CAROUSEL (2018) Previews — Page 22

I think people love Carousel for its score and its dance, but they forget about the other parts (or they forgive them).

In terms of modern R&H popularity, I would guess that Sound of Music is at the very top of the list, and then there’s a second tier: King & I, South Pacific, Carousel, and Oklahoma (in no particular order). I bet Oklahoma is still the second-most produced R&H show — but it might suffer from overexposure, it’s kinda corny and not as “glamorous”/exotic as the other titles.

Jarenthan said: "In what parallel universe is Carousel the most loved of R&H musicals???? I have assumed that you are a shill (SIC) for the show, based on some of your comments and the date you joined this board. You need to tone it down, though".

Rodgers and Hammerstein's licensing webpage has a thumbnail description of CAROUSEL, which concludes with the line "...of all the shows they created, CAROUSEL was Rodgers and Hammerstein's personal favorite." http://www.rnh.com/show/20/Carousel

Having noted that, I would say personally that it's my favorite of all the R&H scores, but NOT my favorite show...that would be THE KING AND I. And SOUTH PACIFIC a close second. Just my opinion.

I'm looking forward to seeing this on March 29, but I'm going in with tempered expectations based on the comments I've read in this thread so far...and I have to say, I appreciate all the passion this subject generates!! Surely that alone would make R&H happy.... :)

Updated On: 3/14/18 at 04:44 PM

I caught today's matinee, I pretty much agree with what everyone has said so far. The singing is beautiful and is the highlight of the show. The design just looks flat out cheap. Jessie and Josh are great individually, but don't have chemistry as a pair. Any low simmering heat you saw between Kelli and Ken in The King and I isn't present here. Also, they've removed Geraniums/Stonecutters from the Playbill.

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HA.

I know you're being kind of facetious, but I honestly can't wait for a cast album while having absolutely no desire to watch this production ever again.

Well FWIW Carousel is my mom's favorite musical and mine as well. I think the music is bar none the strongest R&H ever wrote, and it's a difficult show to do but when done well it's a deeply moving experience.

I went back to Carousel tonight and there have been some changes since the first preview, the largest of which being that What’s the Use of Wonderin’ is now sung solely by Julie; Nettie and the female chorus have been completely cut.

The scene before Billy’s death has been shortened. The card game between Billy and Jigger where Billy keeps doubling down on his losses has been cut.

Louise asks her mother if you can be hit and have it not hurt at all, but Julie now stays silent and simply pushes Louise back into the house.

The card game is no great loss, but the staging of the death is still awkward.

Mendez has toned down her performance and as is often the case, less ends up being more.

Performances overall have improved, but they still haven’t coalesced into a unified whole. Mueller has much more chemistry with Mendez than Henry, and therefore Julie and Carrie’s friendship shines brighter in this production than Julie and Billy’s tumultuous romance. Likewise, Henry has stronger chemistry with Ramasar than Mueller and I’d be down for some fan fiction where Billy and Jigger go off on some Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid type adventures.

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Fantod said: "Funny I don’t remember that much gay sex in Butch Cassidy"

You should watch it again.

Sometimes, yes. But not usually with a classic like CAROUSEL. It works as it was written very well.

Here are some other observations on Carousel over the years. The original show left New York and toured for a number of years. When it re-opened in New York, Brooks Atkinson, who gave the highest praise to Carousel, also had this to say:

Carousel has no comment to make on anything of topical importance. The theme is timeless and universal: the devotion of two people who love each other through thick and thin, complicated in this case by the wayward personality of the man, who cannot fulfill the responsibilities he has assumed. ... Billy is a bum, but Carousel recognizes the decency of his motives and admires his independence. There are no slick solutions in Carousel.

Frank Rich said of the 1992 Hytner production:

What is remarkable about Mr. Hytner's direction, aside from its unorthodox faith in the virtues of simplicity and stillness, is its ability to make a 1992 audience believe in Hammerstein's vision of redemption, which has it that a dead sinner can return to Earth to do godly good.

Of the same London production critic Michael Billington has commented that "lyrically [Carousel] comes perilously close to acceptance of the inevitability of domestic violence." BroadwayWorld.com stated in 2013 that Carousel is now "considered somewhat controversial in terms of its attitudes on domestic violence" because Julie chooses to stay with Billy despite the abuse.

When the London production eventually wound up at the Vivian Beaumont:

One change made from the London to the New York production was to have Billy strike Louise across the face, rather than on the hand. According to Hayden, "He does the one unpardonable thing, the thing we can't forgive. It's a challenge for the audience to like him after that."

Kelli O'Hara, after performing the role in the Live at Lincoln Center production available on CD, was perhaps not so harsh:

Actress Kelli O'Hara noted that the domestic violence that Julie chooses to deal with – is a real, existing and very complicated thing. And exploring it is an important part of healing it.

I don't have enough knowledge of the various stagings to be at all authoritative, but it seems to me that the Hytner production was harder on Billy, as evidenced by that change of of the blow against Louise changing from the hand to the face.

Live From Lincoln Center is perhaps more forgiving. Jiggs shifts much of the blame on class. Billy wanted to do the right thing and find a job to support his wife and daughter, but was short on marketable skills.

Both Billy and Julie are present at different times when they hear that Billy had beaten Julie. Both protest immediately. He had only hit her once. Kneeling next to Billy as he was dying Julie, although not excusing his action, tells him that she understands why he struck her, because he was prone to angry outbursts and because he was unhappy. I'd be interested to know if that line is in other productions.

In any event, by the end of the death scene we have been shown that the two genuinely care for each other.

bwayphreak234 said: "ampi2 said: "i'm seeing first row partial view seats for $59 on telecharge, how bad are they??"

Honestly, the less you can see of this production, the better."

HAHAH

"His name is Mr. Smith/and a few hundred men is he"

This cracked me up :) We did the same thing backstage, rewriting the lyrics of the current show to be disgusting and topical. Our backstage Pippin was particularly vulgar.

newintown said: ""In any event, by the end of the death scene we have been shown that the two genuinely care for each other."

It can easily be argued that many abusive men do "care for" their wives; that doesn't meant that every time they say "I'm sorry," they've reached some sort of ultimate redemption, and are ready to ascend to heaven. In this regard, we seeCarousel(andLiliom) as a triumphof cheap sentiment over intelligence.


I wasn’t referring to anything Billy said, I was referring to his actions as he lay dying. Calling for Julie, begging for him to squeeze his hand. If a man was ever to be genuine, that would be the time. But I’m no expert here and your opinion is welcome.

I would think that your response to Brooks Atkinson would be of greater interest.

Does anyone know if the stage is high/tall or not? I am going with a friend with visual issues and it would be great to sit up close if the stage is not super high ... thanks