After You Read This, Darlings, Just Get Up And Go!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                         When a work of art, and how it is presented, meet my standards of perfection, I know it in my gut, and I respond in kind, with overwhelming emotion.  The above photo is pretty much a depiction of my reaction to the revival of "Carousel," now playing at the Imperial Theatre, and I would not be at all surprised if I pay another visit.

                           Those sinister opening notes, signaling a very different kind of musical--heavy, not light.  Those key phrases--"Off you would go in the mist of day" (Simply brilliant, as most lyricists would have used "night."  "Day" makes it unbearably poignant), that last section of "When The Children Are Asleep, "When today is a long time ago....," oh my God!  And then, the most moving of all, "At the end of the storm, is a golden sky, and the sweet, silver song of a lark."  These are beautiful, emotionally wrenching, moments.

                            Combine these with melodies, and artists to render them, and any audience is guaranteed one hell of a ride.  When there is Renee Fleming singing this last to a sobbing Jessie Mueller, in the most beautifully understated, and all the more affecting, rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone," the audience is there, all the way.

                               The radiance and gravitas of Jessie Mueller's Julie reminds one that not only do the most beautiful sounds come out of her mouth, she is one hell of an actress.  I can't imagine a more effective Julie than Jessie, who gets all her contradictions, and makes Julie a survivor, and never a victim.  And when Jessie launched into "If I Loved You," tears ran down my face.

                               "Carousel" pretty much wiped me out.  There is the unstoppable Jessie, but also the magnificent Joshua Henry, who also brings contradiction and torment to the role of Billy, enabling the audience to understand this tortured soul in a way nobody has.  Then there is that voice, one of the best males working today, fully expressive, and the biggest TONY robbery since Robert Lindsay beat out Colm Wilkinson in "Les Miserables."  Henry's Billy is the finest male musical performance I have seen since Wilkinson's Valjean!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                Everything you've heard about Lindsay Mendez is true.  A voice from God, beautiful in tone, and the most compelling phrasing in the performance of Carrie I have heard--fun, moving, and her dancing is extraordinary.  I loved how her relationship with Julie remained close; even as their children navigate the difficult terrain of adolescence. And when, in the Prologue, she and Julie jointly entered the stage, the audience went wild!!!!!!!!!!!  Jessie and Lindsay!!!!!!!   Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!

                                   I still feel I am not conveying the essence of what makes "Carousel" great, or at least why it affects me so strongly.  Speaking for myself now, having been raised in an environment, where my individual self forced me to question all that was around me, "Carousel" and its protagonists connect with me, in that we are all doing the same thing, as the show reassures one that if we weren't, we wouldn't be human.  It is the humanity of the material, combined with the spirituality surrounding this production--this "Carousel" opens in a heavenly realm, with the Starkeeper foreshadowed throughout-- and this context forced me to examine myself closely in a manner that was dramatically moving, yet cathartic and healing.

                                   Much of "Carousel" makes audiences uncomfortable.  But if you go with it, like Billy, you realize forgiveness is possible.

                                     I never thought how much "Carousel" was about seeking forgiveness, even in the face of loving, let alone that it deals with social class distinctions, and, in the great Act II ballet, danced beautifully by Brittany Pollack and Andrei Chagas, bullying.  Louise is being bullied by her community, just as Billy must have been.  When he look on her and says, "I know what she is going through," I wept, because, I too, understood what she was going through.  This is also the best piece of choreography I have seen in ages, and I hope more is seen of Justin Peck's work, on Broadway or off.  I know I want to see more.

                                     The ensemble--my favorites being Amar Ramasar as Jigger, and Garrett Hawe in a variety of roles, especially Enoch Snow, Jr.  When he brings to Louise's attention his father's feeling of his being attracted to her (Louise) being beneath his station, the social class message kicked in; the audience around me audibly gasped.  There is also Corey John Snide, dance captain, and another one to keep an eye on.

                                      This is the most danced "Carousel" I have ever seen, and the show is all the richer for it.  I wanted to be in that corps myself, making those leaps and moves.  Well, I can dream, can't I???????????????

                                         "Carousel" is a touching show, an extraordinary experience, and like all art, our response is subjective.  This production touches me to the very depths of my soul, eliciting healing I did not know I was in need of,  yet lovingly received.

                                            But that's me.  As for others, just go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                             "Carousel" is a show that reaches out and touches one in ways never expected.  And this specific production delivers those goods therein.

                                               I wish them all success, and I will not be surprised if I pay another visit!

                                               You are in for the theatrical ride of a lifetime!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!