N E WS
T H E DE T RO IT J E WIS H
'Carousel'
'Big Night'
F
or those familiar with reinventing it, but recreating it. tered dance history. The great
Carousel in its movie version Billy Bigelow, the anchor for classical ballet choreographer
the Royal National Theatre's the show, is sung brilliantly by Kenneth MacMillan did the
production of the first show Patrick Wilson. His use of the dances for this production, com-
in the Fisher Theatre Series at voice is operatic, in the way he
pleted after his death by Jane El-
the Detroit Opera House will colors it, shades it and imparts liott.
seem darker: the gee-whiz and meaning not just in the words but
Elliott restaged the "June is
with different vocal sounds. Bustin' Out all Over" number for
golly tones are replaced
Where he fails to make Lincoln Center — to better effect
with a deeper sentiment,
an impression is in how than in the somewhat cramped
more brutal. There is
he takes the stage.
more pessimism, less
version here. She also created the
Billy needs to be Act II solo and duet for Louise,
Pollyanna.
mythic, like a spoiled Billy and Julie's daughter, based
Still, the show sings,
god. He should stride on MacMillan's ballets. It is bril-
first with the flush of
the stage, cut swaths, liant; and danced by Dana Stack-
young love — infatuation
possess it physically. pole and Joseph Woelfel, it is very
really: Billy Bigelow is a
MICHAEL H.
His final cross in Act II beautiful and moving.
carousel barker, Julie Jor-
MARGOLIN
from one side of the
clan a mill hand. It's sea-
The Tony Award Lincoln Cen-
SPECIAL TO THE
stage to the other ter sets are here restored to the
side New England, the
should be magnetic. original proscenium arch version
late 1800s. She falls for JEWISH NEWS
Wilson is not grounded to accommodate smaller touring
Billy — a lout, but not
without charm. They marry; out enough; he saunters where he stages. They are very fine, but
of work he turns to crime, fails, should swagger.
one regrets the loss of deep space
Sarah Uriarte's Julie Jordan and the breathing room for Bob
and commits suicide. Later, re-
turning to Earth he manages to fares better, she soon becomes the Crewel's extraordinary designs
reach out across time and space depressed, unhappy abused wife that the Lincoln Center stage
and "touch" his daughter who, and collapses into it. Her voice is gave them. At the DOH, they still
like him, is angry with life. Oh strong and is used very well
retain a fresh, unclut-
yes, he's also a batterer, of his (some vocal insufficiencies
tered look and a consis-
THEATER
wife and even, from the grave, his in "If I Loved You" proved
tent, clever play on
only temporary).
daughter.
perspectives.
Carrie Pipperidge is played
Based on Molnar's play Liliom,
The score, orchestrated by
Rodgers and Hammerstein fash- with such charm and goodwill by William David Brohn, is good and
ioned a robust score hooked into Sherry D. Boone that you love true (with some updating) as
dramatic reality. This was part her from the get-go. Boone, too, played by the orchestra under
of a movement toward a new sings impressively and her fi- Musical Director Kevin Farrell.
American musical theater and ance/groom, Enoch Snow, is sung The "Carousel Waltz" is not just
director Nicholas Hytner (Miss and acted with delightful idio- memorable, it is haunting.
Saigon) has wrenched Carousel syncrasy by Sean Palmer.
Rebecca Eichenberger as Net-
ck)ZP-3 112
loose from its 1945 moorings, an-
choring it in the same milieu as tie gives her full, fine soprano to,
West Side Story or Les Mis, not among others, "You'll Never
Walk Alone."
The effect is
searing.
The Rodgers
and Hammer-
stein collabora-
tion with Agnes
DeMille in Ok-
lahoma then
Carousel was
groundbreak-
ing: DeMille
brought mod-
ern American
dance filtered
through classi-
cal ballet to a
Broadway mu-
sical and al-
"If I Loved You,"
sung by Sarah
Uriarte (Julie
Jordan) and
Patrick Wilson
(Billy Bigelow),
is one of the many
memorable songs
in Rodgers and
Hammerstein's
Carousel.
Rated R
they ask for, not the paradigmatic
excellence of old family recipes
that are incomparably, but not
f aromas of the food prepared cost-effectively, prepared.
in Big Night were piped into
The brothers have one big
the theaters, ushers would be chance to save their livelihood.
trampled in a Pavlovian stam- Thanks to a favor from Pascal
pede by salivating patrons exit- (Ian Holm), the charming owner
ing riotously on their way to the of a competing restaurant, visit-
nearest four-star Italian restau- ing band leader Louis Prima will
rant. Food to die for. Not since dine at the brothers' establish-
Babette's Feast has there been ment. The publicity surrounding
such a culinary exhibition, a gas- this event and the huge feast they
tronomic, sensory overload
prepare will put their restau-
that screams, "Diets be
rant on the map and
damned."
make it solvent.
MOVIES
Writer/director/actor
Big Night is much
Stanley (ABC's "Murder
deeper than its lavish sur-
One") Tucci and co-director Scott face details and impeccable place
Campbell have embellished this settings. It's more like the mouth-
tale of art vs. commerce with an watering regional masterpiece
indelible cast of characters. Es- timpani, served as the main
pecially notable are Tony Shal- course, "filled with multiple lay-
houb (cab driver Antonio on ers of pasta, meats, cheese and
NBC's "Wings") as Primo, a chef eggs. When cut open, a veritable
with exacting standards. Patrons mosaic of foods is exposed — a
who order the wrong wine or side riot of colors, smells and tastes."
dish are "Philistines!" This per-
Similarly, Big Night's savory
fectionist attitude (shades of Se- characters flavor our visions of
infeld's Soup Nazi) is driving the desire to embrace the Amer-
customers away. Primo's ire is ican dream. Loyalty vs. fidelity,
forcibly repressed by Secundo Old World traditions vs. New
(Tucci), who is painfully aware of World expectations, and ulti-
the economic fate that portends mately, the essence of brother-
for the brothers' restaurant, the hood are tested in this masterful
Paradise.
repast.
The bank is about to foreclose
tO got.)
l
on it. Customers, barbarian or
not, must get the food and service
—Dick Rockwell
I
Stanley Tucci, left, and Tony Shalhoub co-star in Big Night, the heartwarming story of two Italian immigrant brothers
attempting to save their failing restaurant business.