Carousel - the reviews December 4, 2008
Posted by Linda in : Carousel, opinion, press, reviews , add a commentCarousel Reviews
The newspaper critics reviews for Carousel at the Savoy Theatre are in and mostly they are fairly positive. Lesley Garrett comes in for a bit of criticism for her performance but apart from that I think they had a good time.
Benedict Nightingale in The Times at first felt the production suffered by comparison with the revival at the National 10 years ago but eventually warmed to it:
Yet gradually I thawed, as caught up in Hammerstein’s book as I was captivated by maybe the finest score even Rodgers ever produced. Yes, the show was overmiked, meaning that some songs sounded shrill. Yes, the artlessly cheerful millgirls who form half the chorus swirled about to annoyingly cute effect. Yes there wasn’t enough gravity in that wonderfully subjunctive love song, ‘If I Loved You’, and, yes, that meant that Alexandra Silber and Jeremiah James were failing to displace Joanna Riding and Michael Hayden on my mental hard disk. But by the famous ballet at the end I was won over once again.”
Michael Billington in the Guardian isn’t that keen on the show, never mind this production:
“How good is Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel? … Personally, I’ve always thought it a flawed masterwork; and so it proves once again in Lindsay Posner’s well-sung revival which holds one’s attention until the death of the hero, Billy Bigelow, after which the show ascends into the empyrean and the realms of pseudo-art “
Nicholas de Jongh in the Evening Standard was enchanted by the production but not too keen on Lesley Garret’s “gross, music hall Nettie”
“Despite Lindsay Posner’s old-fashioned production I was enchanted by Rodgers and Hammerstein’s bitter-sweet musical fantasy about missed life-chances in a 1870s New England village … That wonderful designer, William Dudley, initially summons up a fairground carousel that looks unprettily low-rent……. Dudley’s vivid back-projections offer ocean views, ships sailing and, with thrilling illusionary deftness, the spectacle of Billy ascending to heaven’s ‘back-yard’
Charles Spencer in the Daily Telegraph is more impressed and even names Carousel as “one of the greatest of all musicals”
“Most of the principals may not be famous names, but they bring real sincerity and freshness to their roles. Better yet, the cramped stage means that the show often seems to explode with vitality. In that great song of renewal and seething sexuality, ‘June is Bustin’ Out All Over’, Adam Cooper’s choreography sets the stage alight with high-kicks, dangerous lifts and a testosterone-charged athleticism that is thrilling. Of course, there will always be some who dismiss Carousel as gluttonously sentimental. It is not to everyone’s tastes … By the end of the show, with many in the audience audibly sniffing back the tears, it is clear that justice has been done to one of the greatest of all musicals.”
Ian Shuttleworth in the Financial Times enjoyed the show but felt the production ignored the darker side of Carousel.
I left the Savoy Theatre with hope in my heart, as the song exhorts, uplifted and unashamed at my immersion in the sentimentality of Lindsay Posner’s production. Only later did I remember that, to achieve this result, he has had to sell the pass on virtually every shadow in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical.
Yes, songs such as “If I Loved You” and the roustabout Billy Bigelow’s “Soliloquy” are heartbreaking in their yearning, and “June Is Bustin’ Out All Over” is an irresistible paean to going forth and multiplying. But, as Alastair Macaulay noted on this page on the show’s last major British revival in 2006 at Chichester, the narrative elements include “unemployment and conventional ideas of feminine decency… male violence to women, excessive gambling and finally a one-parent family”. All of which, in the moment (well, the three hours), manage to glide by insubstantially.
So there you are, mostly they enjoyed Carousel. I’d love to do a round up of blog reviews at this point but there really haven’t been any yet!
Of course, if you’ve been to see Carousel at the Savoy you are welcome to add your opinions here.
** Book Carousel Theatre Breaks **
Fiddler on the Roof closes January 27, 2008
Posted by admin in : Fiddler on the roof, Savoy , add a commentFiddler on the Roof, is to close on 16th February at the Savoy Theatre.
It has been running for nine months. The replacement show in May will be the “Take That” musical “Never Forget”
