There’s a telling bit of blocking in the first scene of the second act of “Carousel,” which recently opened at Goodspeed Opera House. It’s in the “Real Nice Clambake” number, and director Rob Ruggiero has the cast spread out across the stage in post-prandial lethargy. What’s significant is that sitting upright, stage center, are Nettie and Mr. Snow, and in the center of them, the focus of attention in this set-piece, is Carrie Pipperidge, while Julie and her husband, Billy Bigelow, the ostensible principals, are extreme stage right in a supine position – you actually have to hunt for them.
Why, you may ask, are Julie and
Billy in such a secondary position in the scene? The answer is quite simple:
Carrie is played by the marvelously talented Jenn Gambatese who, surrounded by
an extremely strong cast, still steals the show.
James Snyder and Teal Wicks. Photo by Diane Sobolewski
Yes, we tend to the story of Julie
(Teal Wicks) and Billy (James Snyder) as they fall in love, marry, only to have
it all end in tragedy, with Billy redeeming himself on his one-day trip back to
earth, but any time Gambatese, who several years ago won the Connecticut
Critics Circle award for best actress in a musical for her portrayal of Annie
Oakley in “Annie Get Your Gun,” is on stage she commands attention with her
strong voice, deft acting ability and great comedic timing (plus a lovely,
emotive face and evocative body language).
Early in the first act a thought
arose that she should be playing the
part of Julie, but no, she has been wisely cast as Julie’s best friend and the
musical is all the better for it.
And what a musical. Sometimes you
can tell from the opening moments of a production whether it is going to soar
or crash, and Ruggiero, along with scenic designer Michael Schweikardt and
chorographer Parker Esse, have put together a “Prologue” that simply dazzles.
Given the Opera House’s diminutive stage, you can’t expect to see an entire
carousel up there and you don’t, but the trio has placed trust in the
audience’s imagination, and it works.
Before the lights come up, sound
designer Jay Hilton gives us what sounds like rockers creaking on a wooden
porch and you ask yourself, what the hell is that? Well, it’s a group of young
women arranged in tableau working in synchronized movements at imaginary looms
– it’s a beautiful, engaging image that dissolves as the workday ends and the
girls travels to an amusement park where Billy mans the carousel, which is
represented first by whirling silhouettes of the horses, then a single horse
designed by Brent White, and then, flats are turned and there are four young
woman riding imaginary horses – they slowly spin as the single real horse rises
and falls, all to the tuneful music of Richard Rodgers “Prologue.” It’s
magical, and lets the audience know that its members are in very capable hands,
and those hands never, not for a moment, miss a beat throughout the entire
evening. The artistry is such that, for someone who has seen this musical on
Broadway, in regional theater, and in London ,
it was surprisingly fresh and new and, in the final scene so touching that
jaded eyes were a bit misty.
As already mentioned, the fact that
Gambatese steals the show is a minor miracle given the strength of the rest of
the cast. Wicks (who will be replaced in the role on Aug. 8 by Erin Davie –
Wicks is moving on to a national tour of “Jekyll & Hyde”) is a
strong-willed yet innocent Julie who interacts extremely well with Snyder – their
opening number, “If I Loved You,” is as poignant as you can ask for, and a
wonderful confirmation of how Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, who wrote the
book and lyrics, revolutionized American musical theater. It is a marvelous
merger of song and dialogue that establishes character, creates conflict and
satisfies on multiple levels.
Snyder is a commanding figure on
the stage, playing the Bigelow role with just the right blend of bravado,
injured male pride and underlying insecurity, and his signature number, the
“Soliloquy,” is staged by Ruggiero to heighten Snyder’s physical presence –
during the final moments of the song, which Snyder delivers very effectively as
part dialogue and part sung cri de coeur, Ruggiero has Snyder stride forward
onto a small thrust stage. As he does so, lighting designer John Lasiter
back-lights the actor. The overall effect is gripping – Billy Bigelow, swearing
that he will find some way to earn money in a big voice that reaches to the
farthest corners of the theater, looms over the audience as an aching,
impassioned presence.
Anne Kanengeiser and the cast of "Carousel." Photo by Diane Sobolewski
And there are other stand-out
performances. Deanne Lorette, as Mrs. Mullin, the owner of the carousel, is the
woman of a certain age who is smitten by Billy, and she creates a sensitive
portrait of a woman trying to hold onto her man and her dignity. Equally
impressive is Anne Kanengeiser as Nettie, the boardinghouse lady who comforts
Julie by telling her she will “Never Walk Alone.” Then there’s the villain of
the piece, Jigger Craigin (note how “hard” the name sounds – amazing what a
little alliteration can convey), portrayed by Tally Sessions. Sessions takes a
one-dimensional character and turns him into a multi-faceted rogue who gives us
a lively “Stonecutters” and, acting in concert with Gambatese (yes, there she
is again), provides a set-piece that is the comic high-point of the evening.
Finally, there’s Eloise Kropp as
Louise, Julie and Billy’s daughter. She gives us the requisite angry,
head-strong fifteen-year-old, but in the “Ballet” sequence, loosely based on
the original Agnes de Mille choreography, we see character and emotions translated
into movement, with the help of Sam Rogers, who plays the dream-sequence
barker. I’ve never been a big fan of the ballet sequence in “Carousel,” but,
perhaps given the tight quarters, there’s an energy here that I’ve never seen
before. Heretofore I’ve sat through the sequence; this time, I lived through
it.
All in all, this is perhaps one of
the strongest, most cohesive…and thoroughly entertaining productions I’ve seen
at Goodspeed, which always sets the bar high. In this case, the bar is very
high, and everyone involved leaps over it with ease. If you only have time to
see one show this summer in Connecticut ,
go see “Carousel.” You won’t regret it.
The “Carousel” run has been
extended through Sept. 29. For tickets or more information call 860-873-8668 or
go to www.goodspeed.org.
For Ct Theater News and Reviews. To see what other critics have to say about this show go to www.ctcritics.org
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