June is Bustin' Out All Over - Carousel 1956

[Kurovski]

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Carousel was adapted from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical of the same name--which, in turn, was based on Liliom, a play by Ferenc Molnar. Gordon MacRae stars as carnival barker Billy Bigelow, who much against his will falls in love with Maine factory girl Julie Jordan (Shirley Jones). Billy proves an improvident and unreliable husband, but Julie stands by him. Upon discovering that Julie is pregnant, the unemployed Billy sees an opportunity for some quick money by joining his unsavory pal Jigger (Cameron Mitchell). The scheme goes awry, and Billy dies. Standing before the Pearly Gates, Billy is given a chance to redeem himself by the kindly Starkeeper (Gene Lockhart). He is allowed to return to Earth to try to brighten the life of his unhappy 15-year-old daughter Louise (Susan Luckey).




http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/carousel/

[MuseRider]

1. LOL

I just watched a Lincoln Center production of this show with Nathan Gunn (OMG! NATHAN GUNN). It took me weeks to rid my brain of this song. Now it is back. I guess I have to live with it a while longer.

[Kurovski]

3. Total earworm.

So sorry!

[MuseRider]

5. Oh no problem

there are worse things than Broadway tunes that become earworms

[CBHagman]

2. That song has been going through my head lately too.

I knew Carousel, of course, when I was a kid, but I swear the first time I hear "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" was on Captain Kangaroo or another such program.

Anyway, it was high time to revisit Carousel. Thanks for posting.

[Kurovski]

4. I noticed plants in my garden had been "bustin' out"

So I could not resist.

And in the tradition of knitting social import into their shows, I seem to recall that Rodgers and Hammerstein touched on the topic of spousal abuse in the show. I was very young when I first saw it, and I did not at all like Billy Bigelow. I was very angry with him.

[CBHagman]

6. There used to be this popular conception that musicals were all fluff.

Possibly that's in danger of making a return, given the reworking of movies (e.g., A Christmas Story into stage musicals.

But I grew up with musical-loving parents with all the right recordings, and though I enjoyed all of the original Broadway cast LPs, the subject matter was pretty serious stuff. Oliver! is peopled by prostitutes, petty and major criminals, workhouse inmates, and unfeeling parish officials. The good people of Anatevka in Fiddler on the Roof face poverty and a pogrom. Camelot deals with a love triangle that brings down a kingdom. And The Sound of Music is set at the time of the Anschluss.