Carousel

The BBC Radio 4 Extra musicals season continues with one of the all-time greats, Carousel.

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel is based on Ferenc Molnar’s Liliom, set in a New England fairground towards the end of the 19th century. It tells the story of carousel barker Billy Bigelow and his love for millworker Julie Jordan. When she falls pregnant, he turns to robbery to provide for their unborn child.

Carousel was Rodgers and Hammerstein’s second musical, and followed on the heels of the spectacular success of Oklahoma! (1943). It debuted on Broadway in 1945 and then transferred to London’s West End five years later. The Hollywood version was released in 1956 and one of the musical’s greatest hits, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, has graced the terraces of Anfield since the Gerry & The Pacemakers version charted in 1963.

This version of Carousel was recorded exclusively for BBC Radio 2 in 1995, and stars Mandy Patinkin (Homeland; Dead Like Me) as Billy Bigelow and renowned British soprano Deborah Myers as Julie Jordan.

First heard on BBC Radio 2 in 1995

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To complement BBC Radio 4 Extra’s broadcast of the musical Carousel, directly after it finishes listeners can hear ELO’s Jeff Lynne choose 'If I Loved You' from Carousel by Rodgers and Hammerstein, and 'Only The Lonely' by Roy Orbison, as his Inheritance Tracks at 11:50 on Saturday 30 July.

Publicity contact: RH