Carousel

Carousel is a stage musical by Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics) that was adapted from Ferenc Molnar's 1909 play Liliom. The original production opened on Broadway on April 19 1945 and ran for 890 performances. The show included 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 musical has enjoyed award-winning revivals and was adapted as a musical film in 1956 and as a made-for-television movie in 1967.

Plot synopsis

Act I

Two young 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, the owner of the carousel, arrives and tells Julie never to return to the carousel because she let Billy put his arm around her during the ride. Julie's friend, Carrie Pipperidge, and Julie argue with Mrs. Mullin until Billy arrives. Billy initially sides with Mrs Mullin (who flirts with him outrageously) until he realises that Mrs Mullin is just jealous of Julie, at which point he swaps 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. (song: "You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan") Eventually satisfied, Carrie confides that she has a beau of her own: local fisherman Enoch Snow (song: "Mister Snow").

Billy returns and makes it clear that only Julie should stay with him. Carrie eventually leaves after revealing that if they stay out, they will lose their jobs at Bascombe's mill. Mr. Bascombe himself and a policeman appear and warn Julie that Billy has taken money from other women. Bascombe offers to take Julie home so that she can keep her job, but she refuses. She and Billy, now alone, can talk freely, but neither can quite confess the growing attraction they feel for each other. ("Bench Scene" and song: "If I Loved You")

It is now a month later, and sailors appear at a spa owned by Julie's cousin, Nettie Fowler, with clams for the evening's clambake. They are very 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 a celebration of love and Spring accompanied by an elaborate dance (song: "June Is Bustin' Out All Over"). The men leave as Julie arrives, now married to Billy, but he has been missing all night with his whaler friend Jigger Craigin. Nettie tells Carrie to comfort Julie and tries to get the other girls to clean up to stop them eavesdropping, but to no avail. Julie confides in Carrie that Billy, now unemployed and living with Julie at Nettie's, is unhappy over the loss of her job and has slapped Julie out of frustration. 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 to congratulate her and imagine the wedding day (song: "Mister Snow reprise") During this, Enoch has arrived and startles the girls by joining in the final verse. The girls leave Julie, Carrie and Enoch alone.

Carrie tries to make conversation between Julie and Enoch, but the situation becomes awkward because of Julie's unhappiness, and eventually 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 extoll the virtues of a life plan and Enoch reveals how he will become rich selling canned sardines and plans to have a large family with Carrie (song: "When The Children Are Asleep").

Meanwhile, Billy, Jigger and other whalers sing of life on the sea (song: "Blow High, Blow Low") which 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 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 and 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 for his future child, Billy decides to be Jigger's accomplice after all (song: "Soliloquy").

Act 1 ends with the whole town leaving for the clambake. Billy, who previously shunned the idea of going to the clambake, now realises it is integral to his and Jigger's alibi, and so 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 (song: "A Real Nice Clambake"). As everyone leaves to help clear up before the treasure hunt, Jigger tries to seduce Carrie. Unfortunately Enoch walks in whilst Carrie is in a compromising position, and declares that he is finished with her (song: "Geraniums In The Winder"), as Jigger jeers (song: "Stonecutters Cut It On Stone") The girls try to comfort Carrie, saying that all men are bad, and ask Julie to do the same. Instead Julie tells them that you should stand by your man through thick and thin (song: "What's The Use Of Wondrin'?"). She 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 knows nothing about the crime, but realizes that Billy is about to do something that may get him in trouble.

Jigger and Billy play at cards, with the stakes being shares of the forecasted robbery spoils. Soon Billy has lost his much of his stake in the robbery, thus making it pointless on his behalf. Mr. Bascombe, the robbery victim appears, but has already deposited the money and instead has a gun. The robbery is aborted; Bascombe shoots after Jigger but he escapes while Billy is cornered by the police. Billy stabs himself with his knife and dies; Julie arrives too late to save him.

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

We follow Billy to heaven. There, a pair of blunt-spoken angels explain that he must attempt to solve the problems he left behind. Billy refuses to see a simple magistrate in Heaven, and demands to be taken directly to God to be judged (song: "The Highest Judge Of All"). The Starkeeper sends him back down to earth, fifteen years after his suicide. He steals a star on the way. His and Julie's daughter, Louise, is now an angry and rebellious teen 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 she will run away from home with the carnival troupe she met during the ballet, but Enoch Jr. proposes that she marry him so that she doesn't go. However he reveals that his father would not think Louise an appropriate match. Insulted, Louise orders him to leave and bursts into tears.

Billy reveals himself to Louise, pretending to be a friend of her father. He tries to cheer her up and give her a small gift — the star he stole from Heaven. She refuses it, and in frustration, he slaps her. As he makes himself invisible, Louise tells Julie what has happened, and reveals that the slap miraculously felt like a kiss, not like a blow. Without allowing her to actually see him, Billy finally confesses his love to Julie (song: "If I Loved You reprise"). Having thus made amends, he is there for Louise's high-school graduation at which the whole town shuns her and refuses to applaud. Dr. Seldon, who strangely resembles the Starkeeper, tells the graduating class not to rely on their parents' success (directed at Enoch Jr.) or be held back by their parents' mistakes (directed at Louise). Dr Seldon then leads everyone in a final chorus (song: "You'll Never Walk Alone reprise"), where, still invisible, Billy urges Louise to have confidence in herself. Although she does not hear him, she responds and, along with Julie, joins in the song. Through this good deed, Billy is redeemed and wins entry to Heaven.

Note: The graduation scene is a complete departure from Molnar's Liliom, in which Liliom is supposedly sent to Hell after slapping his daughter, despite the fact that in the Molnar play the slap also felt like a kiss.

History

Theresa Helburn and Lawrence Langner of the Theatre Guild, producers of Rodgers and Hammerstein's blockbuster musical Oklahoma!, proposed to them that they turn Molnar's Liliom into a musical. Although reluctant at first, put off by the original setting (Hungary) and the dark story and an anti-hero leading character, they agreed to take on the project. Moving the setting of the play to the New England coast was a key.

Both Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II said that Carousel was the favorite of their works together. They broke new ground in musical theater storytelling with their extended music/dialogue scenes, such as the "bench scene", which feaures "If I Loved You", and, hauntingly, the "Soliloquy" in which Billy imagines his future child. The bench scene, especially, used singing as if it were spoken dialogue set to music (much as in opera recitative, and in this scene, the "recitative" singing leads up to the actual song). The final anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone" has taken on a life of its own; a graduation standard, it is also customarily sung by supporters of several soccer clubs, most notably Liverpool.

In 1999, Time Magazine in its "Best of the Century" list, named Carousel the Best Musical: "They set the standards for the 20th century musical".

Productions

Original Broadway Production

The original production, which was directed by Rouben Mamoulian, opened at Broadway's Majestic Theatre on April 19 1945 and closed on May 24 1947 after playing 890 performances. The original cast included John Raitt (Billy), Jan Clayton (Julie), Jean Darling (Carrie), Eric Mattson (Mr. Snow), Christine Johnson (Nettie), Murvyn Vye (Jigger), Bambi Linn (Louise), and Russell Collins (Starkeeper).

1957 New York Revival

The 1957 revival opened at New York's City Center on September 11, 1957, and ran for 24 performances. This was a production of the New York City Center Light Opera Company and was directed by John Fearnley and Robert Pagent with choreography by Agnes De Mille. The cast featured Barbara Cook (Julie Jordan), Howard Keel (Billy Bigelow), Pat Stanley (Carrie Pipperidge), Russell Nype (Mr. Snow) James Mitchell (Jigger) and Victor Moore (Starkeeper).

Royal National Theatre 1992 revival

The Royal National Theatre (RNT) revival, directed by Nicholas Hytner and choreographed by Sir Kenneth MacMillan, opened on December 10, 1992, and played for sixteen weeks in the Lyttelton Theatre, and then transfered in 1993 to the Shaftesbury Theatre.

1994 Broadway Revival

The 1994 revival opened at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre March 24, 1994 and ran for 337 performances and 38 previews. This was a joint production of The Royal National Theatre and Lincoln Center Theater and the production was a transfer of the 1992 RNT production of Carousel. Directed by Nicholas Hytner, with choreography by Sir Kenneth MacMillan, it featured Sally Murphy as Julie Jordan, Audra McDonald as Carrie Pipperidge and Michael Hayden as Billy Bigelow. (Hayden was Billy in the RNT production and received an Olivier Award nomination.) The revival won 5 Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical, and received 8 Drama Desk Award nominations, winning 5. McDonald and Hayden received the Theatre World award.

2002 New York Concert

On June 6, 2002, Hugh Jackman appeared as Billy Bigelow in a special concert performance of Carousel at Carnegie Hall in New York.

Themes and Issues

Carousel was an opportunity for Oscar Hammerstein II, a liberal, to explore attitudes of society and prejudice in a musical play. The main themes of Carousel are social class and conduct; Julie and Billy are both working class, whereas Enoch and (ultimately) Carrie are middle class, and the differences between these two families are touched on during the second act. The ultimate conclusion is that anybody can go far, no matter what his or her class, and that everybody, even a rough fairground worker who beats his wife, can be redeemed. Template:Unreferenced Template:Original research

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"
• "Mister Snow (reprise)" (omitted from the 1956 film)
• "When the Children Are Asleep"
• "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)
• "Ballet"
• "If I Loved You (reprise)"
• "Finale Ultimo: You'll Never Walk Alone (reprise)"
• "Exit Music" (omitted from the 1956 film)

1956 Film Version

The film version, released in 1956 by 20th Century Fox, starred Gordon MacRae as Billy and Shirley Jones as Julie. It was produced in Cinemascope 55, and also featured Cameron Mitchell (in his only singing role) as Jigger Craigin, Barbara Ruick as Carrie, opera stars Claramae Turner and Robert Rounseville as Nettie and Mr. Snow, respectively, Gene Lockhart as the Starkeeper, and Susan Luckey as Louise. The film followed the stage version faithfully, except for four major changes -

• In the film, Billy dies by accident rather than by suicide — when he falls on his own knife while trying to escape arrest.
• Some of the "recitative" singing in the 'bench scene" is turned into spoken dialogue.
• The "recitative" singing that leads directly into the song June Is Bustin' Out All Over is eliminated.
• The film begins with Billy already dead, and the story of Billy's life on Earth is made into a flashback that takes up three-quarters of the film, as Billy tells his story to the Starkeeper in order to receive permission to return to Earth for one day.

This last change was made to safeguard against the movie audience's being surprised at the death of Billy, and to prevent their leaving directly after it happens lest they think the story ended at that point.

A small, less important change was the switching of the song "When The Children Are Asleep" to a later moment in order to take full advantage of the Maine locale. In the film, it is sung in a new scene by Carrie and Mr. Snow in their boat as the couple, together with Julie and Billy, sail to the island for the clambake. (This would logically place the song between Acts I and II of the stage version.) In the stage version, the song is unheard by any of the other characters, but the film places it so that Julie and Billy are there to listen to the song.

The world premiere of the film, in New York City, was attended by Washington diplomats as well as film stars. Among those in the audience were Averell Harriman and Edmund Muskie. [[1]] (Muskie was from Maine, where a large part of the movie was filmed.) The film was largely critically acclaimed, but was a box office flop. Its soundtrack album, however, sold well, and the film's exposure on television, VHS, and DVD, has won a larger audience for it. It was the only Rodgers and Hammerstein film not nominated for any Academy Awards. However, some of the technical staff of Carousel also worked that year on the film version of The King and I, for which they did receive Academy Awards.

1967 Television movie

Carousel was made into a television movie and broadcast on May 7, 1967 on ABC-TV. The movie starred Robert Goulet as Billy, Mary Grover as Julie, Marilyn Mason as Carrie and Pernell Roberts as Jigger. Edward Villella was the choreographer.

External links

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• Carousel (1945) at the IBDB database
• All Carousel Productions on IBDB
• Carousel info page on StageAgent.com - Carousel plot summary & character descriptions
• Flyrope.com page
• R&H Theatricals

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