Carousel 1994
Carousel 1994
carousel94fan
Swing Joined: 1/29/21
#1Carousel 1994
Posted: 1/29/21 at 9:14pm
Hi everyone, I'm new to the site today!
I hope everyone is safe and doing okay.
I just wanted to start a little thread on here for the 1994 Vivian Beaumont "Carousel" revival with Michael Hayden, Sally Murphy, and Audra McDonald...
It's my absolute favorite musical. I could listen to the Original Cast Recording all day long (and I have! lol).
Did anybody else here see it? What were your thoughts about it?
Jarethan
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/10/11
#2Carousel 1994
Posted: 1/31/21 at 11:35am
You are going to get a minority opinion here. I had seen Carousel 3 or 4 times before the LCT production, but none of the productions had been 'first rate'; one was at City Center and you could smell the moth balls, one was at a Summer Stock theatre, and one was in a regional theatre. So I did not have fond memories of it.
Based on the reviews, I got tickets immediately, got goosebumps during the opening minutes (the Carousel Waltz accompanied by 5 or 6 Carousel horses. It was brilliantly staged. The sets and costumes were terrific, the staging excellent, but I still didn't warm up to it. Several reasons: for me, the book is dreary and to the last minute I felt little sympathy for Billy Bigelow; second, and i know this is sacrilege, but -- despite the score having some magnificent music, e.g., You'll Never Walk Alone, Carousel Waltz, If I Loved You, Soliloquy and What's the Use of Wondering, I didn't like most of the rest of the score. Finally, for me, the performances were inconsistent. Michael Hayden's acting was terrific, but his singing was not up to the demands of the glorious songs his character was given. I don't even remember who played Julie because she made no impression. Audra Ann MacDonald was really good as Carrie, but IMO even there the incredible praise was a little over the top.
Again, however, I have never really been a fan of Carousel. Interestingly the only production I ever enjoyed was the concert version with Kelli O'Hara; I think there were two main reasons for that: the closeups and I could go to the bathroom or the kitchen during the boring parts,
#3Carousel 1994
Posted: 1/31/21 at 12:06pm
I never saw the movie growing up though I have heard of the songs "If I Loved You" and "You'll Never Walk Alone". The first time I ever saw a production of Carousel was the revival back in 2018. I loved the dance choreography and thought the cast was very talented and performed very well (5 Tony acting nominations) despite the lackluster reviews.
Anyways, I didn't know much about the 1994 production other than that was Audra's first Tony. I saw the press reel for that production on Youtube and looked pretty good. I didn't know Patrick Wilson performed Billy on tour.
LarryD2
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/1/14
#5Carousel 1994
Posted: 1/31/21 at 2:21pm
My memories:
Michael Hayden acted the role better than anyone I've ever seen, but he really couldn't sing it. Sally Murphy cried a lot. Audra really was as special as everyone says. (She missed a lot though -- the late, wonderful Lovette George was her standby.) Fisher Stevens was bad. Shirley Verrett was unintelligible. The production itself was gorgeous.
#6Carousel 1994
Posted: 2/1/21 at 8:54pm
Yeah, I've never liked Hayden's singing on the cast recording. I totally get that with some roles, an actor can "make up for" their singing by acting brilliantly, but Billy is such a vocally demanding role that it's kind of a dealbreaker. The fact that he didn't get a Tony nomination for such a great part kind of says it all. I saw him in Judgment at Nuremberg however, and he was perfect and got a well-deserved nomination for that.
LarryD2
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/1/14
#7Carousel 1994
Posted: 2/2/21 at 8:49am
They definitely wanted someone who was an actor first, and Hayden could make it work in the theater, but yeah, when you listen to the cast recording it's pretty unsatisfying. Patrick Wilson did the tour -- fresh from Carnegie Mellon and pretty much unknown -- and showed that you could act the role to perfection and meet the demands of the score. (Josh Henry did too in the 2018 revival.) I've seen Mike Hayden in other musicals and he's not a bad singer, but a role like Billy Bigelow is not your average role.
#8Carousel 1994
Posted: 2/2/21 at 11:30am
Billy is, these days, a very tough role to cast. Those with strength of voice often can't act. I'd rather a stronger actor than singer, if I can't have both. And most of the recordings out there suggests one can't have both. But it isn't as if Hayden can't sing. And he really understands the character. My only regret is the omission of "The Highest Judge of All."
mtcond
Chorus Member Joined: 5/20/14
#9Carousel 1994
Posted: 2/2/21 at 2:17pm
I saw one of the previews about a week before opening. The first fifteen minutes of the production were extraordinary. The story-telling/re-thinking of the opening, beginning with the girls working at the loom, leaving work, making their way to the park, and finally arriving at the carousel, was brilliant. The stage never stopped revolving through this sequence (in my memory, at least), and it was a great way to keep Carrie and Julie in our focus before introducing Billy and Mrs. Mullins. At the climax of the number, the carousel was assembled and the front rail of the balcony also lit up, which made the entire interior of the theater part of the carousel--it was FANTASTIC! And suddenly it all began to disappear as Mullins started chasing Julie and Carrie away from Billy, and this gorgeous green, moonlit hill came on and we were immediately into the first scene.
And then...this unknown person. Audra Ann McDonald. The thing to remember is that no one had encountered her before, this was her debut (and this was before the reviews and praise for the performance) so there was no anticipation or expectation. Then that sound, omg, that one-of-a-kind sound launched into "Mister Snow" with a full, rich orchestra behind. It was unparalleled in my theater-going history, where you hear something and think, "I'm gonna be able to say I was here when this happened". To me, it was that special. Who knew "Mister Snow" could stop the show?
Unfortunately, none of the rest of the evening lived up to those first fifteen minutes, especially vocally. Michael Hayden was a great Billy right up until he had to sing in that nasally, edgy sound. Sally Murphy was much better in the singing department, but no "Carousel" will triumph because of Julie. And as for Shirley Verrett, well, the once amazing instrument was past its prime. Don't get me wrong, the production itself was still very good, but we had reached a peak with the opening and Audra that never was equalled. At least until the second act ballet, which was also thrilling.
In defense of their Bench Scene, there was a sexual connection between Michael Hayden's Billy and Sally Murphy's Julie that I've not seen equaled. They were so attracted to one another they were afraid of each other. Once the kiss finally happened at the end of the scene, it was clear as they sank to the ground that this was going to be more than just a kiss.These two uneducated, uncommunicative characters had found their way to poetry.
#10Carousel 1994
Posted: 2/3/21 at 8:56am
When I saw the show, Hayden was out and his understudy was also sick. The producers brought in Marcus Lovett, who was then playing the Phantom, to do a week of performances while Hayden and the understudy both recovered. I remember Lovett sang very well but wasn't much in the acting department, and that he didn't seem to fully click with the rest of the cast. (That's understandable, since I believe he was thrown in with just a day or two of rehearsal.)
Looking back on IBDB, there's quite a few heavy hitters who were understudies in this production at the beginning of their careers: Michael Park and James Barbour for Billy (Barbour ultimately replaced Hayden for the last month of performances); Lauren Ward for Julie; Paula Newsome and Lovette George (RIP) for Carrie; Taye Diggs and Brian d'Arcy James for Jigger; Natascia Diaz for Mrs. Mullin; and Darius de Haas for Mr. Snow.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
Updated On: 2/3/21 at 08:56 AM
#11Carousel 1994
Posted: 2/4/21 at 9:39am
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I read recently that the original Billy understudies were Duane Boute and Tony Capone, and when Hayden was sick, Capone was also sick, so Boute was the only one who could go on. However, there were complaints from the audience about Boute’s performance - which seemed to really stem from the fact that he was Black. It was reported that he didn’t sing the role very well either, but some Karens allegedly really caused a fuss about “Black Billy” and that is why they brought in Marcus Lovett.
Pretty messed up, huh? Guess those folks would have hated the most recent revival then...
LarryD2
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/1/14
#12Carousel 1994
Posted: 2/4/21 at 1:57pm
I've never heard that story about Boutte. It definitely is possible that race was a factor, which would be odd considering that two of the principal cast members were Black. Not that racism follows any logic.
I found a New York Times article detailing the situation. This is what the author wrote:
Mr. Hayden, whose vocal cords were inflamed, was told by his physician, Dr. Jeffrey D. Libin of Manhattan, not to sing that night. He was replaced by Mr. Boutte, who normally plays a minor part as Enoch Snow Jr. Mr. Boutte was ill with a bronchial infection, Mr. Gersten said, "and he barely made it through the performance." About 25 people were unhappy with Mr. Boutte's performance and asked for a refund, Mr. Gersten said.
Mr. Hayden resumed his role the next day, but he was not fully recovered, Mr. Gersten said, so the producers began to hunt for a standby performer. Mr. Lovett and several others were brought in to audition with the Soliloquy and "If I Loved You," Billy Bigelow's major songs.
After last Tuesday's performance, Mr. Hayden's doctor ordered him to rest for a week, and Mr. Boutte was still not yet ready to sing the lead, so Wednesday's performances were canceled.
So that was the public-facing version of the story, at least.
https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/23/theater/the-show-goes-on-as-phantom-star-restarts-carousel.html
#13Carousel 1994
Posted: 2/8/21 at 10:41am
I saw the national tour of that production when it played Los Angeles. It had a revolve which was used to great effect throughout. It was very well staged and some of the gorgeous stage pictures haven't left me.
But my favorite over-all production has got to be the minimalist Reprise! concert I saw at the Freud Playhouse in L.A. Like others here, I had felt mostly indifferent in regards to the characters. So it was mostly about the music and dancing for me. By the end of the Reprise! concert performance, I was having a hard time fighting back my tears. I will never forget that moment Billy is singing to Julie at the graduation. Something about the way Julie acted and the way it was directed, I lost it.
It was definitely mostly due to the superb acting by the cast, especially the actress playing Julie (it has been years so her name escapes me but it shouldn't have; she was THAT good!). That girl poured her soul into the role and became the character. I had never felt that way about Julie before. She really fleshed out the character and made her so tragic, and somehow strong in her vulnerbility. It was an incredible performance.
The rest of the cast was top notch, all with great voices and acting. The dancing was also very impressive. I loved the ballet sequence. I recall just being mesmerized by it, the way the two dancers told a nuanced story.
They used a reduced orchestration which I was a bit concerned about but it was true to the original orchestration and was very skillfully adapted so it didn't sound thinned out or weak. In fact, it sounded so good, it allowed me to shift my focus to the action onstage because a badly adapted orchestration or a new orchestration (like the Les Mis trainwreck that everyone seems to like and is proof music education in this country is nonexistent or woefully lacking) is like a persistent thorn in my side.
I attended that performance even though I was extremely sick with a severe cold but my attention was so fixated on the show, I don't recall feeling the nasty sinus pain and pressure I thought would prevent me from enjoying the performance.
Recreation of original John Cameron orchestration to "On My Own" by yours truly. Click player below to hear.
#14Carousel 1994
Posted: 2/8/21 at 4:28pm
I know it's nit-picky, but Billy doesn't sing in the graduation scene. He only speaks. He tells Louise to believe Dr. Seldon's words and he tells Julie "Know that I loved you." In the scene prior to the graduation scene, he has an absolutely heart-breaking reprise of "If I Loved You."
