CAROUSEL
Book & lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Music by Richard Rodgers
Based on the play Liliom by Ferenc Molnar
Choreographed by Justin Peck
Directed by Jack O’Brien
Imperial Theatre
249 West 45th Street
(212-239-6200), www.CarouselBroadway.com

By David NouNou

If you don’t have a real carousel on stage, how can you still call the show Carousel?

The definitive revival of Carousel was presented by Lincoln Center in 1994. So how can you improve on that production? You can’t; it is virtually impossible. Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel was a treat for sight, mind and sound. It is still a treat for sound because no matter how bad the production, nothing can ever dim the brilliance of the score. It was impeccably directed by Nicholas Hytner and choreographed to perfection by Sir Harold McMillan. The sets and costumes by Bob Crowley were a feast for the sight and mind that transported us to Maine for the turn of the 20^th century and what a magnificent carousel was created right on stage before our eyes. The lighting by Paul Pyant just added to the enchantment. It was a marvel to behold.

I guess by now you have figured out how I felt about the 1994 revival. I wish I could say the same about this version. Of all the famous Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, Carousel by contrast seems the most dated and sluggish of their shows. Other than the brilliant score, there really is very little cause to revive this show unless you have a revelatory vision, which this version totally lacks.

This is a delicate piece about a lovely, gentle factory worker, Julie Jordan (Jessie Mueller) falling in love for the good-looking brutish carnival/carousel barker, Billy Bigelow (Joshua Henry).  Billy gets fired from his job because he pays too much attention to Julie. This is not an easy love. They truly do love each other, but the difficulties of life and the difficulty of Billy trying to find a job all make him abuse Julie, precipitating his ultimate demise and never getting to see his unborn daughter. He is given a second chance to plead his case to come down to Earth and do right by Julie and his daughter, Louise, who is 15 now and is having a hard time finding her place in the world.

In order for this gentle piece to work there has to be real chemistry between Julie and Billy to be able to sell this fantasy Although both Ms. Mueller and Mr. Henry are incredible talents in their own right, their chemistry here is below the charts. Mr. Henry possesses a great singing voice, but here he is a one-note charmless brute as Billy and Ms. Mueller, who is also in great voice, adds no spark or life into her Julie. Considering how much life and charm Ms. Mueller injected into Beautiful and Waitress and Mr. Henry in The Scottsboro Boys and Violet, together they totally flatline as a couple.

The joys of the show are Renee Fleming as Julie’s Aunt Nettie, whose rendition of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” brought the house down; and Alexander Gemignani as Enoch Snow, Julie’s best friend Carrie Pipperidge’s fiancé, singing “When the Children Are Asleep” is an absolute joy. The two of them just fill the stage and we wish the show could have been more about them.

The creative team does little to eliminate the datedness of the show. Jack O’Brien’s listless direction makes the proceedings even more ponderous. Justin Peck, resident choreographer of the New York City Ballet, scraped all the revolutionary choreography that Agnes DeMille and Harold McMillan created for “The Carousel Waltz,” “June Is Bustin’ Out All Over,” “Louise’s Ballet” to name a few, and instead inserts his banal choreography that slows the proceedings even further. The brilliant Santo Loquasto–who won a Tony last year for Hello, Dolly!–has created some of his dullest designs. There isn’t even a carousel in this version, just a lone horse among dancers; and the lighting by Brian MacDevitt is so dim, you can hardly see the stage.

Other than the brilliant score, this version of Carousel is totally unhinged, never gets to spin and stalls.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 12, 2018
Reviewed at performance on April 8, 2018

Image: Carousel on Broadway/Facebook

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LA DIVA & HER GHOSTWRITER: Renée Fleming & Jerry O’Connell in ‘Living On Love.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

LIVING ON LOVE
Written by Joe DiPietro
Based on the play Peccadillo by Garson Kanin
Directed by Kathleen Marshall
Longacre Theatre
220 West 48th Street
(212-239-6200), www.LivingOnLoveBroadway.com

By David NouNou

As comedies are very rare on Broadway these days, one has to be grateful for Living On Love, a play that has been rebooted by Joe DiPietro and has the feel of comedies of the 1950s. A lot of those comedies had a paper-thin plotline; not very taxing on the stars that portrayed those characters. The trials and tribulations were set up, but they all sorted themselves out in the end. Their objective was to please an audience. They were usually written for married celebrity couples like Rex Harrison and his then-wife Lili Palmer, and the show would have a large advance due to the marquee star power and usually lasted between six to nine months, or the entire season if lucky. This way, the actors could display their grand living albeit via the stage, the customers were happy seeing stars playing themselves or facsimiles, though some critics may have groused over the skimpy storyline. But best of all, the producers recouped their money and everybody went home happy.

Peccadillo by Garson Kanin (on which this show is based) is such a play. Mr. Kanin wrote it in 1985 but the setting and time is New York City in 1957. The characters in Peccadillo would have been the kind of people he came in contact with; after all, he did work in the theater. He was married to Ruth Gordon and they were best friends with Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy.

In Living On Love, Vito De Angelis, a conductor, known to his nearest and dearest as Maestro (Douglas Sills), a cross between Leonard Bernstein and Steve Martin, is married to La Diva, Raquel De Angelis (Renée Fleming) for over 30 years. Their egos precede them wherever they go. They have both fallen on hard times, meaning they are getting older and their demand is less, so now they are in the process of writing their biographies and have been assigned ghostwriters to assist them. Maestro has a spunky junior editor, Iris Peabody (Anna Chlumsky). La Diva has the fawning writer Robert Sampson (Jerry O’Connell). And the best thing any household can have is a pair of harmonious butlers who have been serving the Maestro and La Diva for over 30 years: Bruce (Blake Hammond) and Eric (Scott Robertson). Needless to say, in the quest to see who finishes the book first, flirtatious goings on take place, with a lot of preening and boasting taking place.

Renée Fleming not only entices her protégé writer, Robert, but the audience as well, with her trilling of various arias from the operas she’s appeared in and what a voice. Ms. Fleming, a multiple Grammy Award winner, is making her Broadway debut. She has the diva down pat, but her inner actress for Broadway has to find its center. Douglas Sills, with a heavy Italian accent as the Maestro, is hysterical with himself as the center of the universe. He knows how to squeeze every line and leer for all it’s worth.

Jerry O’Connell, as the spineless ghostwriter, has the perfect bumbling and cuteness to make Robert believable. Anna Chlumsky, with her perky self-doubt, is the perfect foil to give Mr. O’Connell the spine he has been lacking. Together they would be the adorable younger couple. As the two butlers, Blake Hammond and Scott Robertson are synchronistic perfection; second bananas that steal the show.

Kathleen Marshall’s direction keeps things moving at a fast pace, which keeps the audience alert when the script lags. Living On Love is a nugget from yesteryear; you don’t go to peel off its veneer, you go to enjoy it, have a few laughs and go home relishing Ms. Fleming’s voice and presence, Mr. Sills’ eccentric, over-the-top behavior of a narcissist, Mr. Hammond & Mr. Robertson’s synchronicity, as well as enjoy Mr. O’Connell and Ms. Chlumsky finding their way through the mayhem. All in all, an enjoyable, harmless old-fashioned comedy whose purpose is to be entertaining and diverting for a couple of hours.

THE MAESTRO & LA DIVA: Douglas Sills & Renée Fleming in ‘Living On Love.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

MADCAP MOMENT: (left to right) Renée Fleming, Jerry O’Connell & Douglas Sills in ‘Living On Love.’ Photo: Joan Marcus

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published April 24, 2015
Reviewed at press performance on April 23, 2015

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