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.