When they say, “They don’t write ’em like they used to,” they are referring to shows like Carousel.
The second collaboration of the landmark team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, this musical drama packs an emotional wallop as well as a knockout punch of entertainment. True, it is a difficult show to pull off well, but you would never know that from the production now on view at Boca Raton’s Wick Theatre.
Making his Wick directing debut, after staging works across the country for the past half century, Jeffry George demonstrates that success with a near-perfect show like Carousel is about casting the right people, setting them in motion, then getting out of their way. When the material is this good, no innovative directorial spin or glossing over weak moments are necessary.
It is the tale of quick-tempered, egotistical carnival barker Billy Bigelow, who marries New England millworker Julie Jordan but physically abuses her. There are many ways that 1945’s Carousel was ahead of its time, but certainly its thematic inclusion of domestic violence is prime among them.
When Julie becomes pregnant, Billy is talked into a robbery scheme that would help provide for his growing family. But the plan goes awry and Billy is transported to the back gate of heaven, where he is given one last chance for redemption.
The show has many multi-dimensional roles and boy, does director George have a top-notch cast to fill them, beginning with Trevor Martin (Billy Bigelow). His booming baritone caresses each full-throttle solo, aided by the acting chops to put them across with persuasion. Just listen to Billy’s stream-of-consciousness “Soliloquy” on his impending fatherhood ⸻ arguably the finest song that Rodgers and Hammerstein ever wrote ⸻ and you begin to understand the depth of Martin’s talent.
And marvel at scene-stealers Sean Birkett and Mallory Newbrough as fish magnate Enoch Snow and his headstrong wife Carrie Pipperidge, who apparently did not get the memo that they are playing secondary characters. Birkett in particular has a rich booming voice which helps him to stand out in a cast of strong singers.
Other cast assets include Dalia Aleman as Nettie Fowler, who gets to deliver Hammerstein’s inspirational “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” and Larry Buzzeo as nogoodnik Jigger Craigin. Late in the evening, Abigail Marie Curran arrives as Billy’s teenage daughter Louise, expressively dancing a ballet of anguish, one of several dance numbers devised by choreographer Simon Coulthard.
The only disappointment in the company is Julia Suriano (Julie). She sings well enough, which she ably demonstrates on “If I Loved You” and “What’s the Use of Wond’rin’,” but she tends toward bland line readings when the music stops.
The physical production is impressive, notably with Jack Golden’s multi-level versatile unit set, complemented by Kacey Koploff’s painterly projection backdrops. And as is its signature, the costumes credited to Judy Chang and Alan Wilson are well adapted from the Wick’s wardrobe catalogue.
With its huge ensemble, Carousel is the Boca troupe’s largest undertaking in its 10-year history. Yet the Wick seems to rise to the many challenges such an undertaking presents. To quote the second-act opener, the Wick’s Carousel is “a real nice clambake” of a musical.
CAROUSEL, The Wick Theatre, 7901 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton. Through Sunday, March 24. $79-$109. 561-995-2333 or visit thewick.org.