Pops Puts Nice Spin on Carousel
Keith Lockhart Conducts Rodgers & Hammerstein's 1945 Classic
By: Charles Giuliano - Jul 11, 2007
Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel a Concert
Keith Lockhart conducting the Boston Pops for the benefit of the Boston Symphony Orchestra Pension Fund. Music by Richard Rodgers. Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein 11. Based on Ferenc Molnar's play "Liliom" as adapted by Benjamin F. Glazer. Original dances by Sgnes de Mille. Orchestrations by Dan Walker. Dance arrangements by Trude Rittmann. Cobcert adaption by Tom Briggs. Casey Hushion, stage director. Lawrence Goldberg, music director. Tim Bennett, assistant stage director. Cast: Aaron Lazar (Billy Bigelow), Rebecca Eichenberger (Nettie Fowler), Eve-Lyn de la Hayre (Julie Jordan), Rebecca Jo Loeb (Carrie Pipperidge), Matthew Anderson (Enoch Snow), Mischa Bouvier (Jigger Cragin), Patrick Shea (Narrator), Paula Plum (Mrs. Mullen), Jaclyn Sabogal (Louise Bigelow), Andrew Kotzen (Enoch Snow, Jr.), Natasha Ashworth (Miss Snow). Premiere: April 19, 1945, Broadway, New York City.
It was sweltering last night in the Koussevitzky Music Shed at Tanglewood but under the direction of Keith Lockhart conducting a concert version of the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein masterpiece. Carousel, "June Was Bustin' Out All Over." Well, July actually, as once again we visited a small seaport in Maine where all the girls moon and swoon over Billy Bigelow the handsome, tough, womanizing, abusive operator of the Carousel. His boss, Mrs. Mullen doesn't like him getting familiar with the customers. She would rather keep him to herself.
While there is a swirling debate about the ability of Tanglewood to put up stronger numbers and at least break even (See the Berkshire Eagle editorials, letters, and op ed pieces as well as a rebuttal by BFA music critic Michael Miller) on this scorching evening, with humidity you could cut with a knife, the shed and lawn were packed to the gills. Of course the Pops with its broader appeal, and the boyish, handsome conductor, Lockhart, are a winning combination on any given night.
But this program was particularly appealing as it brought to the Tanglewood stage a quite wonderful concert version of one of the most respected and admired of all American musicals. It was the favorite of many great works for its composer Richard Rodgers. The musical was noted as the first to introduce a tragic theme to the traditionally light hearted and comedic aura of the Broadway musical. It explores the devastating results when good girls like Julie Jordan fall for bad boys like Billy Bigelow. There is the parallel story of the good girl, Carrie Pipperidge, who is wooed by a solid provider, Enoch Snow, who is a catch as a potential husband, but, well kindah boring. After a flirtation with the ex con, Jigger Cragin, she is at first denounced as a chippie but Mr. Snow relents and they produce a brood of nine children. But that's not what the smitten Julie has in mind. Her Billy is no Mr. Bigelow.
Today, the sad love story may seem too obvious. After all, Carousel predated Streetcar Named Desire and the Wild Ones with Marlon Brando and James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause (which of course were not musicals) so the fact that Julie falls for, marries, and gets knocked up by the abusive Billie, who smacks her around out of impoverished frustrations, is all, well, rather predictable.
But, really, why quibble when the night air in the Berkshires soars with the renowned Pops orchestra and chorus and a superb cast which combined the highest levels of vocal talent with a limited but effective staging of the drama. There is, of course, the inevitable trade off of seeing this classic fully staged with sets, costumes and the dances of Agnes de Mille, compared to a concert version with a great orchestra and chorus which would be beyond the reach of a theatre production.
It is amazing to realize how many songs from this musical have become American standards. It was thrilling to hear Rebecca Eichenberger's swelling and soaring, joyous interpretation of "June Is Bustin' Out All Over." Eve-Lyn de la Haye sent shivers up my spine with a poignant and compelling, foreboding rendering of the perennial "If I Loved You." This turned into a galvanic duet with Aaron Lazar. Julie's friend, the more conservative little factory worker, Rebecca Jo Loeb was a perfect foil when she sang "Mister Snow." And, of course, there is the ultimate tear jerker, milked by every crooner under the sun, here done with a dollop of restraint by Eichenberger, "You'll Never Walk Alone."
There are a lot of ifs in the plot of this American tragedy. Billy might have kept his hands off the girls and kept his job by pleasuring the lusty Mrs. Mullen. Julie might have gone back to the workers' dorm by curfew. She knew what Billy wanted but didn't seem to care. Did that make her a tart as the righteous Mr. Snow implies? Was one night of passion worth the consequences when a desperate Billy takes his life after a botched robbery? Might Billy have learned a decent trade and worked an honest job to do the right thing for his family? Well, of course not. On this night the audience grabbed the brass ring. It was a real nice clambake. Or, perhaps, a bit of corn on the cob.