Hey, everyone Steph here and I’m back with another Musical Monday’s blog.
I wanted t talk about Carousel today, it’s on my favorite classics, and I don’t’ think it is mentioned enough. I loved this musical for years, and I feel like other people might as well, it what I would call a musical theatre standard. All information comes from Wikipedia.
Plot
Fifteen years ago, Julie Jordan and Billy Bigelow fell in love, and this is their story. Billy was a carousel barker and Julie was a mill worker who would go to the carousel after work. Although her friend Carrie warned against it, Julie fell hard for Billy and the two of them lost their jobs on the same night, he for mocking the carousel owner, and she for staying out late.
A month later, the two of them are married and Julie ends up pregnant with their daughter Louise. Once this happens Billy must think about how he is going to provide for his growing family, and so he starts doing crimes. Once Billy hooks up with his old friend Jigger, he ends up killing himself when the crime goes wrong.
Now 15 years later it is revealed that Billy didn’t do enough good to get into heaven during his time on earth. The Starkeeper reveals that Billy could get into heaven if he helps his daughter Louise. As long as someone alive remembers him, he could still get into heaven so this is the key for Billy getting into Heaven.
Back on Earth Billy finds his daughter Louise, but he doesn’t tell him that he is her father. He also gives her a star from Heaven.
Personal thoughts
As I said in the intro, I love this musical and I am so excited to be sharing it with you all today. As far as the Rodgers and Hammerstein work goes, this one is near the top of my list. I would say it is my third favorite of all of their works, and that is mostly because I love the score so much. The other thing that I love about this musical is the plot and the characters, they are flawed and imperfect, but that is what makes them so real for me.
Characters
Billy- our flawed anti-hero he might not be my favorite character, but he is one that I see take a journey in the musical.
Julie- my favorite character and the heroine in the story. I really love her journey that she goes on, and how much we see her develop as a person.
Carrie- my other favorite character in the musical. She is such a great supporting character and I love all of her songs. If I were in the musical, I would want to be either her or Julie.
Enoch Snow- such a supporting character and I really do love his character.
Louise- a role for a dancer and I just love her even though we don’t see much about her as a character. The ballet she dances is beautiful and I just love it.
Jigger: Okay so I really don’t like him as a character, but as a fan of the musical I am not sure that you’re really supposed to.
Songs
Here are some of my favorite songs in this musical.
If I Loved You- a beautiful ballad and the introduction of Julie and Billy.
Mister Snow – the song that Carrie sings about the man that she loves, and I find this song adorable.
Soliloquy- the Billy song that I really love because it is so powerful, and this is one of the biggest developments that he has a character.
You’ll Never Walk Alone- one of the songs that most people might know, and it’s so uplifting and beautiful.
Productions
The original production opened at the Majestic Theatre on April 19, 1945, and the dress rehearsal the day before had gone badly. This production ran for 840 performances and closed on May 24th, 1947.
In 1954 and 1957 it was revived with New York City Center, by the New York City Center Light Opera, and then moved onto the world fair in Brussels in 1958.
In 1992, the musical had moved onto London and there had been some changes for the production for this revival. This production sold out the limited run and closed in 1993.
The 1994 revival at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre opened on March 24, 1994, and ran 322 performances, but it picked up Tony Awards including Best Revival.
In December 2008, the production opened at London’s Savoy Theatre to warm and mixed reviews, it closed in June 2009 a month early.
The third and current Broadway revival opened on February 28, 2018, at the Imperial Theatre.
The film, television, and concert versions
A film of Carousel was made in 1956, and it follows the plot of the musical closely.
A 100 minute abridged version was made for network television in 1967.
The New York Philharmonic presented a staged concert version in 2013.
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