Nicholas Hytner on Carousel

I just finished "Balancing Acts," Nicholas Hytner's very entertaining memoir of his life in the theater. It's full of interesting anecdotes about his many plays, including Miss Saigon, The History Boys, and One Man, Two Guvnors. I was especially interested to read about his production of Carousel. I saw it twice at Lincoln Center, and it remains perhaps the most vivid theatergoing experience I've had. It's no surprise to learn that the show is one of Hytner's all-time favorites, too. He writes about the difficulties he faced casting the show. The casting of a black actor to play Enoch Snow in England enraged the elderly widow of Richard Rodgers. And he had a very hard time finding an actor to play Billy Bigelow. He writes "We met some handsome actors with powerful baritone voices to play Billy. I tried to imagine them lashing out at Joanna Riding (the British Julie). I'd have hated them, and hated the show for asking me to care about them, and besides, as actors they weren't up to her. We went to New York, and met lots more handsome baritones. Several of them looked like fairground rough trade, but only one seemed open to salvation: Michael Hayden, who was short on vocal heft, but when he sang, there was wounded frailty behind the bravado." He also writes that he wishes he had cut Julie's infamous line "It is possible, dear, for someone to hit you, hit you hard, and it not hurt at all." And he sums up for me what makes Carousel so wonderful when he writes "The insidious power of the show is that at the dark heart of an abusive marriage is love and forgiveness no less profound for being misplaced." I SO wish that someone would find the money to let Hytner make a film of Carousel!

CATSNYrevival said: "Does he go into detail or say specifically why he wishes he had cut that line or anything about the decision to cut "The Highest Judge of All?""

I assume he wanted to cut the line because out of context, it sounds like it’s condoning physical abuse. That’s not necessarily the case in the show, but as a stand-alone line it’s quite jarring.

About that line, Hytner writes, "The more shameful, then, that Billy Bigelow's absolution culminates in a lie. (Julie's line) is presented as a climactic act of grace, but it's bull****. Why didn't I tell old Mrs. Rodgers, while I was on her case, that I wasn't going to be responsible for putting it in front of an audience? I suppose because I told myself that, like too many victims of domestic violence, Julie Jordan has no alternative but to lie to herself. But it's not just Julie saying that violence doesn't matter: it's the show. I should have cut it."

I'm sure this will be a hot topic of debate yet again when the 2018 production debuts.