“Carousel” draws large crowds for opening weekend at MMNT
The Mary Moody Northern Theatre’s new hit production has been selling out fast.
The production, a musical called “Carousel” runs April 7–17, showing Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. An additional show has been added for Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Directed by Michael McKelvey, the show was written by Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein III and was first presented in 1945.
Since then, “Carousel” has been performed countless times with Rogers himself calling it his favorite musical he ever wrote.
The show centers on Julie, who stops by a carousel with her best friend one day after working at a mill all day. There, Julie meets Billy, a carousel barker. Though Julie is not too keen on ever getting married — or the idea of romance in general — and though Billy is a gruff, hard-hearted carousel worker, the two take a liking to one another to the chagrin of Mrs. Mullin, a widow who owns the carousel.
Billy and Julie sing, dance and talk their way to romance and eventually more. But things eventually take a turn for the worse, leading Billy to find himself struggling to find a way to support his new family, even if it means supporting them from beyond this world.
“Carousel” chronicles the surprising story of love between two unlikely people and the lengths a husband and father will go to in order to protect and provide for the people he loves.
“Carousel” opened to the public April 7 at 7:30 p.m. Word of the show has sparked high demand among theater-goers. Tickets have already sold out, but the box office allows people to join a ticket waiting list. One hour before the show, those hoping to see that night’s production have the opportunity to join the list and get the tickets of people who have already paid for their tickets, but have not shown up at the theater to retrieve them by show time.