The CAROUSEL Appreciation Thread

One of the best musicals ever, I do believe.
I love Carousel sooo much.

I recently wrote a letter to Shirley Jones stating my love for her work in all of the movie musicals she starred in once upon a time, and she replied in a wonderful, personal letter ending with: "You'll Never Walk Alone, Shirley Jones" handwritten.

Now for my love of The Broadway Shirley Jones" as I like to call her, though not completely accurate, I know I know:
(((((!!Barbara Cook!!)))))

Agh. A beautifully talented woman. My favorite description of her voice is...I forget who should be thanked for this quote, but if anyone knows, thanks are due: "silvery soprano"

:)

Now for the CAROUSEL section:

Favorite Songs? Mine are "Mister Snow", "Soliloquy", and "You'll Never Walk Alone". I believe this is one of the many great scores for any musical.

EXCEPT FOR ONE SONG: "A Real Nice Clambake"....The song was originally written as "A Real Nice Hayride" for Oklahoma!, but was cut and reworked for CAROUSEL.
i wish they hadn't. It is not horrible, just...repetetive and pointless.


THOUGHTS!!!

-d.b.j-

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Updated On: 9/3/04 at 05:04 PM

I've only seen the film once or twice, and I really regret not being able to see the concert performance with Hugh Jackman and Audra McDonald. But I do love a few of the songs from the show -- "If I Loved You" and "Soliloqy." As Plum says about the latter -- wow! I heard Hugh do a small portion of it on Inside the Actor's Studio, and really wished he would have done more. "You'll Never Walk Alone"... oh boy, that song chokes me up every time...

This reminds me of a thread several months ago about "Best Composers Ever" or something like that. It took over a dozen posts before somebody (me) mentioned Richard Rodgers. Anybody who doesn't put him among the best composers, Broadway or otherwise, of the 20th century should be forced to listen to the Prologue to Carousel until they come to their senses.

Thanks for reminding us that there were Broadway shows before Rent.

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Rodgers and Hammerstein said the CAROUSEL was their favorite musical. It is a strange, wonderful journey. If we could just detour around that damn clambake!

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The building of the carousel during the Carousel Waltz... And that representation of Heaven as that blue room? Wow.

is this the one about the wife-beater who falls on his own knife?

I have only seen the movie and I was BORED TO TEARS. I like the music but OMG, I kept finding reasons to turn it off.

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Plum is right. Very right.

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The film of Carousel does the unthinkable, and blows the entire premise within the first five minutes. The show is easily my favorite of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, but I think even Flower Drum Song makes a more satisfying film than Carousel.

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Has anyone seen the ballet choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon for NYC Ballet, using the score? Comments?

Did you know that Clambacke wasn't written for Carousel but was from Oklahoma. It was taken out during previews and used later in Carousel. Changing Picnic to Clambake

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The Nicholas Hytner version presented at Lincoln Center rekindled my waning interest in Broadway.
To my mind it is still the most stunning stage production I have even seen. (The recent NINE comes very, very close.)

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