The Tony-nominated revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel, directed by Jack O’Brien and featuring choreography by Justin Peck, has been preserved for posterity with a new cast album. Producers Roy Furman and Scott Rudin have announced that the new recording will be released digitally on Friday, June 8, with the album hitting the stores on Friday, July 13. Nominated for 11 Tony Awards, including Best Revival, The Carousel cast recording will be released on Craft Recordings, in partnership with The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization – both part of Concord Music – and will be produced by Steven Epstein. Andy Einhorn and Sean Patrick Flahaven serve as executive producers.
Leading the cast on this recording will be the show’s Tony-nominated stars Joshua Henry and Jessie Mueller, along with Tony-nominated supporting performers Renée Fleming as Nettie Fowler, Lindsay Mendez as Carrie Pipperidge, and Alexander Gemignani as Enoch Snow. Margaret Colin as Mrs. Mullin, John Douglas Thompson as the Starkeeper, Amar Ramasar as Jigger Craigen, and Brittany Pollack as Louise compose the balance of the show’s leading cast.
“Set in a small New England factory town, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s timeless musical Carousel describes the tragic romance between a troubled carnival barker and the young woman who gives up everything for him. Elevated to an epic scale with a sweeping musical score that features some of the most beloved numbers in the American songbook, and incandescent ballet sequences, this story of passion, loss, and redemption introduced Broadway to a new manner of musical drama and would captivate theatergoers for generations to come.”
Carousel is Rodgers and Hammerstein’s second collaboration, opening on Broadway in 1945. The musical played the Majestic Theatre (across the street from their first collaboration Oklahoma!) for 890 performances. Directed by Rouben Mamoulian, with choreography by Agnes de Mille, Carousel features such well-known standards as “If I Loved You,” “What’s the Use of Wond’rin?” “Soliloquy,” “June is Bustin’ Out All Over,” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” The musical continues to be known for its cutting-edge staging, unyielding storytelling, and for its controversial subject matter.
Mark Robinson is the author of the two-volume encyclopedia The World of Musicals and maintains a theater and entertainment blog at markrobinsonwrites.com.