Although the Riverside Theatre production of Carousel was forced to shut down in mid-stride due to some positive cases of the coronavirus, this review of the show highlights the extraordinary talents of all those involved in the musical’s short-lived run. As a result, we feel that everyone’s hard work should still be recognized and applauded.
After a nearly two-year pandemic-induced hiatus, Riverside Theatre stirs gladly back to life with the soaring sound of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Carousel.”
There is so much enthusiasm on stage and in the audience for the return to live theater, that one happily excuses the occasional indulgence in expressiveness and pacing.
As expected, the voices are big and the visuals are beautiful in Riverside’s production of this 1945 musical. It begins not with an overture, but with “The Carousel Waltz.”
Here, director and designer Allen D. Cornell weaves a sword swallower, eye-popping acrobatics and gaudy dancers around a beautifully wrought, working carousel, which moves to center stage and, at times, upstages the actors, but we don’t care because we’re all so happy to be back in a live theater actually seeing something on stage.
Instead of being quarantined in our homes, we have gone back 150 years to a foggy fishing village on the coast of Maine. This dreamy beginning is where we meet the hardworking inhabitants for whom a seedy carnival is a seductive respite from a toilsome world. And we can relate.
It is also where the story, based on the popular Hungarian drama “Liliom,” gets set into motion with its plot-driven song, dance and character when carnival barker Billy Bigelow (splendidly voiced Jeffrey Kringer) and mill worker Julie Jordan (sweet-voiced Samantha Bruce) meet.
He has given her a free ride on the carousel and slipped an arm around her waist. His boss is attracted to him and knows that Julie is a serious competitor for his affections, so she does what any pre-#MeToo boss would do – she threatens to fire him.
Although urged by her friend Carrie Pipperidge (a most endearing and effervescent Rachael Scarr) to head back to the boarding house, Julie stays put. It’s as if the attraction between Julie and Billy has been written in the stars (foreshadowing here) and they deliver splendid and moving, two-hankey performances of the song “If I Loved You.”
But just like “Romeo and Juliet,” these lovers are star crossed. By the next scene, when the village is happily busy with life, and lusty Nettie Fowler (powerhouse Beth Kirkpatrick) sings “June Is Bustin’ Out All Over,” and Carrie and Mr. Snow (a most likable Daniel Schwait) have announced their betrothal, Billy and Julie are married, without work, and living under the beneficence of their landlady.
Life is about to get tougher in the second act. Again, it’s when the town is happy and this time united in enjoying “A Real Nice Clambake,” for which Rodgers and Hammerstein reworked “A Real Nice Hayride,” an unused song in their groundbreaking musical “Oklahoma!”
The real nice clambake ends with Nettie singing to Julie “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” so let that be the answer for all of you living in a cultural cave when you ask, “what happens?”
The second act is also where “Carousel” takes a sudden turn. It goes from a somewhat realistic storyline to something fantastical. Story spoilers here, so skip the next paragraph if you want.
Billy, now dead, the result of a failed robbery, is allowed by heavenly authorities to return to Earth for a day. He does so and meets his free-spirited daughter, Louise. Wanting to encourage her, he tries to give her a star he has plucked from the heavens. She refuses and he slaps her hand. Which then goes into the lamentable bit of dialogue between Louise and Julie when they both agree that sometimes you can be hit, and it won’t hurt at all.
Like any good director, Cornell finds the “problem with the play.” And this moment is the “Carousel” problem. Cornell does a good job in preparing us for this. He begins the story with a scene where a woman is struck, and he lets the comments about Billy hitting Julie linger.
So, we know what is coming. Still, it’s a problem when Julie suggests that if the person who hits you loves you, then it doesn’t hurt. Simply put, it breaks a fourth wall, and we are out of the story, considering the reality of domestic abuse.
In addition to the music and visuals, one of the best parts of this production is choreographer DJ Salisbury’s great, ebullient dance numbers, which make you feel as though a giant rubber band has just been set free in you. His use of flips, and kicks, and stomps and some very springy dance steps electrify the stage. Don’t be surprised if you tear up when Jamie Pfaff, as Louise, throttles up in one of the best dance numbers to grace Riverside’s stage.
Music director Anne Shuttlesworth heads up the splendid 12-piece orchestra. Kurt Alger’s costumes and wigs are perfect and advance the show’s character and setting. Yael Lubetzky’s lighting design paints lovely pictures, although those colorful buoys do compete visually with the actors. And Craig Beyrooti’s sound design is subtle and atmospheric.
Riverside Theatre’s “Carousel” is a potent way to bring us back to the theater. It will make you laugh, cry and think. But especially cry, maybe just to be back. Do bring those hankies.
“Carousel” runs through Jan. 23 with performances at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; and 2 p.m. on Wednesdays, select Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets start at $45. Riverside Theatre is located at 3250 Riverside Dr., Vero Beach. Call 772-231-6990 or visit RiversideTheatre.com.
Photos provided
