A Great Musical You Probably Have Not Seen

Rodgers and Hammerstein has numerous commercial and artistic hits on Broadway, many of which are still revived and played in theaters across the country: Oklahoma!, South Pacific, The King and I, Sound of Music and so forth.  Yet perhaps their best creation - CAROUSEL - has never entered most peoples' knowledge of musicals, despite containing some of their most powerful music and storytelling.

The Music: Rodgers wrote some of his best music for Carousel.  It contains the stirring anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone," which has been sung for presidential inaugurations, concerts, and happy/sad occasions of all types.  It has two complicated and endearing love songs: "What's the Use of Wonderin,'" and  "If I Loved You."  And it has Rodgers' ultimate acting song in the male lead's "Soliloquy," in which the male lead realizes he is about to have a kid and goes through all the encompassing emotions, all in EIGHT minutes of singing.  Soliloquy challenges the best singers!

The Book: Carousel challenges the audience in a way most Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, with the exception of South Pacific, does not.  The male lead, Billy Bigelow, is a working class carousel man who gets a girl pregnant and marries her to take care of the baby.  In an effort to make money, he steals and is killed during a heist - I cannot think of a musical that kills its LEAD in the middle of the second Act!  He the proceeds to be judged in heaven and returns to earth as an angel, to redeem for his past sins.  He ends up helping his daughter, all grown-up (talk about a tear jerker!).   Throughout these events, Billy's wife, Julie Jordan, is a pillar of strength.  She is always there for her friends, raises a daughter by herself, and endures her husband's many transgressions.

Even though Carousel has been revived numerous times, it is not often done in community theater due to the very difficult music for the leading man and morally-complex characters.  But it is a gem to see if it goes on stage!

DWS