CAROUSEL (2018) Previews — Page 20

To recap, half the posters are shocked and appalled that this revival is altering the score as it was first performed in the original Broadway production, while the other half are shocked and appalled that "Highest Judge of All," which was in the original Broadway production, is now in this revival.

"Highest Judge" was in the 1965 Lincoln Center production, and is on the recording with John Raitt. It's included in the rental package when the show is licensed to regional theaters and schools--but it's not unusual to omit it. It wasn't in the Hytner production, which was fine because no one needed to hear Michael Hayden sing it. It does amplify an ongoing theme in "Carousel", though, the idea that some people get opportunities that others do not. When Jigger and Billy talk about killing someone, Billy asks if Jigger ever worries about being judged by God for his actions. Jigger scoffs and says the best they'll get in Heaven is police magistrates--and once Billy dies he discovers that Jigger was sort of right. The song is his reaction to that, and his anger about the sense of inequality--which was a big issue for him on Earth, too, and will come up with Louise as well. I think it's a helpful song because it enhances a theme that Hammerstein is exploring in the play (arguably more worth keeping than "Geraniums in the Window". Does anyone know if it was in the Lyric Opera of Chicago production?

bk said: "Miles2Go2 said: "Having not seen this revival or any other production, I decided to check out the 2013 Lincoln Center New York Philharmonicproduction on Amazon Prime.

My thoughts a little more than one hour in (just finished Act I):

I agree with others that say that Julie and Billy’s suddenly falling in love as soon as they meet stretches the bounds of believability. Especially since Julie comes across as a fairly strong young woman (I have known women and men who can’t handle being single for long and fall “in love” at the drop of a hat; that doesn’t seem to be Julie though) when they first meet and not prone to be swept off her feet so quickly. However, both O’Hara and Gunn sell the scene and have chemistry. Their “If I Loved You” is beautiful.

Jason Danieley (Enoch Snow) and Jessie Mueller (Carrie Pipperidge) have great chemistry which would suggest that the reported lack of chemistry between Mueller’s Julie and Henry’s Billy in the 2018 revival would tend to point more toward poor direction.

While it is clear that Julie is an abused wife, so far this production makes it clear that while she says the things an abused wife would say, the show does not endorse domestic violence, even covertly.

I may check back in after Act 2."

People falling in love at first sight is unbelievable? I'd skip, oh, about 90% of all romantic plays and films then. It's been a staple of drama since the year One. And believe it or not, it's been known to happen in real life, too."

Thanks for the snark. Always nice to wake up to on a Saturday morning. I do skip about 90% (if not more) of romantic films (especially romantic comedies) because I find them ridiculously unbelievable and very poorly written. I admired much about this production. I just didn’t find the way Julie and Billy meet and instantly fall in love believable due to how that scene is written. If I Loved You is a beautiful song though. It was a small quibble in an otherwise mostly wondrous production. You completely bought that scene. I didn’t. Simple as that. It was easy enough to mostly overlook (but worth noting) due to the great performances and the many other things that the show has going for it. That’s the great thing about art. Different people can have different reactions to it.

Miles2Go2 said: "Thanks for the snark. Always nice to wake up to on a Saturday morning. I do skip about 90% (if not more) of romanticfilms (especially romantic comedies) because I find them ridiculously unbelievable and very poorly written. I admired much about this production. I just didn’t find the way Julie and Billy meet and instantly fall in love believable due to how that scene is written. If I Loved You is a beautiful song though. It was a small quibble in an otherwise mostly wondrous production. You completely bought that scene. I didn’t. Simple as that. It was easy enough to mostly overlook (but worth noting) due to the great performances and the many other things that the show has going for it. That’s the great thing about art. Different people can have different reactions to it."

I hope you’re not suggesting that the “Bench Scene” is poorly written! If you think it is, please give an example of well written musical love scene!

Billy and Julie have not fallen in love at first sight. For Julie’s part, it’s been a long time coming. When Carrie sings earlier, “When you work in the Mill, weavin’ at the loom, you gaze absent-minded at the roof,” something Julie mentions to Billy in their scene. For Hulie, it’s ben long enough that her best friend has noticed! And when Billy responds with “I can jus see myself...kinda scrawny and pale, pickin’ at my food...” Rodgers uses the same music to show us that Billy, unaware though he may be, has had the same feelings as Julie. It’s Fate that has brought them together.

“Poorly written”? I think not!

Miles2Go2 said: "^ Wow. You really can’t stand it when people don’t think the same way you do. The scene rang false to me. I’m glad it doesn’t ring false for you. We are both allowed to have different interpretations of that scene and state them. We don’t have to agree as we clearly won’t. "

I’m sorry, but where did I say I can’t stand when people don’t think the same as I do? I stated what I thought was wrong with your opinion—an opinion, by-the-bye, not shared by most, who think the 73-year-old scene one of the finest in the canon—and asked for an example of what YOU think a well-written love scene from a musical you could use to show that doesn’t ring false?

I thought this was a conversation.

I wonder whether this revival would fare better if they modernized it and centered it around the living conditions of working class Amaericans today.

The $59 seats are listed as "partial view" on Telecharge, but I know different theaters have different definitions for that. Anyone who's gotten those seats: how's the view?

It's much like Sweeney Todd- if you go back and read the Christopher Bond play, the structure of its script is reproduced musically down to the minutiae. http://www.samuelfrench.com/content/samples/114686/sweeneytodd-9780573015472_21399_text_5-5x8-5.pdf

Updated On: 3/10/18 at 10:16 PM

I also went back to the Live at Lincoln Center production. I thought that Kelli O'Hara and Nathan Gunn would not say anything that would contradict their principles and beliefs and had enough influence not to be forced otherwise.

This production goes a little easy on Billy. When Julie hears Billy accused of having beaten her, she immediately contradicts this, saying that he had just hit her once. As she is kneeling over the dying Billy, she says softly, "I know why you hit me. It was because you were quick-tempered and unhappy. That doesn't excuse it, but I always knew everything you were thinking." Billy's calling for Julie as he lay dying, and asking her to hold his hand tightly is perhaps the best expression of his love for her.

Billy, at the gates of heaven, when accused of having beaten his wife, also denies this emphatically but admits to having hit her. When asked why, he replies, "I'd say this and she'd say that and she would be right, so I hit her."

Julie does answer her daughter that it is possible for someone to hit you hard and for you to not feel any pain. My take on this was that Julie was thinking back at when Billy hit her and expressing her belief that Billy had not hurt her emotionally when he struck her because she knew that it was not a sign that he did not love and care for her, but only a result of his having been "quick-tempered and unhappy." Emotional pain from finding that he did not care for her would have been on a different level than a moment of physical pain.