CAROUSEL.
London.
CAROUSEL
music by Richard Rodgers book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.
Savoy Theatre.
Mon-Sat 7.30pm Mat Thu, Sat & 26, 31 Dec 2.30pm. no mat 1 Jan.
no performance 24-25 Dec.
Runs 3hr 5min One interval.
TICKETS: 0870 164 8787.
www.carouselthemusical.com (£3 transaction fee).
Review: Timothy Ramsden 3 December.
Give them a star.
By the time Lindsay Posner’s production has run a month at the Savoy (and it must surely run far longer) it will be a century since the premiere of Hungarian dramatist Ferenc Molnar’s Liliom, source of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1945 musical. Though they lightened its tone considerably, there’s plenty to show Carousel’s creators were looking for more than dance and song froth on stage.
Including wife-beating, verbal violence, attempted robbery and suicide, then the loneliness of a one-parent child whose dead father had an ill reputation. Louise (finely characterised in dance by Lindsey Wise), daughter of millworker Julie Jordan and her husband, unemployed ex-fairground barker Billy Bigelow, has a tough time in this tight-knit, condescending New England community. And her dead father’s return, with a star of hope for her, shows him still unable to control his violence. The upbeat finale is created through hope rather than events, underpinned by the insistently rising line of Rodgers’ ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’.
Posner’s Carousel also points-up the limitations of the regular life. How happy would Laureen Hood’s lively Carrie really be with Alan Vicary’s dumbly forthright Enoch and their snobbishly upright procession of children? Happy mother as Carrie is, Hood suggests she’s aware of being a domestic equivalent to her husband’s expanding fleet.
Jeremiah James reaches towards Billy’s duality, torn between moments of love for Julie and a surly resentment fed by his companion Jigger (Graham MacDuff, a suavely nonchalant Dickensian criminal), while Alexandra Silber contents herself with singing well in clear, if simple postures. Lesley Garrett brings the up and down sides of her background; the opera singer’s idea that every point needs underlining by some movement or expression (see Diana Kent as Billy’s besotted ex-mployer for an actor’s ability to trace a mental process in quick detail). But Garrett’s voice shines with its unforced flexibility and powerful sustained high-notes.
Events whiz along thanks to designer William Dudley’s projections, which create the gaudy funfair and gradually speeding carousel, then the dark voyage from clambake island to dockside, alongside solidly wholesome New England locations. In all, a merry-come-round for Rodgers and Hammerstein.
Carrie Pipperidge: Lauren Hood.
Julie Jordan: Alexandra Silber.
Mrs Mullin: Diana Kent.
Billy Bigelow: Jeremiah James.
Juggler/Ensemble: Zeph.
1st Policeman/Ensemble: James O’Connell.
David Bascombe/Principal: David Delve.
Nettie Fowler: Lesley Garrett.
Enoch Snow: Alan Vicary.
Jigger Craigin: Graham MacDuff.
Arminy/Ensemble: Rebecca Lisewski.
2nd Policeman/Ensemble: Zak Nemorin.
Captain/Ensemble: Derek Hagen.
1st Heavenly Friend: Kathryn Akin.
2nd Heavenly Friend/Ensemble: Will Barratt.
Starkeeper/De Seldon: David Collings.
Louise: Lindsey Wise.
Carnival Boy: Tom Dwyer.
Enoch Snow Jr/Ensemble: Jay Beattie.
Townspeople/Amusement Park Carnies/Seafaring Men: Stephen Emery, Sheila Grant, Victoria Hinde, Rosanna Hyland, Jane McMurtrie, Alice Mogg, Tasha Sheridan, Lauren Varnham, Leon Webster.
Youngsters: Eleanor Banstead-Salim, Sophie Ella, Lauren Ellington, Molly Green, Lucy Hickey, Charlize Hyams, Ellie Jenkins, Biba Kang, Sophie Kearns, Hollie McKinley, Grace Pountney, Caroline Riley, Anna Simmons, Annabel Smith, Maizie Priscilla White.
Director: Lindsay Posner.
Designer: William Dudley.
Lighting: Peter Mumford.
Sound: Gareth Owen for Orbital.
Orchestrations: Larry Blank.
Music Director: David Firman.
Choreographer: Adam Cooper.
Dance Captain: Jane McMurtrie.
Costume: Deirdre Clancy.
Dialect coach: Penny Dyer.
Fight director: Terry King.
Associate director: Graham Gill.
Resident assistant choreographer: Tom Dwyer.
Associate music director: Mark Bousie.
Assistant dance captain: Leon Webster.
2008-12-08 10:38:39