Review of Carousel (2013) by Kylie P — 25 Jan 2010

From November 16, 2006:

The Rodgers and Hammerstein family of musicals, both for stage and screen, are of the hokey, traditional, Americana variety, except maybe the Sound of Music and The King and I. Carousel is no different. It sets about conveying those core values of family, tradition, love, and down-home that one finds in Oklahoma! and State Fair.

The music is hauntingly beautiful and more mature than any other R&H musical. In fact, this was Richard Rodgers' personal favorite of all of his collaborations with Oscar Hammerstein. There are some truly lovely songs that get stuck in one's head.

The plot, though as thin as Oklahoma!, is also more mature in many ways. A carnival barker working at a local carousel named Billy falls in love with a factory girl (Julie) in a seashore town, but he's rough and tumble, a no-good good-for-nothing. He squanders his life and his love for this girl and mistreats her bit until he realizes that she's pregnant. He tries a get-rich scheme of a bit of thievery and ends up dead accidentally, and the musical actually begins in "heaven," where he tells of the love for this girl. He is then allowed a day to set to rights his wife and his daughter (who is 15) as well as redeem himself. The carousel itself, ironically, only figures in the first scene and is a misleading title.

Carousel has a charm about it that Oklahoma! does not have. There is something truly uplifting and inspiring about the journey of Billy, even though it is a bumpy ride. This is also another pairing of Gordon McRae and Shirley Jones (aka Mama Partridge) who played in the film version of Oklahoma! as Curly and Laurey only a year before.