Congratulations to Benlin Alexander a senior at Clarkstown South High School. He is the winner of our 2008 poster contest. Ben will receive $100.00 in cash, a t-shirt plus two tickets to "Carousel". His poster will appear on the Playbill cover, t-shirts and of course on all of the posters.
Carousel is a musical by Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics) that was adapted from Ferenc Molnar's 1909 play Liliom (transplanting the Budapest setting to a New England fishing village). The original production opened on Broadway on April 19, 1945, and ran for 890 performances. The show included the hit musical numbers If I Loved You, June Is Bustin' Out All Over, and You'll Never Walk Alone. Carousel was innovative for its time, being one of the first musicals to contain a tragic plot. The musical has enjoyed award-winning revivals (particularly the 1994 revival at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre) and has been adapted as a Cinemascope film in 1956 and as a made-for-television special on videotape in 1967. It is particularly well-regarded among musicals by the theatre community, and Richard Rodgers, in his autobiography Musical Stages, said it was his favorite musical. Time Magazine named it the best musical of the 20th century.
Carousel 1956 Motion Picture- "If I Loved You" (Reprise)
Carousel 1956 Motion Picture- "You'll Never Walk Alone" (Ending)
Two young female mill workers in freshly industrialized 1870s New England visit the town's carousel after work. One of them — demure Julie Jordan — shares a lingering glance and is flirted with by the carousel's barker, Billy Bigelow (instrumental piece: "Carousel Waltz"). Mrs. Mullin, owner of the carousel, arrives and tells Julie never to return to the carousel because Julie let Billy put his arm around her during the ride. Julie's friend, Carrie Pipperidge, and Julie argue with Mrs. Mullin. Billy arrives and initially sides with Mrs. Mullin (who flirts with him outrageously) until he realizes that Mrs. Mullin is just jealous of Julie, at which point he switches sides and is fired from his job. Carrie presses Julie for information about the carousel ride with Billy, but Julie is reticent about the encounter ("You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan"). Eventually satisfied, Carrie confides that she has a beau of her own: local fisherman Enoch Snow ("Mister Snow"). Billy returns and makes it clear that only Julie should stay with him. Carrie leaves after revealing that, if they stay out, they will lose their jobs at the mill. Mr. Bascombe, owner of the mill, and a policeman appear and warn Julie that Billy has taken money from other women. Bascombe offers to take Julie home so she can keep her job, but she refuses and gets fired, too. She and Billy, now alone, can talk freely, but neither can quite confess the growing attraction they feel for each other ("If I Loved You"). A month passes. At a spa owned by Julie's cousin, Nettie Fowler, sailors appear with clams for the evening's clambake. They are noisy, which spurs Carrie and the other female townfolk to jeer at them (this section is sung as a sort of recitative, rather than spoken). Nettie arrives and, spotting the sexual tension, leads them all in celebrating love and spring. An elaborate dance ensues ("June Is Bustin' Out All Over"). The men leave as Julie, now married to Billy, arrives. (He and his whaler friend Jigger have been missing all night.) Nettie tells Carrie to comfort Julie. To divert the other girls from their eavesdropping, Nettie then unsuccessfully encourages the girls to clean up. Julie confides in Carrie that Billy, now unemployed and living with Julie at Nettie's, is unhappy over the loss of his job and, out of frustration, has slapped Julie. Carrie also has happier news — she and Enoch are to be married. At this, the girls who have so far been feigning work, rush over, congratulate Carrie, and imagine the wedding day (reprise: "Mister Snow"). Enoch has arrived and startles the girls by joining them in song. The girls leave Julie, Carrie, and Enoch alone. Carrie tries to converse with Julie and Enoch, but Julie's unhappiness overcomes her: she bursts into tears in Enoch's arms. As she pulls herself together, Billy arrives with Jigger. He is openly rude to Enoch and then Julie, and he soon leaves along with Jigger, followed by a distraught Julie. Left alone, Carrie and Enoch extol the virtues of a life plan. Enoch reveals how he expects both to become rich selling canned sardines and to have a large family with Carrie ("When The Children Are Asleep"). Meanwhile, Billy, Jigger, and other whalers sing of life on the sea ("Blow High, Blow Low"). The singing segues into a dance, with the local girls flirting with the whalers. Jigger tries to recruit Billy to help with a robbery, but Billy declines when Jigger tells him that the victim might have to be killed. Mrs. Mullin arrives and tries to tempt Billy back to the carousel (and to her), and he reveals he is unhappy with Julie. Julie arrives. There is almost an argument, but Mrs. Mullin leaves to go to the bank. Julie tells Billy of her pregnancy and they go inside. Mrs. Mullin and Jigger return and spar until Billy comes back out and tells Mrs. Mullin to leave. Overwhelmed with happiness by the news, and determined to provide financially for his future child, Billy decides to be Jigger's accomplice after all ("Soliloquy"). Act 1 ends with the whole town leaving for the clambake. Billy, who previously shunned the idea of going to the clambake, now realizes it is integral to his and Jigger's alibi: he decides to go too. Julie is delighted.
The act begins with the town reminiscing about the huge meal that they have just eaten ("This Was a Real Nice Clambake"). As everyone leaves to help clear up before the treasure hunt, Jigger tries to seduce Carrie. Unfortunately, Enoch walks in while Carrie is in a compromising position. He declares that he is finished with her ("Geraniums In The Winder"), as Jigger jeers ("Stonecutters Cut It On Stone"). The girls try to comfort Carrie, saying all men are bad; they urge Julie to leave Billy. Instead, Julie replies that you should stand by your man through thick and thin ("What's The Use Of Wondrin'?"). She sees Billy trying to sneak away with Jigger and, while trying to stop him, feels the knife hidden in his shirt. She begs him to give it to her, but he refuses and leaves to commit the robbery. Julie realizes that Billy is about to do something that may get him in trouble. Jigger and Billy gamble, using cards. At stake is their shares of the anticipated robbery spoils. Billy loses his share of the expected proceeds: his participation is now pointless. Mr. Bascombe, the intended robbery victim, has already deposited the money he was expected to be carrying. He instead carries a gun. The robbery fails: Bascombe pulls his gun and starts shooting. Jigger escapes, but the police corner Billy. Billy stabs himself with his knife and dies; Julie arrives too late. Carrie tells Julie that Billy's death is not necessarily a bad thing. Enoch gets back together with Carrie and supports this view. Mrs. Mullin arrives, much to the disgust of the townfolk, but Julie lets her view the body. Mrs. Mullin does so, then runs off weeping. Everyone leaves except Julie, and Nettie, who comforts Julie ("You'll Never Walk Alone"). Billy arrives at heaven's gate. There, a pair of blunt-spoken angels explain that, to enter, he must alleviate the distress he caused. Billy refuses to see a simple magistrate in Heaven: he demands to be taken directly to God to be judged ("The Highest Judge Of All"). The Starkeeper angel sends him back to earth. Stealing a star on the way down, he returns fifteen years after his suicide. His daughter, Louise, is now an angry and rebellious teen, mocked by Mr. Snow's snobbish and wealthy children because her father was a thief (instrumental: "Louise's Ballet"). Enoch and his children stop by Julie's house to pick up Carrie on the way to the graduation, and Enoch's son (Enoch Jr.) waits behind to talk to Louise. Louise reveals she plans to run away from home with a carnival troupe she met. But when Enoch Jr. proposes, she decides to stay. He reveals, however, that his father would not think Louise an appropriate match. Insulted, Louise orders him to leave and bursts into tears. Billy, able to make himself visible or invisible at will, reveals himself to Louise; he pretends to be a friend of her father. Trying to cheer her up, he offers her a small gift — the star he stole from Heaven. She refuses it and, frustrated, he slaps her. As he makes himself invisible, Louise tells Julie what has happened. She reveals that the slap miraculously felt like a kiss, not a blow. Without allowing her to actually see him, Billy finally confesses his love to Julie (reprise: "If I Loved You"). Having thus made amends, he invisibly attends Louise's high-school graduation. The whole town shuns her and refuses to applaud her. Dr. Seldon, who strangely resembles the Starkeeper, tells the graduating class not to rely on their parents' success (advice directed at Enoch Jr.) or be held back by their parents' mistakes (directed at Louise). Seldon then leads everyone in a final chorus (reprise: "You'll Never Walk Alone"). Billy, still invisible, whispers to Louise, telling her to have confidence in herself. His silent words enter her mind and, inspired, she -- along with Julie -- joins the singing. This good deed redeems Billy, who wins entry into Heaven. Note: The graduation scene is a complete departure from Molnar's Liliom, in which Liliom is supposedly sent to Hell after slapping his daughter, even though, in the Molnar play, the slap also feels like a kiss.
Theresa Helburn and Lawrence Langner of the Theatre Guild, producers of the blockbuster musical Oklahoma!, proposed to Rodgers and Hammerstein that they turn Molnar's Liliom into a musical. At first reluctant -- put off by the original setting (Hungary), the dark story, and a criminal anti-hero leading character -- they agreed to take on the project. Moving the setting to the New England coast was the key. Both Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II said Carousel was their favorite collaboration. They broke new ground in musical theater storytelling with their extended music-and-dialog scenes, such as the "bench scene", which features "If I Loved You", and the haunting "Soliloquy" in which Billy imagines his future child. These scenes, especially the former, treat singing like spoken dialog set to music (much as in opera recitative, with the "recitative" singing leading up to the actual song). The final anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone" has assumed a life of its own as a funeral and graduation standard. It is also customarily sung by supporters of several soccer clubs, first and foremost Liverpool Football Club. In 1999, Time Magazine in its "Best of the Century" list, named Carousel the Best Musical of the 20th century: "They set the standards for the 20th century musical".
Original Broadway Production
The original production, which was directed by Rouben Mamoulian, opened at Broadway's Majestic Theatre on April 19, 1945, and closed on May 24, 1947, after 890 performances. The original cast included John Raitt (Billy), Jan Clayton (Julie), Jean Darling (Carrie), Eric Mattson (Mr. Snow), Christine Johnson (Nettie), Murvyn Vye (Jigger), and Bambi Linn (Louise) and Connie Baxter (Mrs. Mullin). A two-year national tour followed. Original West End production Carousel moved into Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in June 1950, soon after Oklahoma! closed, for a run of over a year and a half. 1957 New York Revival The 1957 revival opened at New York's City Center on September 11, 1957 and ran for 24 performances. The New York City Center Light Opera Company produced this revival. John Fearnley and Robert Pageant directed, and Agnes de Mille handled the choreography. The cast featured Barbara Cook (Julie Jordan), Howard Keel (Billy Bigelow), Pat Stanley (Carrie Pipperidge), Russell Nype (Mr. Snow), James Mitchell (Jigger), and Victor Moore (Starkeeper/Dr. Seldon). 1965 Lincoln Center revival In 1965, the Music Theater of Lincoln Center produced Carousel. John Raitt re-created the role of Billy Bigelow. London's Royal National Theatre 1992 revival The Royal National Theatre (RNT) revival, directed by Nicholas Hytner and choreographed by Sir Kenneth MacMillan, opened on December 10, 1992. It played for sixteen weeks in the Lyttelton Theatre, then transferred in 1993 to the Shaftesbury Theatre. The production starred Joanna Riding as Julie Jordan and Katrina Murphy as Carrie. Michael Hayden as Billy Bigelow was nominated for an Olivier Award. In 1994 RCA Victor Broadway released an album for this production. 1994 Broadway Revival The 1994 revival, a joint production of The Royal National Theatre and Lincoln Center Theater, opened at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre on March 24, 1994. It ran for 337 performances plus 38 previews. The production was a transfer of the 1992 RNT production of Carousel.[3] After the London run, an interracial production was directed by Hytner, with choreography by MacMillan. It featured Sally Murphy as Julie Jordan, Audra McDonald as Carrie Pipperidge, Shirley Verrett as Nettie and Hayden, again, as Billy Bigelow. The revival won five Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical, best direction, best choreography. It received eight Drama Desk Award nominations, winning five. McDonald, in her first Broadway role, won the Tony for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical. McDonald and Hayden received the Theatre World Award. A Japanese tour followed. 1996/1997 U.S. National Tour The London/Broadway production -- directed by Hytner, choreographed by MacMillan, and produced by the Royal National Theatre -- toured the U.S. for fifteen months. This was the first national exposure for Patrick Wilson, who played Billy Bigelow. Other cast members who eventually went on to Broadway and film careers include Sarah Uriarte Berry, Jennifer Laura Thompson and Brett Rickaby. 2002 New York Concert On June 6, 2002, Hugh Jackman appeared as Billy Bigelow in a special concert performance of Carousel at Carnegie Hall in New York. London revival A London revival is scheduled to begin in December 2007 at The Obie Theatre, Selhurst, Croydon.
THEMES AND ISSUES
Carousel was an opportunity for Oscar Hammerstein II to explore societal attitudes and prejudices in a musical play. The main social themes are social class, hypocrisy and conduct. Julie and Billy are working class; Enoch and (ultimately) Carrie are middle class. The second act illuminates differences between these two families. South Pacific would go on to return to social themes by high-lighting and attacking racial prejudice. Domestic violence is another significant and controversial theme in the play. Billy's physical abuse of Julie is condemned by some of the characters, but accepted by Julie herself, who endures his slaps because she loves him and understands his emotional pain.
1956 film and 1967 TV version A film version of the musical was made in 1956, starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones. There was also a 1967 network television version.
Rodgers and Hammerstein
(l to r) Richard Rodgers, (Irving Berlin) and Oscar Hammerstein II.
Rodgers and Hammerstein were an American songwriting duo consisting of Richard Rodgers (1902 – 1979) and Oscar Hammerstein II (1895 – 1960). They are most famous for creating a string of immensely popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s, during what is considered the golden age of the medium. Five of their shows were outstanding successes: Oklahoma! (their first collaboration); Carousel; South Pacific; The King and I; and The Sound of Music. In all, among the many accolades their shows (and their film versions) garnered were thirty-four Tony Awards; fifteen Academy Awards; two Pulitzer Prizes; and two Grammys. This, in spite of the fact that Rodgers and Hammerstein began writing together before the era of the Tonys - Oklahoma! opened in 1943 and Carousel in 1945, and the Tonys did not begin to be awarded until 1947.
Previous work and partnerships Rodgers had previously been in a successful partnership with Lorenz Hart; among their Broadway hits were the shows Babes in Arms, Pal Joey and A Connecticut Yankee. Hammerstein, a co-writer of the popular Rudolf Friml operetta Rose Marie, began a successful collaboration with composer Jerome Kern on Sunny, which was a great hit; their 1927 musical Show Boat is considered to be one of the masterpieces of the American musical theatre. Among others, Hammerstein continued to work with Kern and operetta composer Sigmund Romberg on shows such as Sweet Adeline, Music in the Air and Very Warm for May. Although the last of these was panned by critics as a failure, it contained one of Kern and Hammerstein's best-loved songs, All the Things You Are. In the meantime, Lorenz Hart sank deeper into alcoholism and became more unreliable, prompting Rodgers to approach Hammerstein to ask if he would consider the possibility of working with him. They made a secret arrangement, which came into force when Hart was not available to work on the project Oklahoma! Independently of each other, Rodgers and Hammerstein had been attracted to making a musical based on Lynn Riggs' stage play Green Grow the Lilacs. When Jerome Kern declined Hammerstein's offer to work on such a project and Hart refused Rodgers' offer to do the same, Rodgers and Hammerstein began their first collaboration together. The result, Oklahoma! (1943), marked a revolution in musical drama. Although not the first musical to tell a story of emotional depth and psychological complexity, Oklahoma! introduced a number of new storytelling elements and techniques. These included its focus on emotional empathy; characters and situations far removed from the audience by time and geography; its use of American historical and social materials; and its use of dance and song to convey plot and character rather than act as an intermission or diversion from the story. The first production was called Away We Go! and opened in the Shubert Theatre in New Haven during March 1943. Only a few changes were made before it opened on Broadway, but two would prove significant: the addition of a show-stopping number, Oklahoma!; and the decision to retitle the musical after it. The original Broadway production opened on March 31, 1943 at the St. James Theatre. At the time, roles in musicals were usually filled by actors who could sing, but Rodgers and Hammerstein chose the reverse, casting singers who could act. As a result, there were also no stars in the production, another unusual step. Nevertheless, the production ran for a then unprecedented 2212 performances, finally closing on May 29, 1948. Many all time musical standards come from this show - among them Oh What a Beautiful Mornin', The Surrey With The Fringe On Top, People Will Say We're In Love, and the title song, Oklahoma! In 1955 it was adapted to make an Academy Award-winning musical film, shot both in the then new 70mm widescreen Todd-AO format and the more established Cinemascope format for theatres without 70mm projection equipment. The film's soundtrack was #1 on the 1956 album charts. After their initial success with Oklahoma!, the pair took a small break from working together and Hammerstein concentrated on the musical Carmen Jones, a Broadway version of Bizet's Carmen with the characters changed to African-Americans in the then-modern South, for which he wrote the book and lyrics. Carousel The original production of Carousel was directed by Rouben Mamoulian and opened at Broadway's Majestic Theatre on April 19, 1945, running for 890 performances and closing on May 24, 1947. The original cast included John Raitt, Jan Clayton, Jean Darling, Eric Mattson, Christine Johnson, Murvyn Vye, Bambi Linn, and Russell Collins. From this show came the hit musical numbers The Carousel Waltz (an instrumental), If I Loved You, June Is Bustin' Out All Over, and You'll Never Walk Alone. Carousel was also revolutionary for its time — it was one of the first musicals to contain a tragic plot; the show was adapted from Ferenc Molnar's play Liliom. The 1956 film version of Carousel, made in Cinemascope 55, starred the same two actors who had starred in the movie of Oklahoma! - Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones. State Fair In 1945, a Technicolor musical film version of Phil Stong's novel State Fair, with songs and script by Rodgers and Hammerstein, was released. The film, a remake of a 1933 non-musical Will Rogers movie of the same name, starred Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews, Dick Haymes and Vivian Blaine. This was the only time the pair ever wrote a score directly for a film. It was a great success, winning R&H their only Oscar, for the song It Might as Well Be Spring. In 1962, there was an unsuccessful remake of the musical film, and it was not until years later that the musical was finally performed onstage for the first time - also unsuccessfully. South Pacific South Pacific opened on Broadway on April 7, 1949, and ran for more than five years. A number of its songs, such as Bali Ha'i, Younger than Springtime, and Some Enchanted Evening, have become worldwide standards. For their adaptation, Rodgers and Hammerstein, along with co-writer Joshua Logan, won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1950. The play is based upon two short stories by James A. Michener from his book Tales of the South Pacific, which itself was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1948. The original cast starred Mary Martin as the heroine Nellie Forbush and opera star Ezio Pinza as Emile de Becque, the French plantation owner. Also in the cast were Juanita Hall, Myron McCormick, Betta St. John, and William Tabbert. The 1958 film version, also directed by Logan, starred Mitzi Gaynor, Rossano Brazzi, John Kerr, Ray Walston, and Juanita Hall. Brazzi, Kerr, and Hall had their singing dubbed by others. Much of the film was shot on location on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. The King and I Based on Margaret Landon's Anna and the King of Siam, the biographical story of Anna Leonowens, governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s, Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical The King and I opened on Broadway on March 29, 1951 and starred Gertrude Lawrence as Anna, and a mostly unknown Yul Brynner as the King. This musical featured the hit songs I Whistle a Happy Tune, Hello Young Lovers, Getting to Know You, We Kiss in a Shadow, Something Wonderful, I Have Dreamed, and Shall We Dance. It was later adapted for film, in 1956 with Brynner re-creating his role opposite Deborah Kerr. Brynner won an Oscar as Best Actor for his portrayal, and Kerr was nominated as Best Actress. Brynner reprised the role twice on Broadway in 1977 and 1985, and in a short-lived TV sitcom in 1972, Anna and the King. The Sound of Music The Sound of Music was Rodgers and Hammerstein's last work together. It told the story of the von Trapp family. It opened on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on November 16, 1959, and starred Mary Martin as Maria and Theodore Bikel as Captain von Trapp. It later was made into a movie (released in 1965) starring Julie Andrews as Maria and Christopher Plummer as the Captain. The movie won five Oscars, including best picture and best director, Robert Wise. Hammerstein did not live to see the movie made. When Rodgers wrote two extra songs for the movie, he wrote the lyrics also. The Sound of Music probably contains more hit songs than any other Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, probably due more than anything to the phenomenal success of the film version - the most financially successful film adaptation of a Broadway musical ever made. Legacy These two artists completely re-worked the musical theatre genre. Before they came along musicals were whimsical and usually built around a star, although there were exceptions such as Show Boat, which was also co-written by Hammerstein. Because the efforts of Rodgers and Hammerstein were so successful, more musicals now contained thought-provoking plots, and every aspect of the play, dance, song and drama, was important to the plot. In 1950, the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein received The Hundred Year Association of New York's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York." In addition to their enduring work, Rodgers and Hammerstein were also honored in 1999 with a United States Postal Service stamp commemorating their partnership The Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York City is named after Rodgers. List of shows * (1943) Oklahoma! * (1945) Carousel * (1945) State Fair (a musical film, not a show) * (1947) Allegro * (1949) South Pacific * (1951) The King and I * (1953) Me and Juliet * (1955) Pipe Dream * (1957) Cinderella (first version for television) * (1958) Flower Drum Song * (1959) The Sound of Music * (1962) State Fair (musical film remake, with additional songs by Rodgers) * (1965) Cinderella (second version for television). Rodgers was executive producer; Hammerstein had died five years earlier. * (1993) A Grand Night for Singing (revue) * (1996) State Fair (stage version) * (1997) Cinderella (third television version, with additional songs from shows by Rodgers and Hart)
Liliom is a 1909 play by Ferenc Molnár, famous as the basis for the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel. Plot Molnár's most famous play, it concerns Liliom, a tough, cocky carousel barker who falls in love with Julie, a young woman who works as a maid. When both lose their jobs and Julie discovers that she is pregnant, Liliom, unbeknownst to Julie, agrees to participate with his friend Ficsúr, a criminal, in a holdup to obtain money to provide for the child. The holdup is a disaster, but Ficsúr escapes, and Liliom kills himself to avoid capture. He is sent to a fiery place, presumably Purgatory. Sixteen years later, he is allowed to return to earth for one day to do a good deed for his now teenage daughter, whom he has never met. He fails in the attempt, and is presumably sent to Hell. The ending, though, focuses on Julie, who obviously remembers Liliom fondly. A contrasting subplot involves Julie's best friend, Marie, and Wolf Beifeld, a rather pompous hotel porter who marries Marie and eventually becomes the wealthy owner of the hotel at which he once worked. The two eventually have seven children, but the children never appear onstage in Molnár's play, although they are a very unpleasant bunch in Carousel, in which the number of children is increased to nine rather than seven. There is also a Carpenter in Liliom who is in unrequited love with Julie, and who, in contrast to Liliom, has a stable job. Reception and adaptations Liliom was a failure in Hungary when it was staged there in 1909, but not when it was staged on Broadway in an English translation by Benjamin Glazer in 1921. The production starred Joseph Schildkraut and Eva Le Gallienne. The two also starred in the first revival, in 1932. In 1940, a second revival, starring Burgess Meredith and Ingrid Bergman, played New York. In 1945, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II wrote Carousel, an American musical adaptation of the play, which became one of the great classics of musical theatre. Even though the musical adaptation took liberties with Molnár's play, changing the ending so that the ex-barker is successful in his return to Earth, Molnár applauded Carousel. The character of Liliom's daughter, Louise, is made more poignant in the musical, in which she is snobbishly taunted and rejected because her father was a thief. In Carousel, the characters of Marie and Wolf Beifeld in Liliom become Carrie Pipperidge and Mr. Snow, and Snow, who becomes a fisherman in the musical, is made even more pompous than in the original play. It is Carrie and Snow's children who so viciously taunt Louise, although, in an effort by Hammerstein to keep Carrie sympathetic, she is totally unaware of this, and in contrast to Mr. Snow, is supportive of a potential budding relationship between Snow's eldest son and Louise. (The relationship is quickly cut short, however, when Snow's son insults Louise by practically stating outright that she is not good enough for him). Carousel also Americanizes the story, setting it in Maine during the last part of the nineteenth century, and including a New England clam bake as the setting for some of the more cheerful songs in the show. The names of most of the other characters were changed as well. Liliom became Billy Bigelow, the criminal Fiscúr became Jigger Craigin, and Mother Hollunder, the boarding house keeper, became Julie's cousin Nettie. There is no Carpenter in Carousel. There is an added layer of social commentary in Liliom which is deliberately omitted from Carousel. The intended holdup victim in Molnar's play, a cashier named Linzman, is Jewish, as is Wolf Beifeld. In Carousel, Linzman becomes Mr. Bascombe, the wealthy owner of the cotton mill at which Julie once worked.
Ferenc Molnár (originally Ferenc Neumann; b. Budapest, January 12, 1878; d. New York City, April 1, 1952) was one of the greatest Hungarian dramatists and novelists of the 20th century. His Americanized name is Franz Molnar. He emigrated to the United States to escape the Nazi persecution of Hungarian Jews during World War II. As a novelist, Molnár is remembered principally for The Paul Street Boys which tells the story of two rival gangs of youths in Budapest. The novel is a classic of youth literature, beloved in Hungary and abroad for its treatment of the themes of solidarity and self-sacrifice. It was ranked second in a poll of favorite books as part of the Hungarian version of Big Read in 2005 and is, internationally, perhaps the most famous Hungarian novel. It has also been made into a film several times. The most notable production was a Hungarian-U.S. collaboration released in 1969. Molnár's most popular plays are Liliom (1909, tr. 1921), later adapted into the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical play Carousel (1945); The Guardsman (1910, tr. 1924), which served as the basis of the film of the same name (1931); and "The Swan" (1920, tr. 1922). The 1956 film version of The Swan (which had been filmed twice before) is famous for being Grace Kelly's last movie, and for being released the same year that she herself became a princess. She married Prince Rainier that same year. Two of Molnar's other plays have been made into movie musicals: The Good Fairy, (adapted by Preston Sturges) was filmed in 1935 with Margaret Sullavan, and subsequently turned into the 1947 Deanna Durbin vehicle, I'll Be Yours. (It also served as the basis for the 1951 Broadway musical Make a Wish.) The film version of the operetta The Chocolate Soldier used the plot of Molnar's The Guardsman rather than the plot of its original stage version. (The stage version was an adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's antiwar satire, Arms and the Man, and Shaw had disapproved strongly that the operetta had stripped the play of its message. Finally, Molnar's play "The Play at the Castle" has twice been adapted into English by writers of note: by P. G. Wodehouse as "The Play's the Thing" and by Tom Stoppard as "Rough Crossing."
The entire contents of this page were freely adapted from the Internet Encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA.ORG. Thanks to Wikipedia!
