CAROUSEL (2018) Previews — Page 11

Elfuhbuh, I apologize for my snarky response.

As for characters treating Billy differently, I think it's more that lines int he script that were seemingly innocuous now ring in a much deeper way. The exchange between Julie, Billy, and the police officer before "If I Loved You" has a much different context just because of the national events surrounding us. There were numerous other moments as such, mostly when other people are talking about Billy's character - which carries a different connotation when a bunch of white people are talking about virtually the only black character on stage (the others are either invisible to the cast or in the chorus and ignored). If you're interested in the dynamics I'm talking about, I do suggest seeing the show. It's hard to explain how context changes based on casting when you haven't seen how the book reads, not to be condescending.

The other thing this production tries to do if soften Billy's culpability in the events of the second act. I don't know if that's in response to the abuse controversy or with Henry's casting, but Billy's death and the beating Louise scene were staged so sloppily I found it hard to be emotionally invested in this character. I'm happy to answer any other specific questions you have.

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It's all good, Sally! Looking back, I can see how my responses might have seemed a bit snarky, too, so I apologize for that. The truth is that I was using the mobile app, and it's always harder for me to type on there since the app tends to do all these crazy things while you're entering a response into the box, so I tend to type things out a bit more short and clipped than I'd otherwise intend.

But yeah, I can see how that might come across a bit uncomfortable onstage, although I'm not entirely sure how they could rectify that besides casting more POC into the mix (which admittedly should be happening anyways if we want to make Broadway more diverse) so it doesn't give Billy's outcast reputation a different meaning than originally intended, or just playing the second act more straight with Billy's behavior so the audience understands that it's Billy's actions that cause the gossipy badmouthing, not the fact that he's a black man in this production.

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I kind of wish George C Wolfe was directing this. He isn't always perfect, but I feel like this is something he would've done wonders with.

For those wondering about the rush situation, I bought a ticket about 30 minutes ago and am in row B on my he side orchestra.

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I'm still catching up on reading this thread, but since "Carousel" is one of my favorites, I'd like to make a few comments:

Someone mentioned Lindsay's Carrie to be too funny, something about the "meek as a lamb" line not making sense because she's not meek at all - that's the whole point of that line. Carrie is anything but meek. She starts the show by telling off Mrs. Mullins because Julie was too meek to stand up for herself in the moment. When she finds out Billy hit Julie, this is the dialogue exchange:

JULIE: "Last Monday he hit me."

CARRIE: "Did you hit him back?"

JULIE: "No."

CARRIE: "Why don't you leave him!?"

JULIE: "I don't want to!"

CARRIE: "I would! I'd leave him, just 'cos he's Billy Bigelow he can do whatever he likes?"

Also, 'Give It to 'Em Good, Carrie...' is......very much a testament to how not meek Carrie is. I don't remember who said it, but that person obviously doesn't know the show too well. Either that, or they don't understand comedic irony.

Speaking of 'Give It to 'Em Good, Carrie...' - why on earth was that cut?? I don't understand. That's one of my favorite moments. They put in a seven minute dance break but they cut out that iconic, very funny piece of music? Oy.

Lindsay Mendez is not white. I don't know if that's been mentioned yet, but if we're going to talk about race, we must not forget that Lindsay is Latina.

The accents are horrible. Especially Jessie's and Lindsay's. I hope they're cut.

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Updated On: 3/2/18 at 05:18 PM

Sally Durant Plummer said: "I would say if you're making a trip out here, it would be criminal to miss Three Tall Women. As for Carousel, I grew up on the film, and I found this production fairly lackluster. However, I wonder what going in blind would do for the show. It is one of the greatest musical theatre scores ever written, and the first revival in over 20 years, so it's probably you're only chance for a while to really experience the show. As such a fan of the music, I will say that regardless of my critiques, it is THRILLING to hear this score sung so well with a huge orchestra. As I said before, this could be cast recording for the ages if done right."

Thank you! Carousel is still on the list, but has decidedly moved down the list. I don’t even know at this point when I’ll make it back to NYC. Hopefully, before Angels closes on July 1. We’ll see.

Owen22 said: " Why do people find colorblind casting so hard? Or misinterpret it. Colorblind casting, no matter what the actor or director politically correctively say, is generally a person of color, generally black, PRETENDING to be white..."

Interesting. That is not the way mixing up the races of characters hits me at all. Henry is not playing a white man or a black man. He is playing a man. But he brings with him on stage everything that he is, and we bring all of our own expectations and history with us when we watch it. A good producer and director takes advantage of all of that to bring new colors (pardon the pun) to the play and give us (to quote Sondheim) "something new to see".

Whoopi Goldberg took over the role of Pseudolus from Nathan Lane in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. That is a change of both gender and race. And when she sang "Free", I cried. Oh my God, that song hit with a wallop.

In color blind casting I don't see the actor as another race. Race is not something that is erased or set aside. It is a part of what the actor brings to the role. The audience uses its imagination to adjust - let go of some expectations and embrace others. It's no different that the experience of Shakespeare in modern dress or setting The Crucible in a classroom. You are shaking things up a bit to throw the audience off guard and bring to the fore elements that you (speaking as a director) can see that have gone unnoticed.

That's just the way it hits me.

Updated On: 3/2/18 at 10:08 PM

Before I saw Carousel Thursday night, I'd never seen the show live. I'd listened to all the cast recordings and counted it as my favorite musical I'd never seen performed live. So as someone who was in the shoes of the poster who asked whether this was a good introduction to the show live, I thought I should chime in. I think many of the other posters have highlighted the things that might give you pause - I didn't love the choreography, and I thought the chemistry between Julie and Billy was lacking. All of that said - the singing is truly spectacular. I had high expectations for Soliloquy and I still had full body chills listening to Joshua Henry sing it. I would pay to hear him sing it again. They hadn't added in Geraniums or Stonecutters when I saw it - although they were still in the playbill. I'm planning to revisit with some time. And would happily recommend seeing this cast sing this gorgeous show live.

I hope people now understand the disparity between what I posted at intermission and my full thoughts after the show.

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I'm going to go see this as a concert. It's a cast worth hearing in person. So sad that they couldn't get a competent director.

I’m home now and can be a little more detailed. I’ll just do it in list form.

- Joshua Henry sounded wonderful but the best thing I can say about his acting is that he knew all his lines. He was just kind of “there”. Even his Soliloquy, to me, was lacking. I was wondering why he was holding back - was he saving it up for the last moment? No. It was just “fine”.

-There is less than zero chemistry between him and Mueller. Every scene with them is awkward because theres no reason for them to be together. Billy is an assh*le but he needs to have an appeal to him, like Stanley Kowalski, that makes you understand the attraction. Henry has none of that and Mueller seems even less interested.

-Renee Fleming needs to go. Why was she cast in this? Those songs shouldn’t be sung in an operatic head voice where half the lyrics are lost. Plus she’s never been the greatest actress so her presence here just baffles me.

-Lindsay Mendez comes off best in this show. She’s in glorious voice and Jack O’Brien seems to spare her from his torturous direction, for the most part.

-Jack O’Brien. Did he take this job as a “F*ck You” to fans of this show and of musical theater in general? I can’t even wrap my head around the choices he made here and how wrong they all are. Why would you stage Billy’s death and have Mueller just be like “K Billy bye”, with no more emotion than that? Why would you have Billy sing to Louise and Julie at the end and not have them feel his presence there? THATS THE POINT OF THE F*CKING SCENE.

I can’t anymore tonight. I’m a little drunk now and I have a headache. I’m sure I’ll add more to this later and maybe even take stuff away or whatever. I drank a lot when I got home.

Dang, people. CAN'T WAIT FOR MY FAIR LADY!

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