Editing Carousel (musical) (section)

=== Casting and out-of-town tryouts ===
The casting for ''Carousel'' began when ''Oklahoma!'''s production team, including Rodgers and Hammerstein, was seeking a replacement for the part of Curly (the male lead in ''Oklahoma!'').  Lawrence Langner had heard, through a relative, of a California singer named [[John Raitt]], who might be suitable for the part.  Langner went to hear Raitt, then urged the others to bring Raitt to New York for an audition.  Raitt asked to sing "[[Largo al factotum]]", Figaro's aria from ''[[The Barber of Seville]]'', to warm up.  The warmup was sufficient to convince the producers that not only had they found a Curly, they had found a Liliom (or Billy Bigelow, as the part was renamed).<ref name="Block ed., p. 122">Block (ed.), p. 122</ref>  Theresa Helburn made another California discovery, [[Jan Clayton]], a singer/actress who had made a few minor films for [[MGM]].  She was brought east and successfully auditioned for the part of Julie.<ref name="n157" />

The producers sought to cast unknowns.  Though many had played in previous Hammerstein or Rodgers works, only one, Jean Casto (cast as carousel owner Mrs. Mullin, and a veteran of ''Pal Joey''), had ever played on Broadway before.<ref name="n157" />  It proved harder to cast the ensemble than the leads, due to the war—Rodgers told his casting director, [[John Fearnley]], that the sole qualification for a dancing boy was that he be alive.<ref>Secrest, p. 277</ref>  Rodgers and Hammerstein reassembled much of the creative team that had made ''Oklahoma!'' a success, including director [[Rouben Mamoulian]] and choreographer [[Agnes de Mille]].  [[Miles White]] was the costume designer while [[Jo Mielziner]] (who had not worked on ''Oklahoma!'') was the scenic and lighting designer.  Even though ''Oklahoma!'' orchestrator [[Russell Bennett]] had informed Rodgers that he was unavailable to work on ''Carousel'' due to a radio contract, Rodgers insisted he do the work in his spare time.  He orchestrated "The Carousel Waltz" and "(When I Marry) Mister Snow" before finally being replaced by [[Don Walker (orchestrator)|Don Walker]].<ref>Fordin, p. 231</ref>  A new member of the creative team was [[Trude Rittmann]], who arranged the dance music.  Rittmann initially felt that Rodgers mistrusted her because she was a woman, and found him difficult to work with, but the two worked together on Rodgers' shows until the 1970s.<ref name="h161">Hyland, p. 161</ref>

[[File:Hammerstein.jpg|left|thumb|upright|alt=Photo of Hammerstein in middle age, seated, wearing a suit|Oscar Hammerstein II]]

Rehearsals began in January 1945;<ref name="Hyland, p. 158" /> either Rodgers or Hammerstein was always present.<ref>Fordin, p. 232</ref> Raitt was presented with the lyrics for "Soliloquy" on a five-foot long sheet of paper—the piece ran nearly eight minutes.  Staging such a long solo number presented problems, and Raitt later stated that he felt that they were never fully addressed.<ref name="god">Secrest, p. 276</ref>  At some point during rehearsals, Molnár came to see what they had done to his play.  There are a number of variations on the story.<ref name="Block ed., p. 122" /><ref>Fordin, pp. 231–32</ref>  As Rodgers told it, while watching rehearsals with Hammerstein, the composer spotted Molnár in the rear of the theatre and whispered the news to his partner.  Both sweated through an afternoon of rehearsal in which nothing seemed to go right.  At the end, the two walked to the back of the theatre, expecting an angry reaction from Molnár.  Instead, the playwright said enthusiastically, "What you have done is so beautiful.  And you know what I like best?  The ending!"<ref>Rodgers, pp. 240–41</ref>  Hammerstein wrote that Molnár became a regular attendee at rehearsals after that.<ref name="turn" />

Like most of the pair's works, ''Carousel'' contains a lengthy ballet, "Billy Makes a Journey",<ref>Hischak, pp. 21–22</ref> in the second act, as Billy looks down to the Earth from "Up There" and observes his daughter.  In the original production the ballet was choreographed by de Mille.<ref>Hischak, pp. 26–27</ref>  It began with Billy looking down from heaven at his wife in labor, with the village women gathered for a "birthing".  The ballet involved every character in the play, some of whom spoke lines of dialogue, and contained a number of subplots.  The focus was on Louise, played by [[Bambi Linn]], who at first almost soars in her dance, expressing the innocence of childhood.  She is teased and mocked by her schoolmates, and Louise becomes attracted to the rough carnival people, who symbolize Billy's world.  A youth from the carnival attempts to seduce Louise, as she discovers her own sexuality, but he decides she is more girl than woman, and he leaves her.  After Julie comforts her, Louise goes to a children's party, where she is shunned.  The carnival people reappear and form a ring around the children's party, with Louise lost between the two groups.  At the end, the performers form a huge carousel with their bodies.<ref name="agnes">Easton, pp. 243–45.</ref>

The play opened for tryouts in [[New Haven, Connecticut]], on March 22, 1945. The first act was well-received; the second act was not.<ref name="f233">Fordin, p. 233</ref> Casto recalled that the second act finished about 1:30&nbsp;a.m.<ref name="n157" /> The staff immediately sat down for a two-hour conference. Five scenes, half the ballet, and two songs were cut from the show as the result. John Fearnley commented, "Now I see why these people have hits. I never witnessed anything so brisk and brave in my life."<ref name="f233" /> De Mille said of this conference, "not three minutes had been wasted pleading for something cherished. Nor was there any idle joking.&nbsp;... We cut and cut and cut and then we went to bed."<ref>Block (ed.), p. 132</ref> By the time the company left New Haven, de Mille's ballet was down to forty minutes.<ref name="agnes" />

A major concern with the second act was the effectiveness of the characters He and She (later called by Rodgers "Mr. and Mrs. God"),<ref>Block, p. 160</ref> before whom Billy appeared after his death. Mr. and Mrs. God were depicted as a New England minister and his wife, seen in their parlor.<ref name="god" /><ref>Block (ed.), p. 129.  At this time, according to the cast sheet distributed during the Boston run, Dr. Seldon was listed as the "Minister".</ref> The couple was still part of the show at the Boston opening.<ref name="god" /> Rodgers said to Hammerstein, "We've got to get God out of that parlor". When Hammerstein inquired where he should put the deity, Rodgers replied, "I don't care where you put Him. Put Him on a ladder for all I care, only get Him out of that parlor!" Hammerstein duly put Mr. God (renamed the Starkeeper) atop a ladder,<ref>Block, pp. 161–62</ref> and Mrs. God was removed from the show.<ref name="god" /> Rodgers biographer [[Meryle Secrest]] terms this change a mistake, leading to a more fantastic afterlife, which was later criticized by ''[[The New Republic]]'' as "a [[Rotary International|Rotarian]] atmosphere congenial to audiences who seek not reality but escape from reality, not truth but escape from truth".<ref name="god" />

Hammerstein wrote that Molnár's advice that they combine two scenes into one was key to pulling together the second act and represented "a more radical departure from the original than any change we had made".<ref name="turn" /> A reprise of "If I Loved You" was added in the second act, which Rodgers felt needed more music.<ref>Rodgers, p. 241</ref> Three weeks of tryouts in Boston followed the brief New Haven run, and the audience there gave the musical a warm reception.<ref name="f233" /> An even shorter version of the ballet was presented during the final two weeks in Boston, but on the final night there, de Mille expanded it back to forty minutes, and it brought the house down, causing both Rodgers and Hammerstein to embrace her.<ref name="agnes" />