CAROUSEL at the Lyric Opera in Chicago — Page 15

Carousel is maybe my favorite musical, and I also saw the show Friday night with the understudy Rob Hunt, who was sadly quite underwhelming. They made an announcement that he had a cold, which explained why he had trouble hitting some of the higher notes, but it didn't explain his lack of acting skills. He played Billy like a surly thug, and despite his hunky headshot in the program, in person he looked a bit more like Rosanne Barr's former husband Tom Arnold. Laura Osnes sang nicely, but she was one of the blandest Julies I've ever seen.

Where to start with Rob Ashford's hideous direction? The opening number with three circus tents was muddled and confusing. Why in the world are Billy and Julie miles apart on that giant stage during the bench scene? And at the end of the number, as the orchestra soars with that glorious melody, why does Ashford stage it so that it looks like Billy is raping Julie? Denyse Graves was the most sullen Nettie I've ever seen, and her attempt to lighten up by waving her arms in the air during "This Was a Real Nice Clambake" was unintentionally hilarious. The homoerotic couplings of the sailors during "Blow High Blow Low" made me cringe. And nearly all the choreography and directorial choices during Louise's ballet were godawful: why in the world is Julie in the ballet accepting a ride from the barker boy? Is Ashford implying that Louise has to compete with her mother for a boyfriend? And why does Mrs. Mullin have such a prominent role in the ballet, doing (as others have commented) a pole dance?

There were a few redeeming factors: Jenn Gambatese and Matthew Hydzik were excellent as Carrie and Enoch. Abigail Simon danced well as Louise. And the orchestra sounded great. That's about it.

I hope it's the end of the line for this misbegotten production. Revive Nicolas Hytner's production, LCT! 

Tweetypie2, I'm sure you're right that a better Billy would have helped. But that wouldn't have solved Ashford's bad directorial choices.

And one more I forgot. After Ashford moved the show to the Depression era, this line from Carrie to Julie makes no sense: "Mr. Snow says that a man that can't find work these days is jest bone lazy."

"Hate to tell you, but if you didn't see Pasquale, you didn't see the show. Sorry you missed him. I was lucky, and he was back in on Saturday afternoon, my second visit."

 Pasquale was one of the biggest disappointments for me. I'm really hoping that that is because he was hopped up on cold medicine. He had a few great moments, but over all, it felt like he was floating through the role, and was rather disconnected from the show.