Carousel

It was a great pleasure to revisit the talented performers of WODYS for their 2023 production of Carousel, hot on the heels of their success at the NODA West Midlands Awards for last year’s production of Shrek.  And on the basis of this excellent show, there’s a good chance that they will be in the running when the prizes are handed out next time. 

Carousel begins with the meeting of millworker Julie Jordan and fairground barker Billy Bigelow, who quickly fall in love and marry.  However, the shadow of domestic violence soon begins to loom, and their situation is contrasted with the much happier relationship between Julie’s friend Carrie and her fiancé Enoch Snow.  Things seem set to improve when Julie announces that she is pregnant, but this proves the catalyst for tragedy, as Billy gets involved in an attempted robbery which goes wrong and leads to his death.  Up in heaven’s antechamber, Billy gets a chance to make amends when he travels back to Earth to help his troubled, now teenaged, daughter, Louise.

Carousel is very much a play of its time, and some of its elements are apt to make a modern audience a little uncomfortable, veering towards normalisation of domestic violence and featuring songs about blows that somehow don’t hurt.  It is also never going to pass the Bechdel test, as the female characters’ lives pretty much revolve around their men.  It might be tempting to try to find a way to modernise the play, to add an ironic emphasis or re-imagine the more problematic elements.  But the cast and crew of WODYS play an admirably straight bat, delivering a classic take on the show which doesn’t shirk the tricky elements, but doesn’t play them up either. 

The role of the restless anti-hero Billy Bigelow was well performed by Charlie Raven, who also brought out the character’s charm, making it easy to see why a naïve mill girl might fall for him.  He showed his acting range in the complicated ‘Soliloquy’ song that ends act 1, and the little catch in his voice during his reprise of ‘If I Loved You’ was most affecting.  Alongside him, Ella Holland gave a very strong, mature performance as Julie Jordan – clearly showing the character’s steadfastness and strong will to navigate her way through the problems of her marriage and beyond, and really tugging at the heartstrings as she mourned Billy’s death.  Their singing was top notch, as was that of the rest of the cast.

An ebullient Phoebe Jones and confident Ben Sears were also excellent as Carrie Pipperidge and Enoch Snow, characters whose story follows a much happier trajectory than that of poor Julie and Billy, and who provide some much needed comic relief.  Their performances of ‘Mister Snow’ and ‘When the Children are Asleep’ were warm and sympathetic, working perfectly to contrast their relationship with that of poor Julie and Billy. 

Isabelle Mann impressed as Nettie Fowler – showing off a classical singing voice in ‘June is Bustin’ Out All Over’ and showstopper ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ – and Carter Chilton was just right as unwashed wrong-un Jigger Craigin, the bad influence who ultimately leads Billy to his doom.  A word too for Evie Jones, who was icily manipulative as fairground owner Mrs Mullin, whilst also pulling off an excellent Irish accent.  The famous ballet in the second half, superbly choreographed by Rachel Price Katie McNamee, was brilliantly led by Rebecca Stephens as Louise who, alongside a very good team of dancers, told a clear and emotional story without saying a word. 

The Principals were supported by a large supporting cast, all of whom played their part in delivering a show of high quality.  I particularly liked the section at Nettie Fowler’s in the first half, where the girls gave it the full sass, whilst the boys showed off a charming sailors’ dance.  They were all so good it would have been nice to see them used a little more – for example in the songs in which Carrie, Enoch and Billy imagine their future families?  Congratulations to every one of them – their singing and dancing was impeccable throughout, and there were many times in this show that I completely forgot that I was watching a cast aged 18 and under, and that was due to the effort and talent of the whole cast.  Well done!

The show was directed, with an obvious love of the material by David Humphries, alongside choreographer Rachel Price and musical director Harriet Amos, who led an impeccable nine-piece band.  Interestingly, the show featured the use of some projection of film onto a rear screen.  This is not normally my thing, and I much preferred the human version of the carousel in the ballet to the modern film that opened the show.  However, it did work well for the scenes in the afterlife, in which Harry Rogers’ sonorous Starkeeper offered Billy his second chance from a lofty position amongst the clouds.

Congratulations are also due to the backstage team who once again worked wonders in costuming the large cast and manipulating a number of traditional backdrops to keep the action flowing smoothly.  The show was well lit to enhance the storytelling, particularly in the robbery and heavenly scenes.

Well done to all at WODYS for producing a show of very high quality.  Carousel is perhaps an unusual choice for a youth group, but as the final, emotional notes of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ filled the Swan Theatre, it was clear that it had unquestionably been a good one.  Thanks for inviting me, and for the warm welcome – I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

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