Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1945 musical "Carnival" tells the story of young people who work for a carnival in Maine.
We meet two couples - Carrie and Enoch (our happy couple) and Julie and Billy (our complicated couple). Billy comes up with a dangerous idea to raise money for his growing family's future.
Awards (pre-Tony Awards - those were established in 1947):
Donaldson Award Highlights -
- Best Book, Music and Score
- Best Play of the 1944-1945 Season
- Male Lead Performance: John Raitt
- Direction (Musical): Rouben Mamoulian
- Choreography: Agnes DeMille
Hits:
The Carousel Waltz
If I Loved You
June is Bustin' Out All Over
You'll Never Walk Alone
Cringe Alert:
Overall - Julie and Billy's relationship is pretty dysfunctional. He's physically abusive, angry, and kinda shiftless, but she sticks with him anyway. There are subtle references to this behavior throughout the score. The show in no way condones this violence, but doesn't take extreme exception to it, either. As mentioned earlier... it's complicated.
