Last evening, Carolyn and I attended opening night of the new Reprise! production of Carousel up at the Freud Playhouse at UCLA. Reprise!, as you may know, revives classic musicals and stages them with a minimum of production values and a maximum of talent. This was true of Carousel, which is expertly sung and danced and performed. It would all be impressive if they had unlimited rehearsal time but as it happens, they throw these things together in like a week or ten days.
The cast features Robert Patteri as Billy Bigelow, Alexandra Silver as Julie Jordan, M. Emmet Walsh as the Starkeeper and Jane Noseworthy as Carrie, with other roles filled by James Leo Ryan, Victoria Strong, Andy Taylor, Eydie Alyson, Seth Belliston, Bradley Benjamin, Jessica Carter, Blake Ewing, Christopher Guilmet, Chris Holly, Tracy Lore, Kim Mikesell, Gregory North, Candy Olsen, Allison Paraiso, Jo Patrick, Sean Smith, Leslie Stevens, John Todd and Scott Weber. The show was directed by Michael Michetti, choreographed by Lee Martino and it features musical direction by Darryl Archibald.
So all that's great. I have nothing but praise for the cast and creative talent and everyone there. And yet, I'm trying to think…I know there was something I didn't like. I'm trying to remember what it was…
Oh, I know! I didn't like the show.
By that, I mean I didn't particularly like what Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers did…and yes, I know it's a classic. The original production ran on Broadway forever and came back several times. The show has been revived and restaged, and it's performed constantly all around the world. I seem to remember seeing it once before and I didn't like it but I thought, "Oh, this must just be a bad production." Well, last night I saw what was obviously a good production and apart from about four grand songs, I sat there thinking, "I don't care about this story…I don't care about these people." Most of them are not very bright and several are not very nice…and I've never seen the play it was based on, Liliom, but I have to wonder what it has that the musical version doesn't. There must be something to make up for the absence of those four songs.
There's something very cold for me in all the Rodgers and Hammerstein shows I've seen. (I haven't seen them all.) The characters and their problems always seem distant to me. I didn't care if Anna fell in love with the King of Siam. I didn't care if Nelly Forbush fell in love with Emile de Becque. And last night, I didn't care what happened to Billy Bigelow and Julie Jordan. There were emotional moments in all those shows but they were in the songs, not in the context.
I guess this is still a recommendation for the Reprise! production, which is there through February 7. I mean, if you ever want to see Carousel, this may be as fine a version as you'll ever see…and there is much to enjoy in the sheer performances. Putting that many talented people on stage with good music is never a waste of time. Here's a little preview that will show you how lovely it all is when they're not talking…