316,811 views Jun 1, 2012The 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 cast included John Raitt, Jan Clayton, Jean Darling, Christine Johnson and Bambi Linn. 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 — adapted from Ferenc Molnár’s play Liliom, it was one of the first musicals to contain a tragic plot;[citation needed] it also contained an extended ballet that was crucial to the plot, and several extended musical scenes containing both sung and spoken material, as well as dance. The 1956 film version of Carousel, made in CinemaScope 55, again starred Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones, the same leads as the film version of Oklahoma! Carousel is also unique among the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals for not having an overture; both the stage and film versions began with the familiar Carousel Waltz. This music was included in John Mauceri’s Philips Records CD of the complete overtures of Rodgers and Hammerstein with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. It was also included in Rodgers’ rare 1954 album for Columbia Records with the composer conducting the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
