Musicals Blog

Carousel - Rodgers and Hammerstein

by Claire J Rottenberg


"Carousel" was Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein's second musical, coming after their extremely successful "Oklahoma." It was based on the play "Liliom" by Hungarian playwright, Ferenc Molnar. "Carousel" opened on Broadway in 1945 and it ran for 2 years and 890 performances. The original cast included John Raitt as Billy. Like "Oklahoma," the choreographer for "Carousel" was Agnes de Mille.

"Carousel," like many works by Rodgers and Hammerstein, dealt with realistic and controversial topics that were rarely part of musical theater in that era. Some of these social issues in "Carousel" included death, murder, suicide, religion, and spousal abuse.

The movie version of "Carousel," released in 1956, reunited Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones in the lead roles. Although the movie was well-received by critics, it was not a financial success and it did not receive any Academy Award nominations.

"Carousel" has beautiful songs, including the long and powerful "Soliloquy," sung by Billy when he learns that he will become a father. Other songs from "Carousel" include the lively "June is Busting Out All Over" and the inspirational "You'll Never Walk Alone.