1.3 Carousel!

The Gospel of Musical Theatre

We're taking a critical look at the 1945 masterpiece Carousel – maybe Rodgers & Hammerstein’s finest score, but a show that definitely hasn't aged well. What can contemporary audiences do with Julie Jordan and Billy Bigelow and their complicated and violent relationship? ________________________________ We talk about...

• Cycles of Abuse: Billy and Julie’s complicated relationship and the idea of the "conditional love song"
• Redemptive Suffering: The myth of redemptive suffering – and Carousel's theatrical depiction of the afterlife
• Are we more than our worst choices?
• Is it true that “you’ll never walk alone?”
• Redemption: Can a problematic show with a gorgeous score be “redeemed” for contemporary audiences?

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You'll hear this music from the 1956 film version of Carousel:

• Shirley Jones & Claramae Turner singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone”
• Shirley Jones singing “If I Loved You”
• Barbara Ruick, Claramae Turner, Robert Rounseville & Cameron Mitchell singing “This Was a Real Nice Clambake”

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Check out some of our all-time favorites!

• Phantom of the Opera
• Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
• Jesus Christ Superstar!
• Schmigadoon! (Season 1 / Season 2)
• West Side Story!
• Yentl!
• Frozen!
• Barbie!

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Continue the conversation with us on Instagram (@gospelofmt).