Carousel is a popular American musical with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics and story by Oscar Hammerstein II. The show opened on Broadway in New York City in 1945 and ran for 890 performances.
Carousel was based on Liliom (1909), a fantasy written by Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnár. Rodgers and Hammerstein moved the setting from Budapest, Hungary, to a New England mill town in 1873.
Carousel is darker in mood than the typical happy, comic shows of its time. The story centers on a romance between young Julie Jordan, who works in a local mill, and swaggering carnival barker Billy Bigelow. The two marry, and Julie becomes pregnant. Billy participates in a robbery to get money for himself and Julie, but the robbery is foiled and Billy takes his own life to avoid capture.
Billy is taken to purgatory, where he remains for 15 years. He then returns to Earth with the promise that he can enter heaven if he commits a good deed. Billy attempts to give his daughter a star he stole from heaven. When she refuses to accept it, he slaps her in frustration and returns to purgatory. The musical ends with Billy watching his daughter graduate from high school and his acceptance into heaven.
Rodgers and Hammerstein won praise for their skillful integration of music and dancing into the story. Rodgers also broke with tradition by composing a separate overture, “The Carousel Waltz,” to open the musical, instead of the conventional medley of the show’s songs. The score includes many of the team’s greatest hits, such as “If I Loved You,” “June Is Bustin’ Out All Over,” “What’s the Use of Wond’rin’?” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
John Raitt and Jan Clayton played Billy and Julie in the original production of Carousel. Rouben Mamoulian was the director, and Agnes de Mille created the dances. In a 1956 film version, Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones played the leads.
