American Musical Theater

THTR 3012-5012
Fall 2017

Carousel

Carousel is the second stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar
Hammerstein II (book and lyrics). The work premiered in 1945 and was adapted from
Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play Liliom, transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine
coastline. The story revolves around carousel barker Billy Bigelow, whose romance with
millworker Julie Jordan comes at the price of both their jobs. He attempts a robbery to
provide for Julie and their unborn child; when it goes wrong, he has a chance to make
things right. A secondary plot line deals with millworker Carrie Pipperidge and her
romance with ambitious fisherman Enoch Snow. The show includes the well-known
songs "If I Loved You", "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" and "You'll Never Walk Alone".
Richard Rodgers later wrote that Carousel was his favorite among all his musicals.
Following the spectacular success of the first Rodgers and Hammerstein musical,
Oklahoma! (1943), the pair sought to collaborate on another piece, knowing that any
resulting work would be compared with Oklahoma!, most likely unfavorably. They were
initially reluctant to seek the rights to Liliom; Molnár had refused permission for the work
to be adapted in the past, and the original ending was considered too depressing for the
musical theatre. After acquiring the rights, the team created a work with lengthy
sequences of music and made the ending more hopeful.
The musical required considerable modification during out-of-town tryouts, but once it
opened on Broadway on April 19, 1945, it was an immediate hit with both critics and
audiences. Carousel initially ran for 890 performances and duplicated its success in the
West End in 1950. Though it has never achieved as much commercial success as
Oklahoma!, the piece has been repeatedly revived, and has been recorded several times.
A production by Nicholas Hytner enjoyed success in 1992 in London, in 1994 in New
York and on tour. In 1999, Time magazine named Carousel the best musical of the 20th
century.

Background

Liliom
Ferenc Molnár's Hungarian-language drama, Liliom, premiered in Budapest in 1909. The
audience was puzzled by the work, and it lasted only thirty-odd performances before
being withdrawn, the first shadow on Molnár's successful career as a playwright. Liliom
was not presented again until after World War I. When it reappeared on the Budapest
stage, it was a tremendous hit.

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"A star—please, my dear—I must do something good." Liliom (Joseph Schildkraut)
offers Louise (Evelyn Chard) the star he stole. 1921 Theatre Guild production.
Except for the ending, the plots of Liliom and Carousel are very similar. Andreas
Zavocky (nicknamed Liliom, the Hungarian word for "lily", a slang term for "tough
guy"), a carnival barker, falls in love with Julie Zeller, a servant girl, and they begin
living together. With both discharged from their jobs, Liliom is discontented and
contemplates leaving Julie, but decides not to do so on learning that she is pregnant. A
subplot involves Julie's friend Marie, who has fallen in love with Wolf Biefeld, a soldier
—after the two marry, he becomes the owner of a successful cafe. Desperate to make
money so that he, Julie and their child can escape to America and a better life, Liliom
conspires with lowlife Ficsur to commit a robbery, but it goes badly, and Liliom stabs
himself. He dies, and his spirit is taken to heaven's police court. As Ficsur suggested
while the two waited to commit the crime, would-be robbers like them do not come
before God himself. Liliom is told by the magistrate that he may go back to Earth for one
day to attempt to redeem the wrongs he has done to his family, but must first spend
sixteen years in a fiery purgatory
On his return to Earth, he encounters his daughter, Louise, who like her mother is now a
factory worker. Saying that he knew her father, he tries to give her a star he stole from the
heavens. When Louise refuses to take it, he strikes her. Not realizing who he is, Julie
confronts him, but finds herself unable to be angry with him. Liliom is ushered off to his
fate, presumably Hell, and Louise asks her mother if it is possible to feel a hard slap as if
it was a kiss. Julie reminiscently tells her daughter that it is very possible for that to
happen.

Inception
In the 1920s and 1930s, Rodgers and Hammerstein both became well known for creating
Broadway hits with other partners. Rodgers, with Lorenz Hart, had produced a string of
over two dozen musicals, including such popular successes as Babes in Arms (1937), The
Boys from Syracuse (1938) and Pal Joey (1940). Some of Rodgers' work with Hart broke
new ground in musical theatre: On Your Toes was the first use of ballet to sustain the plot
(in the "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" scene), while Pal Joey flouted Broadway tradition
by presenting a knave as its hero. Hammerstein had written or co-written the words for
such hits as Rose-Marie (1924), The Desert Song (1926), The New Moon (1927) and
Show Boat (1927). Though less productive in the 1930s, he wrote material for musicals
and films, sharing an Academy Award for his song with Jerome Kern, "The Last Time I
Saw Paris", which was included in the 1941 film Lady Be Good.
By the early 1940s, Hart had sunk into alcoholism and emotional turmoil, becoming
unreliable and prompting Rodgers to approach Hammerstein to ask if he would consider
working with him. Hammerstein was eager to do so, and their first collaboration was
Oklahoma! (1943).[ Thomas Hischak states, in his The Rodgers and Hammerstein
Encyclopedia, that Oklahoma! is "the single most influential work in the American
musical theatre. In fact, the history of the Broadway musical can accurately be divided
into what came before Oklahoma! and what came after it."An innovation for its time in
integrating song, character, plot and dance, Oklahoma! would serve, according to

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Hischak, as "the model for Broadway shows for decades", and proved a huge popular and
financial success. Once it was well-launched, what to do as an encore was a daunting
challenge for the pair. Movie producer Sam Goldwyn saw Oklahoma! and advised
Rodgers to shoot himself, which according to Rodgers "was Sam's blunt but funny way of
telling me that I'd never create another show as good as Oklahoma!"As they considered
new projects, Hammerstein wrote, "We're such fools. No matter what we do, everyone is
bound to say, 'This is not another Oklahoma!' "
Oklahoma! had been a struggle to finance and produce. Hammerstein and Rodgers met
weekly in 1943 with Theresa Helburn and Lawrence Langner of the Theatre Guild,
producers of the blockbuster musical, who together formed what they termed "the Gloat
Club". At one such luncheon, Helburn and Langner proposed to Rodgers and
Hammerstein that they turn Molnár's Liliom into a musical. Both men refused—they had
no feeling for the Budapest setting and thought that the unhappy ending was unsuitable
for musical theatre. In addition, given the unstable wartime political situation, they might
need to change the setting from Hungary while in rehearsal. At the next luncheon,
Helburn and Langner again proposed Liliom, suggesting that they move the setting to
Louisiana and make Liliom a Creole. Rodgers and Hammerstein played with the idea
over the next few weeks, but decided that Creole dialect, filled with "zis" and "zose"
would sound corny and would make it difficult to write effective lyrics.
A breakthrough came when Rodgers, who owned a house in Connecticut, proposed a
New England setting. Hammerstein wrote of this suggestion in 1945,
I began to see an attractive ensemble—sailors, whalers, girls who worked in the mills up
the river, clambakes on near-by islands, an amusement park on the seaboard, things
people could do in crowds, people who were strong and alive and lusty, people who had
always been depicted on the stage as thin-lipped puritans—a libel I was anxious to
refute ... as for the two leading characters, Julie with her courage and inner strength and
outward simplicity seemed more indigenous to Maine than to Budapest. Liliom is, of
course, an international character, indigenous to nowhere.
Rodgers and Hammerstein were also concerned about what they termed "the tunnel" of
Molnár's second act—a series of gloomy scenes leading up to Liliom's suicide—followed
by a dark ending. They also felt it would be difficult to set Liliom's motivation for the
robbery to music. Molnár's opposition to having his works adapted was also an issue; he
had famously turned down Giacomo Puccini when the great composer wished to
transform Liliom into an opera, stating that he wanted the piece to be remembered as his,
not Puccini's. In 1937, Molnár, who had recently emigrated to the United States, had
declined another offer from Kurt Weill to adapt the play into a musical.

The pair continued to work on the preliminary ideas for a Liliom adaptation while
pursuing other projects in late 1943 and early 1944—writing the film musical State Fair
and producing I Remember Mama on Broadway. Meanwhile, the Theatre Guild took
Molnár to see Oklahoma! Molnár stated that if Rodgers and Hammerstein could adapt
Liliom as beautifully as they had modified Green Grow the Lilacs into Oklahoma!, he
would be pleased to have them do it. The Guild obtained the rights from Molnár in
October 1943. The playwright received one percent of the gross and $2,500 for "personal

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services". The duo insisted, as part of the contract, that Molnár permit them to make
changes in the plot. At first, the playwright refused, but eventually yielded. Hammerstein
later stated that if this point had not been won, "we could never have made Carousel."
In seeking to establish through song Liliom's motivation for the robbery, Rodgers
remembered that he and Hart had a similar problem in Pal Joey. Rodgers and Hart had
overcome the problem with a song that Joey sings to himself, "I'm Talking to My Pal".
This inspired "Soliloquy". Both partners later told a story that "Soliloquy" was only
intended to be a song about Liliom's dreams of a son, but that Rodgers, who had two
daughters, insisted that Liliom consider that Julie might have a girl. However, the notes
taken at their meeting of December 7, 1943 state: "Mr. Rodgers suggested a fine musical
number for the end of the scene where Liliom discovers he is to be a father, in which he
sings first with pride of the growth of a boy, and then suddenly realizes it might be a girl
and changes completely."
Hammerstein and Rodgers returned to the Liliom project in mid-1944. Hammerstein was
uneasy as he worked, fearing that no matter what they did, Molnár would disapprove of
the results.Green Grow the Lilacs had been a little-known work; Liliom was a theatrical
standard. Molnár's text also contained considerable commentary on the Hungarian
politics of 1909 and the rigidity of that society. On a character level, a dismissed carnival
barker who hits his wife, attempts a robbery and commits suicide seemed an unlikely
central character for a musical comedy. Hammerstein decided to use the words and story
to make the audience sympathize with the lovers. He also built up the secondary couple,
who are incidental to the plot in Liliom; they became Enoch Snow and Carrie Pipperidge.
"This Was a Real Nice Clambake" was repurposed from a song, "A Real Nice Hayride",
written for Oklahoma! but not used.
Molnár's ending was unsuitable, and after a couple of false starts, Hammerstein
conceived the graduation scene that ends the musical. According to Frederick Nolan in
his book on the team's works: "From that scene the song "You'll Never Walk Alone"
sprang almost naturally." In spite of Hammerstein's simple lyrics for "You'll Never Walk
Alone", Rodgers had great difficulty in setting it to music. Rodgers explained his
rationale for the changed ending,
Liliom was a tragedy about a man who cannot learn to live with other people. The way
Molnár wrote it, the man ends up hitting his daughter and then having to go back to
purgatory, leaving his daughter helpless and hopeless. We couldn't accept that. The way
we ended Carousel it may still be a tragedy but it's a hopeful one because in the final
scene it is clear that the child has at last learned how to express herself and communicate
with others.
When the pair decided to make "This Was a Real Nice Clambake" into an ensemble
number, Hammerstein realized he had no idea what a clambake was like, and researched
the matter. Based on his initial findings, he wrote the line, "First came codfish chowder".
However, further research convinced him the proper term was "codhead chowder", a term
unfamiliar to many playgoers. He decided to keep it as "codfish". When the song
proceeded to discuss the lobsters consumed at the feast, Hammerstein wrote the line "We
slit 'em down the back/And peppered 'em good". He was grieved to hear from a friend
that lobsters are always slit down the front. The lyricist sent a researcher to a seafood

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restaurant and heard back that lobsters are always slit down the back. Hammerstein
concluded that there is disagreement about which side of a lobster is the back. One error
not caught involved the song "June Is Bustin' Out All Over", in which sheep are depicted
as seeking to mate in late spring—they actually do so in the winter. Whenever this was
brought to Hammerstein's attention, he told his informant that 1873 was a special year, in
which sheep mated in the spring.
Rodgers early decided to dispense with an overture, feeling that the music was hard to
hear over the banging of seats as latecomers settled themselves. In his autobiography,
Rodgers complained that only the brass section can be heard during an overture because
there are never enough strings in a musical's small orchestra. He determined to force the
audience to concentrate from the beginning by opening with a pantomime scene
accompanied by what became known as "The Carousel Waltz".The pantomime paralleled
one in the Molnár play, which was also used to introduce the characters and situation to
the audience. Author Ethan Mordden described the effectiveness of this opening:
Other characters catch our notice—Mr. Bascombe, the pompous mill owner, Mrs. Mullin,
the widow who runs the carousel and, apparently, Billy; a dancing bear; an acrobat. But
what draws us in is the intensity with which Julie regards Billy—the way she stands
frozen, staring at him, while everyone else at the fair is swaying to the rhythm of Billy's
spiel. And as Julie and Billy ride together on the swirling carousel, and the stage picture
surges with the excitement of the crowd, and the orchestra storms to a climax, and the
curtain falls, we realize that R & H have not only skipped the overture and the opening
number but the exposition as well. They have plunged into the story, right into the middle
of it, in the most intense first scene any musical ever had.

Casting and tryouts

The casting for Carousel began when Oklahoma!'s production team, including Rodgers
and Hammerstein, was seeking a replacement for the part of Curly (the male lead in
Oklahoma!). Lawrence Langner had heard, through a relative, of a California singer
named John Raitt, who might be suitable for the part. Langner went to hear Raitt, then
urged the others to bring Raitt to New York for an audition. Raitt asked to sing Largo al
factotum, Figaro's song from The Barber of Seville, to warm up. The warmup was
sufficient to convince the producers that not only had they found a Curly, they had found
a Liliom (or Billy Bigelow, as the part was renamed). Theresa Hepburn made another
California discovery, Jan Clayton, a singer/actress who had made a few minor films for
MGM. She was brought east and successfully auditioned for the part of Julie.
The producers sought to cast unknowns. Though many had played in previous
Hammerstein or Rodgers works, only one, Jean Casto (cast as carousel owner Mrs.
Mullin, and a veteran of Pal Joey), had ever played on Broadway before. It proved harder
to cast the ensemble than the leads, due to the war—Rodgers told his casting director,
John Fearnley, that the sole qualification for a dancing boy was that he be alive. Rodgers
and Hammerstein reassembled much of the creative team that had made Oklahoma! a
success, including director Rouben Mamoulian and choreographer Agnes de Mille. Miles
White was the costume designer while Jo Mielziner (who had not worked on Oklahoma!)
was the scenic and lighting designer. Even though Oklahoma! orchestrator Russell

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Bennett had informed Rodgers that he was unavailable to work on Carousel due to a
radio contract, Rodgers insisted he do the work in his spare time. He orchestrated "The
Carousel Waltz" and "(When I Marry) Mister Snow" before finally being replaced by
Don Walker. A new member of the creative team was Trude Rittman, who arranged the
dance music. Rittman initially felt that Rodgers mistrusted her because she was a woman,
and found him difficult to work with, but the two worked together on Rodgers' shows
until the 1970s.
Rehearsals began in January 1945; either Rodgers or Hammerstein was always present.
Raitt was presented with the lyrics for "Soliloquy" on a five-foot long sheet of paper—the
piece ran nearly eight minutes. Staging such a long solo number presented problems, and
Raitt later stated that he felt that they were never fully addressed. At some point during
rehearsals, Molnár came to see what they had done to his play. There are a number of
variations on the story. As Rodgers told it, while watching rehearsals with Hammerstein,
the composer spotted Molnár in the rear of the theatre and whispered the news to his
partner. Both sweated through an afternoon of rehearsal in which nothing seemed to go
right. At the end, the two walked to the back of the theatre, expecting an angry reaction
from Molnár. Instead, the playwright said enthusiastically, "What you have done is so
beautiful. And you know what I like best? The ending!" Hammerstein wrote that Molnár
became a regular attendee at rehearsals after that.
Like most of the pair's works, Carousel contains a lengthy ballet, "Billy Makes a
Journey", in the second act, as Billy looks down to the Earth from "Up There" and
observes his daughter. In the original production, and in the film, the ballet was
choreographed by de Mille. As originally written, de Mille's ballet lasted an hour and
fifteen minutes. It began with Billy looking down from heaven at his wife in labor, with
the village women gathered for a "birthing". The ballet involved every character in the
play, some of whom spoke lines of dialogue, and contained a number of subplots. The
focus was on Louise, played by Bambi Linn, who at first almost soars in her dance,
expressing the innocence of childhood. She is teased and mocked by her schoolmates,
and Louise becomes attracted to the rough carnival people, who symbolize Billy's world.
A youth from the carnival attempts to seduce Louise, as she discovers her own sexuality,
but he decides she is more girl than woman, and he leaves her. After Julie comforts her,
Louise goes to a children's party, where she is shunned. The carnival people reappear and
form a ring around the children's party, with Louise lost between the two groups. At the
end, the performers form a huge carousel with their bodies.
The play opened for tryouts in New Haven, Connecticut on March 22, 1945. The first act
was well-received; the second act was not. Casto recalled that the second act finished
about 1:30 a.m. The staff immediately sat down for a two-hour conference. Five scenes,
half a ballet and two songs were cut from the show as the result. John Fearnley
commented, "Now I see why these people have hits. I never witnessed anything so brisk
and brave in my life." De Mille said of this conference, "not three minutes had been
wasted pleading for something cherished. Nor was there any idle joking. ... We cut and
cut and cut and then we went to bed." By the time the company left New Haven, de
Mille's ballet was down to forty minutes.
A major concern with the second act was the effectiveness of the characters He and She
(later called by Rodgers "Mr. and Mrs. God"), depicted as a New England minister and

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his wife, before whom Billy appears after his death. Mr. and Mrs. God were seen in a
New England parlor. The couple was still part of the show at the Boston opening.
Rodgers said to Hammerstein, "We've got to get God out of that parlor". When
Hammerstein inquired where he should put the deity, Rodgers replied, "I don't care where
you put Him. Put Him on a ladder for all I care, only get Him out of that parlor!"
Hammerstein duly put Mr. God (renamed the Starkeeper) atop a ladder, and Mrs. God
was removed from the show. Rodgers biographer Meryle Secrest terms this change a
mistake, leading to a more fantastic afterlife, which was later criticized by The New
Republic as "a Rotarian atmosphere congenial to audiences who seek not reality but
escape from reality, not truth but escape from truth".
Hammerstein wrote that Molnár's advice, to combine two scenes into one, was key to
pulling together the second act and represented "a more radical departure from the
original than any change we had made". A reprise of "If I Loved You" was added in the
second act, which Rodgers felt needed more music. Three weeks of tryouts in Boston
followed the brief New Haven run, and the audience there gave the musical a warm
reception. An even shorter version of the ballet was presented the final two weeks in
Boston, but on the final night there, de Mille expanded it back to forty minutes, and it
brought the house down, causing both Rodgers and Hammerstein to embrace her.

Synopsis

Act 1
Two young female millworkers in 1873 Maine visit the town's carousel after work. One
of them, Julie Jordan, attracts the attention of the barker, Billy Bigelow ("The Carousel
Waltz"). When Julie lets Billy put his arm around her during the ride, Mrs. Mullin, the
widowed owner of the carousel, tells Julie never to return. Julie and her friend, Carrie
Pipperidge, argue with Mrs. Mullin. Billy arrives and, seeing that Mrs. Mullin is jealous,
mocks her and is fired from his job. Billy, unconcerned, invites Julie to join him for a
beer. As he goes to get his belongings, Carrie presses Julie for her feelings toward him,
but Julie is evasive ("You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan"). Carrie has a beau too,
fisherman Enoch Snow ("Mister Snow"). Billy returns for Julie as the departing Carrie
warns that staying out late means the loss of Julie's job. Mr. Bascombe, owner of the mill,
happens by and warns Julie that Billy has taken money from other women. Bascombe
offers to take Julie home, but she refuses and is fired. Left alone, she and Billy talk about
what life might be like if they were in love, but neither quite confesses the growing
attraction they feel for each other ("If I Loved You").
A month passes, and preparations for the summer clambake are under way ("June Is
Bustin' Out All Over"). Julie and Billy, now married, live at Julie's cousin Nettie's spa.
Julie confides in Carrie that Billy, frustrated over being unemployed, has been beating
Julie. Carrie has happier news—she is engaged to Enoch, who promptly arrives. Billy
enters with his ne'er-do-well whaler friend, Jigger. The former barker is openly rude to
Enoch and Julie. He leaves with Jigger, followed by a distraught Julie. Enoch tells Carrie
that he expects to become rich selling herring and to have a large family with Carrie
("When the Children Are Asleep. Jigger and his shipmates sing about life on the sea
("Blow High, Blow Low"). The whaler tries to recruit Billy to help with a robbery, but

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Billy declines, as the victim—Julie's former boss, Mr. Bascombe—might have to be
killed. Mrs. Mullin tries to tempt Billy back to the carousel (and to her). He would have
to abandon Julie; no married barker can match the sexual tension of an unmarried one.
Billy reluctantly mulls it over as Julie arrives and Mrs. Mullin leaves. Julie tells him she
is pregnant. Billy is overwhelmed with happiness by the news, ending all thoughts of
returning to the carousel. Billy, now alone on stage, imagines the fun he will have with
Bill Jr.—until he realizes that child might be a girl, and "you've got to be a father to a
girl" ("Soliloquy"). Determined to provide financially for his future child, Billy decides to
be Jigger's accomplice.
The whole town leaves for the clambake. Billy agrees to join in, as he realizes that being
seen at the clambake is integral to his and Jigger's alibi. Julie is delighted that he will
accompany her ("Act I Finale").

Act 2
Everyone reminisces about the huge meal and much fun ("This Was a Real Nice
Clambake"). Jigger tries to seduce Carrie. Enoch walks in at the wrong moment, seeing
Carrie in Jigger's arms, and declares that he is finished with her ("Geraniums In the
Winder"), as Jigger jeers ("There's Nothin' So Bad for a Woman"). The girls try to
comfort Carrie, saying all men are bad. For Julie, however, all that matters is that "he's
your feller and you love him" ("What's the Use of Wond'rin'?"). Julie sees Billy trying to
sneak away with Jigger and, trying to stop him, she feels the knife hidden in his shirt. She
begs him to give it to her, but he refuses and leaves to commit the robbery.
As they wait, Jigger and Billy gamble with cards. They stake their shares of the
anticipated robbery spoils. Billy loses: his participation is now pointless. Unknown to
Billy and Jigger, Mr. Bascombe, the intended victim, has already deposited the mill's
money. The robbery fails: Bascombe pulls a gun on Billy while Jigger escapes. Billy
stabs himself with his knife; Julie arrives just in time for him to say his last words to her
and die. Julie strokes his hair, finally able to tell him that she loved him. Carrie and
Enoch, reunited by the crisis, attempt to console Julie; Nettie arrives and gives Julie the
resolve to keep going despite her despair ("You'll Never Walk Alone").
Billy's defiant spirit ("The Highest Judge of All") is taken Up There to see the Starkeeper,
a heavenly official. The Starkeeper tells Billy that the good he did in life was not enough
to get into heaven, but so long as there is a person alive who remembers him, he can
return for a day to do good to redeem himself. He informs Billy that fifteen years have
now passed on Earth since the former barker's suicide, and suggests that Billy can get
himself into heaven if he does something to help his daughter, Louise. He helps Billy
look down from heaven to see her (instrumental ballet: "Billy Makes a Journey"). Louise
has grown up to be lonely and bitter. The local children ostracize her because her father
was a thief and a wife-beater. In the dance, a young ruffian, much like her father at that
age, flirts with her and abandons her as too young. The dance concludes, and Billy
decides to return to Earth to help his daughter. He steals a star to take with him, as the
Starkeeper pretends not to notice.
Outside Julie's cottage, Carrie describes her visit to New York with the now-wealthy

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Enoch. Carrie's husband and their many children enter to fetch her—the family must get
ready for the high school graduation later that day. Enoch Jr., the oldest son, remains
behind to talk with Louise, as Billy and the Heavenly Friend escorting him enter,
invisible to the other characters. Louise confides in Enoch Jr. that she plans to run away
from home with an acting troupe. He says that he will stop her by marrying her, but that
his father will think her an unsuitable match. Louise is outraged: each insults the other's
father, and Louise orders Enoch Jr. to go away. Billy, able to make himself visible at will,
reveals himself to the sobbing Louise; he pretends to be a friend of her father. He offers
her a gift—the star he stole from heaven. She refuses it and, frustrated, he slaps her. As
he makes himself invisible, Louise tells Julie what happened, stating that the slap
miraculously felt like a kiss, not a blow—and Julie understands her perfectly.
Billy invisibly attends Louise's graduation, hoping for one last chance to help his
daughter and redeem himself. The beloved town physician, Dr. Seldon (who resembles
the Starkeeper) advises the graduating class not to rely on their parents' success or be held
back by their failure (words directed at Louise). Seldon prompts everyone to sing an old
song, "You'll Never Walk Alone". Billy, still invisible, whispers to Louise, telling her to
believe Seldon's words, and when she tentatively reaches out to another girl, she learns
she does not have to be an outcast. Billy goes to Julie, telling her at last that he loved her.
As his widow and daughter join in the singing, Billy is taken to his heavenly reward.

Character Description
Billy Bigelow A barker for a carousel
Julie Jordan A millworker, in love with Billy
Carrie Pipperidge A millworker and friend of Julie's, in love with Enoch Snow
Enoch Snow A fisherman, who thinks big in his plans
Nettie Fowler Julie's cousin and owner of a small seaside spa
Jigger Craigin A no-account whaler, Billy's friend
Louise Bigelow Billy and Julie's daughter
The Starkeeper An official in the afterlife

Musical numbers

Act I[
▪ "The Carousel Waltz"
▪ "You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan" – Carrie Pipperidge and Julie Jordan
▪ "(When I Marry) Mister Snow" – Carrie
▪ "If I Loved You" – Billy Bigelow and Julie
▪ "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" – Nettie Fowler and Chorus
▪ "Mister Snow (reprise)" – Carrie, Enoch Snow and Female Chorus

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▪ "When the Children Are Asleep" – Enoch and Carrie
▪ "Blow High, Blow Low" – Jigger Craigin, Billy and Male Chorus
▪ "Soliloquy" – Billy
Act II
▪ "This Was a Real Nice Clambake" – Carrie, Nettie, Julie, Enoch and Chorus
▪ "Geraniums in the Winder" – Enoch
▪ "There's Nothin' So Bad for a Woman" – Jigger and Chorus
▪ "What's the Use of Wond'rin'?" – Julie
▪ "You'll Never Walk Alone" – Nettie
▪ "The Highest Judge of All" – Billy
▪ "Billy Makes a Journey" – Instrumental ballet.
▪ "If I Loved You" (reprise) – Billy
▪ Finale: "You'll Never Walk Alone" (reprise) – Company

Music and recordings

[edit]
Musical treatment
Rodgers designed Carousel to be an almost continuous stream of music, especially in Act
1. In later years, Rodgers was asked if he had considered writing an opera. He stated that
he had been sorely tempted to, but saw Carousel in operatic terms. He remembered, "We
came very close to opera in the Majestic Theatre. ... There's much that is operatic in the
music."

Rodgers uses music in Carousel in subtle ways to differentiate characters and tell the
audience of their emotional state. In "You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan", the music for the
placid Carrie is characterized by even eighth-note rhythms, whereas the emotionally
restless Julie's music is marked by dotted eighths and sixteenths; this rhythm will
characterize her throughout the show. When Billy whistles a snatch of the song, he
selects Julie's dotted notes rather than Carrie's. Reflecting the close association in the
music between Julie and the as-yet unborn Louise, when Billy sings in "Soliloquy" of his
daughter, who "gets hungry every night", he uses Julie's dotted rhythms. Such rhythms
also characterize Julie's Act 2 song, "What's the Use of Wond'rin'". The stable love
between Enoch and Carrie is strengthened by her willingness to let Enoch not only plan
his entire life, but hers as well. This is reflected in "When the Children Are Asleep",
where the two sing in close harmony, but Enoch musically interrupts his intended's turn
at the chorus with the words "Dreams that won't be interrupted". Rodgers biographer
Geoffrey Block, in his book on the Broadway musical, points out that though Billy may
strike his wife, he allows her musical themes to become a part of him and never interrupts
her music.[80] Block suggests that, as reprehensible as Billy may be for his actions,
Enoch requiring Carrie to act as "the little woman", and his having nine children with her

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(more than she had found acceptable in "When the Children are Asleep") can be
considered to be even more abusive.
The twelve-minute "bench scene", in which Billy and Julie get to know each other and
which culminates with "If I Loved You", according to Hischak, "is considered the most
completely integrated piece of music-drama in the American musical theatre". The scene
is almost entirely drawn from Molnár and is one extended musical piece; Stephen
Sondheim described it as "probably the single most important moment in the revolution
of contemporary musicals”.
When the pair discussed the song that would become "Soliloquy", Rodgers improvised at
the piano to give Hammerstein an idea of how he envisioned the song. When
Hammerstein presented his collaborator with the lyrics after two weeks of work
(Hammerstein always wrote the words first, then Rodgers would write the melodies),
Rodgers wrote the music for the eight-minute song in two hours. "What's the Use of
Wond'rin'", one of Julie's songs, worked well in the show but was never as popular on the
radio or for recording, and Hammerstein believed that the lack of popularity was because
he had concluded the final line, "And all the rest is talk" with a hard consonant, which
does not allow the singer a vocal climax.

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