CAROUSEL (2018) Previews — Page 31

So I took my mom to see Carousel today. She absolutely loved everything about it except maybe Jessie Mueller as Julie. I overall enjoyed it a lot.

The caveats: first, two songs (Geraniums and Stonecutters) have been cut. The dialogue has also been snipped in places. As a result, this Carousel played almost like an opera with a few recitatives between the musical numbers. If this is a big deal to you then this won’t be the production for you.

The good:

Joshua Henry as Billy Bigelow. I had doubts about whether he’d work but he really did. He has a very powerful voice and a really menacing, scary, intense persona. This isn’t just some bum. You can believe this Billy has a criminal record and a seedy past.

Amar Ramasar as Jigger. Some of his dialogue has been snipped because apparently he wasn’t doing lines very well but what he did he did very well. AND … he is HOT. My mom as well as all of the ladies around me of a certain age went absolutely wild for him. It’s not just his dancing, it’s his swagger and his charisma.

Renee Fleming as Nettie. Very brief part but she has enough voice to do justice to “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

Lindsay Mendez as Carrie Pipperidge. Very funny, spunky, a bit shrill on high notes but she brought some much needed humor.

Justin Peck’s choreography. He didn’t do that sort of ballet-lite stuff but seemed to be channeling modern dance. A lot of stuff that wouldn’t look out of place on Paul Taylor dancers.



The so-so:

Jessie Mueller as Julie. The role of Julie is actually very brief and so the Julie has to blow the audience away with her solos. Mueller has a very sweet voice that just isn’t powerful enough to soar. Her personality is also very sweet and dull, and so there isn’t that feeling that Julie is actually sort of a rebel.

Alex Gemignani as Enoch Snow. He just didn’t do enough with the officiousness of this character. Snow is usually played for big laughs and Gemignani just wasn’t getting the laughs.

Brittany Pollack as Louise. Granted it’s not really an acting role but Pollack is a great dancer but isn’t the stage natural that Megan Fairchild (of On the Town) or Amar Ramasar (Jigger) are. Her few lines were rather awkward and she shrieks too much.



The awesome: I got on the backstage list and got to meet Renee who is very nice. My mom was awestruck.

And my mom as I said absolutely loved every moment of it. So did the audience.

https://twitter.com/poisonivy326/status/980638644305309696

I'm thinking about getting a partial view seat tomorrow in Row A Seat 16. Does anyone know what the view is like from there? Or what any of the partial views are like? Thanks!

Glad you and your Mom enjoyed show...so did I. I took an elderly person to see it recently and she was thrilled with the show. I do have a different take on some characters. I am not sure what you meant writing Billy “isn’t just some bum”. In my view he is exactly that.... a common thug, a scoundrel, a misguided derelict from the very start of the play with virtually no redeeming qualities. I totally agree that Jigger’s dancing (Amar) is wonderful; he flows effortlessly. His lines are ok, just passable. But considering this is his first Broadway gig, I think he’s doing a yeoman’s job (pun?). I thought Alex G, as Mr Snow, was fantastic. He has the entire package: voice, wit, warmth, and great chemistry with Lindsay M as Mrs. Snow. If only Joshua H and Jessie M could replicate their likability, maybe the reviews posted here would be uplifted. I agree that Louise’s lines are few but I thought they were very convincing. Your description of her dancing as great is right on. There is still about a week to go before the official premier. Let’s hope the Director can get the two key characters, Joshua and Jessie, to adjust their acting skills to create better chemistry. This is “the” pivotal point. If they can successfully do this, the show could have a very successful run. If not.......

I will preface this with that this was my first encounter with Carousel live. I saw it 3/23/18 ( a Friday).



I thoroughly enjoyed it. After reading the pretty horrendous first few previews I was really worried. Maybe it was that I went in with such low expectations that I was blown away, but I truly was shocked at how much I enjoyed it post reading the first reviews. The choreography and cast to me is what really made it for me. I thought the cast (especially Joshua, Lindsay, Alexander, and Margaret) were stunning. I really hope Lindsay can snag a nom and hopefully an award for her performance. She stole the show for me. I also saw the show before the June Reprise was cut.

This is for the two nice guys sitting next to me (one told me to make a new account to post my thoughts). All things aside I enjoyed it for what it was, and I am so excited for a cast recording to come out. The vocals were immaculate.

Carousel opens a week from today, so the show is probably pretty close to frozen by now.

I have been following these postings avidly. I made up my mind a while back after I read the complete cast list that I would not go to this Carousel as much as I love the show. I appeared in the show in local productions, I saw the 94 revival, and the Chicago, and the NY Phil on TV, and of course the movie and TV version from Armstrong. I love this show backwards and forwards. The director of this Carousel, in my opinion directed the worst ever Sound of Music with acting like a bad SNL skit. And when the kids asked Maria what the guitar was for, she said "when we sing" and then proceeded to NOT PLAY the guitar. So at that point I gave up on him. Skipping ahead to Carousel with this same director ---- I could only imagine what Mr. O'Brien would do with my favorite musical. My other caveat is that I have heard Ms. Fleming dozens of times and consider her to be a very insincere actress. I could not imagine what she would bring to the role. Having retired from a highly publicized hugely successful career in opera where she was "THE DIVA", I wonder why she wanted to do this production in the first place. 8 shows a week is a big commitment especially coming from the world of opera where you don't sing every night. If you want to listen to her previous affinity for Broadway checkout "I Could Have Danced All Night" on youtube! I never found her to be a good interpreter of pop music. And giving her extra music to sing in the show is just what? Trying to give her more to do???. All of this is subjective of course, but what I totally fail to understand is why they are spending 6 weeks tinkering with this, changing this, cutting this from an ESTABLISHED masterpiece? And where are the R & H Organization people to prevent any of this? Are they at the rehearsals? Carousel is an established masterpiece. Sure you can update it (eg Chicago production) sure you can do amazing things to it (Lincoln Center 94), but all of this fiddling around as though it were just trying out in New Haven or Hartford is what I don't get So little faith in the original. I have heard audio snips from this production and the singing is good enough. But why do this show if you feel you have to "improve and improve and improve" on the original. Didn't Rodgers and Hammerstein know what they were doing? Did the producers ever say "hey folks we are doing a brand new much improved on the original Carousel?" Or didn't they say they weren't changing much. I much prefer the approach of Bartlett Sher. He brings these shows to life while being respectful of the original. They gleam as they are reborn. But this Carousel sounds misguided from the beginning. I await the critics reviews and wonder what they will perceive?

Is it too late for a new director?

And regardless of all the trash talk about this production, it is still pulling in over $1 million every week. Only a full roster of negative reviews, and not just the Times, is going to change that. The title, and the whole R&H popular canon, pretty much guarantees success.

Trashing it without seeing it? Shame on you. I’m angry at myself for wasting my time reading your rubbish.

Best you’ve got? Very weak

The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization was sold to a Dutch music publisher in 2009. RHO also holds the licensing rights to Rodgers & Hart and many other shows including Evita and Annie Get Your Gun. Although management was retained, including Ted Chapin as President, as the years roll by I think you have to look for more emphasis on profits over the integrity of the material.

As previews for Carousel are now over, are there any further thoughts from people who've seen it within the last few days?