Carousel – Rodgers and Hammerstein

And so Musical Theatre darkened.

Following Oklahoma by only two years, Carousel is an entirely different kettle of fish. Based on the highly successful Hungarian play Lilliom by Ferenc Molnar, it brought to the musical the unexpected – an anti-hero - and the keenly anticipated - a stunning score.

It is not without its faults: Gordon McRae is sadly miscast as Billy Bigelow; the heaven sequences stretch the credulity of even the most willing suspender of disbelief and surely, even in the 1940s, nobody really believed that a blow from a fist could ‘feel like a kiss’ when delivered by a lover.

Plenty to object to then, but Carousel is an early attempt at integrating Realism with the conventions of the musical. It does not really work: it would take later masters of the genre to perfect that particular marriage. However, it is interesting to see how Rodgers and Hammerstein thought it might be done.

What it does have are those moments that widen the eyes with surprise and pleasure.

In their first love duet, Billy (McRae) and Julie (Shirley Jones) fence with each other, partly as a result of natural shyness and partly because they themselves are not sure of the efficacy of love at first sight. Each is smitten with the other, but will not admit it. If I Loved You perfectly renders their admiration and reluctance. It contains one of those lines which is often thought, but never so well expressed:

Longing to tell you, but afraid and shy,
I let my golden chances pass me by,

Which of us has not been through that? The line is enhanced by Rodgers’ use of a soaring three note sequence on the last three words.

A ballet scene became a feature of Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, as it had in early operas, in order to fill Act 3. They also found, as part of their winning formula, that a hymn-like aria went down well with audiences, hence You’ll Never Walk Alone

Reputedly, the crooner Mel Torme told Richard Rodgers that he wept when he first heard You’ll Never Walk Alone. Rodgers’ laconic response was, “You were supposed to.”

Now, of course it is possibly the most performed of Rodgers and Hammerstein songs, largely thanks to the dreadful version by Jerry Marsden and its popularity with Liverpool supporters.

I wonder how many know where it came from?