Carousel (musical)

Carousel is the musical implementation of the play Liliom by Ferenc Molnár in the version by Benjamin Glazer with music by Richard Rodgers , lyrics and a book by Oscar Hammerstein II .

The premiere took place on April 19, 1945 at the Majestic Theater on Broadway and brought it to 890 performances in a row. The London premiere was on June 7, 1950 at the Drury Lane Theater; 566 performances were played here. The Vienna Volksoper brought out the German-language premiere on October 15, 1972. The German version is by Robert Gilbert .

In 1956 a film adaptation of the musical was released, which was produced in the studios of 20th Century Fox under the direction of Henry King . In 1967 a TV version was broadcast in the United States. On June 6, 2002, Carousel was shown in a concert performance at Carnegie Hall in New York City in honor of Hammerstein and Rodgers . From this musical comes the song You'll Never Walk Alone , which is particularly popular among sports fans .

action

The musical based on Molnár's elegiac comedy Liliom (suburban legend) has a different, more optimistic ending. In addition, as World War II was not over, the action was moved from Budapest to the New England coast .

The easy-going carousel worker Billy and the factory worker Julie love each other. Therefore, they are made redundant and thus unemployed. Julie is expecting a child. Due to financial hardship, Billy lets himself be persuaded into a robbery in order to get money. The thing goes wrong. Shortly before his arrest, Billy kills himself with a knife. When he was allowed to return to earth for a day after fifteen years in heaven, he took a small star as a gift for his daughter Louise. But the child is unsettled by what is strange to them and does not accept the star. In the affect, Billy slips his hand and he angrily slaps his daughter's hand. Louise runs away, he leaves the star behind. Completely disturbed, Louise tells her mother about her encounter with the stranger and that the blow did not cause her any pain. Julie feels deep down how everything is connected. She knows that the star will shine the path to a positive future for the previously unhappy girl.

musical

The music

Carousel contains only very few and concise dialogues, almost all of which are accompanied by music, so that the impression of a thoroughly composed work is created. Rodgers writes his songs aria- like, based more on the opera genre than on the operetta .

Orchestral line-up

Donald Walker's opulent instrumentation was originally created for a 39-piece orchestra. Numerous changes were made over the years until a new arrangement was finally written in 1993 for the revival version of the Royal National Theater in London by William D. Brohn . This version was released a year later on Broadway and Tokyo .

The revised orchestration contains the following instrumentation: Fl / Pic , Fl / Klar , Ob / EH , Klar / BassKlar , Fag , Hr (3), Trp (2), Pos , Basspos / Tb , Schl , Hf , Key , Vi (7 ), Va (2), Vc (3), Kb

The songs

Carousel Waltz / Carousel Waltz

Mr Snow / They call him Mr Snow

If I Loved You / Would it be love

June Is Bustin 'Out All Over / Summer like this is never coming again

When The Children Are Asleep / When The Children Are All Asleep

Blow high, blow low / ahoy! Oh!

Hornpipe / sailor dance

Soliloquy / monologue

Finale act 1

Entr'Acte (inter- act music )

This Was A Real Nice Clambake / That was a fine picnic

Geraniums In The Winder / Geraniums in front of the window

Stonecutters Cut It On Stone / stone cutters cut it into stone

What's The Use Of Wonderin '?

You'll Never Walk Alone / And then you'll never walk alone

The Highest Judge Of All / My highest judge

ballet

If I Loved You (reprise)

You'll Never Walk Alone (Reprise) - Finale Act 2

Important performances

premiere

The world premiere ran from April 19, 1945 to May 4, 1947 on Broadway at the Majestic Theater with 890 performances.

Production staff

Director: Rouben Mamoulian
Musical director: Joseph Littau
Orchestration: Don Walker
Production design: Jo Mielziner
Costume Design: Miles White
Production: The Theater Guild
Choreography: Agnes de Mille

main actor

John Raitt (Billy Bigelow)
Jan Clayton (Julie Jordan)
Jean Darling (Carie Pipperidge)
Eric Mattson (Enoch Snow)
Murvyn Vye (Jigger Craigin)
Christine Johnson (Nettie Fowler)
Bambi Linn (Louise)
Jean Casto (Mrs. Mullin)
Russell Collins (Star Keeper / Minister)
Peter Birch (David Bascombe)
Annabelle Lyon (Hannah)
Blake Ritter (Captain)
Pearl Lang (June Girl)
Connie Baxter (Arminy)
Marilyn Merkt (Penny)
Joan Keeman (Jennie)
Gianna Moise (Virginia)
Suzanne Tafel (Susan)
Richard H. Gordon (Jonathan)
Kathlyn Comegys (She)
Ralph Linn (Enoch Snow Jr.)
Lester Freeman (Principal)
Mimi Stongin (Bessie)
Jimsi Somers (Jessie)
Lew Folges (Juggler)
Robert Pagent (Jimmy, Carnival Boy)
Jay Velie (First Heavenly Friend / Brother Joshua)
Tom McDuffie (Second Heavenly Friend)
Robert Bryn, Larry Every (Policemen)

First performance in London

In London, it premiered on June 7, 1950 at the Theater Royal, Drury Lane, and ran for 566 performances.

production

Director: Rouben Mamoulian
Choreography: Agnes de Mille

main actor

Stephen Douglass (Billy Bigelow)
Iva Withers (Julie Jordan Bigelow)

Concert performance in honor of Rodgers and Hammerstein

A concert was performed on June 6, 2002 in New York at the Isaac Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall.

production

Production design: Jo Mielziner

main actor

Hugh Jackman (Billy Bigelow)
Audra McDonald (Julie Jordan Bigelow)
Jason Danieley (Enoch Snow)
Judy Kaye (Nettie Fowler)
Lauren Ward (Carrie Pipperidge)
Norbert Leo Butz (Jigger Craigin)

Film / TV versions

Leading actor of the 20th Century Fox - Cinema-Scope film carousel from 1956

Gordon MacRae (Billy Bigelow)
Shirley Jones (Julie Jordan Bigelow)
Cameron Mitchell (Jigger Craigin)
Barbara Ruick (Carrie Pipperidge)
Claramae Turner (Nettie Fowler)
Robert Rounsville (Enoch Snow)
Gene Lockhart (Star Keeper)
Audrey Christie (Mrs. Mullin)
Susan Luckey (Louise)
William LeMassena (Heavenly Friend)
John Dehner (David Bascombe)
Harrison Dowd (Clem)
Dee Pollock (Enoch Snow Jr.)
Frank Tweddell (Captain Watson)
Jacques D'Amboise (Louise's Dancing Partner)
Dolores Starr (Snow's Daughter)
Charlene Baker (Arminy)
Marc Holland (Sailor)
Charles Irwin (Captain)
Drusilla Davis (Girl at Clambake)
William Foster (Man at Clambake)
Larry Johns (School Principal)

Leading actor in the 1967 television adaptation

Robert Goulet (Billy Bigelow)
Mary Grover (Julie Jordan Bigelow)
Pernell Roberts (Jigger Craigin)
Marlyn Mason (Carrie Pipperidge)
Charles Ruggles (Dr. Selden / The Starkeeper)

Sound carrier

Original Cast Recording, Broadway 1945
Original film soundtrack, 1956
Revival Cast Recording, Broadway Lincoln Center 1965
Studio Cast Recording, 1987
Revival Cast Recording, London 1993
Cast Recording, Japan 1993
Revival Cast Recording, Broadway 1994

Web links

Carousel in the Internet Broadway Database (IDBD)