queasiness pervades much of the rest of the second act, especially in the scenes set in heaven, which looks like a rough draft of a starry paradise by Rockwell Kent, inhabited by angels who quaintly bring to mind arty Denishawn dancers of the early 20th century.

 

Even back on earth, Mr. Peck’s usually sure hand feels a bit shaky. The danced sequence in which Louise is rejected by prim Maine society and seeks comfort with a vagabond fairground worker doesn’t entirely track. (It was only then that I started to miss Agnes de Mille’s more lucid story balletsfor the original.) I always squirm through the undeserved uplift and optimism of the final scene, and this time was no different.

 

For its first two-thirds, though, this “Carousel” tingles with the rapture of life in all its contradictions. And the chemistry between this show’s leading, mismatched couple is so charged, that when tree blossoms fall mysteriously over their first meeting on a windless night, it makes perfect sense.

 

The real spinning carousel in this production is love. That, for better and worse, is what makes nature churn — and the world go round — in this show’s blissful, anguished universe.

[edjames]

Why ‘Carousel’ was a problem before #MeToo

By Michael Riedel

 

April 12, 2018 | 7:22pm

 

 

 

“Carousel” is a great American musical. But it doesn’t come without baggage.

 

A first-class revival starring Jessie Mueller and Joshua Henry opened on Broadway Thursday night trailed by talk of how a show whose protagonist beats his wife would stand up in the #MeToo era.

 

As it turns out, the musical’s creators — Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein — had similar concerns back when they wrote it, in 1943.

 

“They would not have talked about it in the terms we do today, but they knew they were grappling with a hero who had many unsympathetic elements,” says Todd Purdum, author of “Something Wonderful,” an engaging new biography of the legendary songwriting team.

 

“Carousel” is based on Ferenc Molnar’s 1909 drama “Liliom,” about a carnival barker and his wife, Julie, who loves him even though he abuses her. It ends with a line no one could write today: “It is possible that someone may beat you and beat you and not hurt you at all.”

 

Rodgers and Hammerstein cringed at that line. But they took up the challenge to make a cad not so bad, by writing three of the most celebrated songs in musical theater.

 

Billy Bigelow and Julie Jordan fall for each other at first sight, though neither will admit it. They deflect their feelings by singing, “If I Loved You.”

 

“It’s a masterpiece of spoken dialogue, underscoring and lyrics,” says Purdum. “They’re halting about their feeling, but there is no doubt they are in love. If he’s such a bad guy, how is he worthy of her love? And the song shows his vulnerability.”

 

Later comes the famous “Soliloquy,” in which Billy, learning Julie’s pregnant, imagines having a son. But should he have a girl instead, he vows to find the money he needs to support her, even if he has to “go out and take it, beg, steal or make it or die.”

 

“He grows up,” Purdum says. “He becomes a man.”

 

Purdum also says Rodgers and Hammerstein intentionally made Julie a stronger character than Billy. When a robbery goes awry, Billy kills himself rather than face the consequences.

 

“It is Julie who endures, who prevails,” Purdum says. “He is weak. She is strong.”

 

Hammerstein rewrote Molnar’s ending so that audiences would come to embrace Billy — flawed or not. After his spirit’s sent back to earth to redeem himself, Billy mucks up and hits his daughter.

 

When he does this in the musical, audiences gasp today as they did in 1945. But as Hammerstein has it, Billy’s overwhelmed by guilt. He appears and whispers to his widow, “I loved you Julie. Know that I loved you.” When the cast sings “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” there’s seldom a dry eye in the house.

 

Rodgers and Hammerstein knew what they were doing. One night, Mel Tormé stood at the back of the house with Rodgers and told him, “This song makes me cry.”

 

“It’s supposed to,” Rodgers replied.

 

“Carousel” followed Rodgers and Hammerstein’s smash — and optimistic hit — “Oklahoma!” And while there were concerns that audiences would resist a show whose protagonist wasn’t a hero, “Carousel” ran 890 performances and toured America for two years.

 

“The sting of Billy’s behavior is still there,” says Purdum, “more so than ever. But Rodgers and Hammerstein made him human, and the show endures.”

[hornytwells]

Another review

1. 
   EW REVIEWS
   

Broadway's Carousel revival doesn't work in the modern era: EW review

Julieta Cervantes

BREANNE L. HELDMAN

April 12, 2018 AT 07:00 PM EDT

WE GAVE IT AC

Some Broadway musicals are timeless. Carousel is not one of them.

 

Director Jack O’Brien’s new revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s 1945 smash stars several of the hottest actors currently gracing the Great White Way (Jessie Mueller and Joshua Henry, for starters), features the work of a hot young choreographer in Justin Peck, and includes a number of classic songs, but none of that can make up for the show’s one key problem: The story is Just. Plain. Bad.

 

After a very, very long “Carousel Waltz,” we’re finally introduced to millworker and “queer one” Julie Jordan (Mueller) and her friend, Carrie Pipperidge (Lindsay Mendez). Eventually, bad boy carousel barker Billy Bigelow (Henry) comes upon them, and he and Julie simultaneously lose their jobs and flirt until they sing “If I Loved You.” Then they kiss and walk offstage to get married. Time jumps three months and Julie is defending Billy to Carrie — who still hasn’t married Mr. Snow because she’s sassy yet practical — for hitting her.

 

Just making sure you caught that: Julie defended Billy hitting her. Because he’s unhappy. Because he doesn’t have a job.

 

I won’t go much further into the story but suffice it to say that while I recognize that this show was written at a different time, and it takes place at the end of the 1800s, the revival is made for modern audiences now living in the #MeToo era, and this production makes no effort to tell the tale through a fresh lens. Billy continues to make poor choice after poor choice — even hitting a second key female character — but he gives one final speech at the end, realizing he did it all for love, and all is forgiven, right? Right?

 

It doesn’t help that three-time Tony nominee Mueller (and winner for Beautiful) and two-time nominee Henry (who also played Aaron Burr in Hamilton on the road) are devoid of chemistry and egregiously miscast. That said, while Mueller’s talents are mostly wasted, Henry sounds terrific in every number, especially “Soliloquy,” where Billy muses about his unborn child (but you can only really enjoy the performance if you can ignore the problematic nature of most of the lyrics which includes such lines as, “His mother can teach him the way to behave but she won’t make a sissy out o’ him” and “My little girl is half again as bright as girls are meant to be”). Renee Fleming, however, is as fabulous as Julie’s Aunt Nettie as you’d expect from the famed opera singer — this production marks her first role in a Broadway musical — and her energetic “June Is Bustin’ Out All Over” and passionate “You’ll Never Walk Alone” are show-stopping highlights. Mendez (Significant Other, Wicked), too, is a standout as Carrie, and gives her character a depth and knowingness lacking from the other performances.

 

Peck, who is the youngest-ever resident choreographer at the New York City Ballet, deserves some credit as well. The dancing takes center stage in this production, and it’s one of the best things about it. A tip of the hat, too, goes to his fine troupe of dancers, who also pull double-duty and sing as chorus members.

 

This revival of Carousel does have its strong points, but a real nice clambake it’s not. C

[BasketBaller]

Liliom, Molnar's play that Carousel is based on is darker and less sentimental. While the title character's wife does say the line about someone can beat you and have it not hurt, Liliom (the Billy character) is not redeemed-- at the end he goes to hell!

[hornytwells]

Liliom, Molnar's play that Carousel is based on is darker and less sentimental. While the title character's wife does say the line about someone can beat you and have it not hurt, Liliom (the Billy character) is not redeemed-- at the end he goes to hell!

Yes, and also there is that really interesting scene where they replay his abusive moments and then interpret what he was really thinking. I think the book of Carousel is always problematic, and the character of Billy entirely unsympathetic. I feel this new production, which I have seen 6 times now (for professional reasons) does nothing to help redress this, or cast any angle on it. Julie's justification for Billy hitting her (oh you were unhappy and not working) doesn't cut it. there was almost no tenderness shown-in the opening scene he threatens 2 women with a "smack in the mouth". I think it is Rodger's best score ever, but am not such a fan of Hammerstein.

[+ beethoven]

I just saw the new production, and loved it. GOD, THE DANCING WAS FABULOUS!!!!! And so were the voices.

I've never been a fan of the book, and the story is still sappy, IMHO, but Rodgers' glorious music and Hammerstein's lyrics have always compensated for having to put up with Billy in Heaven and returning to earth.

[hornytwells]

I just saw the new production, and loved it. GOD, THE DANCING WAS FABULOUS!!!!! And so were the voices.

I've never been a fan of the book, and the story is still sappy, IMHO, but Rodgers' glorious music and Hammerstein's lyrics have always compensated for having to put up with Billy in Heaven and returning to earth.

Hmmm I agree about Rodgers, but Hammerstein's lyrics leave a lot to be desired sometimes.

"she won't make a sissy outta him!"

My little girl is half again as bright as girls are meant to be"

[+ WilliamM]

Hmmm I agree about Rodgers, but Hammerstein's lyrics leave a lot to be desired sometimes.

 

I strongly disagree with the phrase, '.......a lot to be desired sometimes." Yes, Hammerstein did struggle with lyrics, but with Richard Rodgers in the latter part of his life. I am inclined to give anyone who worked with Rodgers so often to give at least a passing grade.

Edited April 24, 2018 by WilliamM

[cany10011]

I saw it this weekend. Loved Renee Fleming but the chemistry was missing between the other two main characters. Not my favorite show.

[hornytwells]

I strongly disagree with the phrase, '.......a lot to be desired sometimes." Yes, Hammerstein did struggle with lyrics, but with Richard Rodgers in the latter part of his life. I am inclined to give anyone who worked with Rodgers so often to give Hammerstein at least a passing grade.

was referring to the lyrics I quoted, not his entire oeuvre, altho I will never be as a big a fan of Hammerstein's as a lyricist. "like a lark who is learning to pray" for example. I know it was a different time, but also sometimes he can be overly sentimental for my taste. I love Rodgers and Hart more, but its just individual taste, and disagreement is good if it creates interest and debate

[bostonman]

Hmmm I agree about Rodgers, but Hammerstein's lyrics leave a lot to be desired sometimes.

"she won't make a sissy outta him!"

My little girl is half again as bright as girls are meant to be"

 

I don’t see a fault with those lyrics. Hammerstein is writing for character, and I believe these words coming out of Billy’s mouth.

[hornytwells]

I don’t see a fault with those lyrics. Hammerstein is writing for character, and I believe these words coming out of Billy’s mouth.

I get that, which is a good point-it's just that I feel we are supposed to be moved by this Soliloquy. Also, although Billy is a complex character, aren't we supposed to feel some sympathy for him? These lyrics don't make that easy, at least for me. Am not saying the lyrics are at "fault" just that I find my response to them is at odds with my response to the music

[Merboy]

It has a beautiful score, but the 1994 revival album is so stuck in my head because I play it all the time that I think it would be hard to hear it any other way. I've heard some disappointing reviews about this revival so I don't know if I'm going to go to NYC just to see it. I saw the 1994 revival at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre when I was 9 years old and it was wonderful. I've heard that this new one does not have good set design, which is sad because the 1994 one had amazing sets. I think with any new revival you must not simply do the same musical over, but give it a new vision. "Pippin" did this very well.

[edjames]

‘Carousel’ Will Close on Broadway in September

Renee Fleming, center, with members of the “Carousel” ensemble.CreditSara Krulwich/The New York Times

 

By Amanda Svachula

The Broadway revival of the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “Carousel” will close on September 16 after a surprisingly short six-month run.

 

Though it opened to largely positive reviews and was nominated for 11 Tony Awards, the box office has dropped sharply. Ticket sales peaked the week of April 29 at $1,289,712; for the week ending August 5, the show earned $675,660, about 42 percent of its potential.

 

Directed by Jack O’Brien and choreographed by the ballet star Justin Peck, “Carousel” stars Joshua Henry as the ill-fated carnival barker Billy Bigelow, Jessie Mueller as his love interest Julie Jordan, and the opera singer Renée Fleming, in her Broadway musical debut, as Nettie Fowler. The show won two Tonys, for Mr. Peck’s choreography and for Lindsay Mendez in a supporting role.

 

The production is the fifth revival of the musical, which first opened on Broadway in 1945. The last revival, in 1994, played for about a year and won five Tonys.

 

moment of debate over the portrayal of women in classic musicals. A Broadway revival of “My Fair Lady,” which drew similar concerns, opened at about the same time but has turned out to be more popular, earning $1,269,449 last week.

[bostonman]

I have a friend in the ensemble - used to be a Boston actress, then did a national tour, and this was her first Broadway gig. She posted a wonderful post on Facebook the other night, expressing her sadness at the announcement and yet her joy at the privilege of having been part of the show. Of course, as I responded to her, I know she will be offered many more opportunities, even as it's tough to see this one go.

 

What we can never forget is that, whether we personally like a production or not, that closing notice does mean a huge loss of work for all involved. As I get older and see more of my friends/colleagues/students get Broadway gigs, that has driven that point home more than ever.