Carousel at the NY Phil
I was the in-house artistic lead for the New York Philharmonic’s staged and televised production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel, which elevated the original Broadway scoring out of the pit and ultimately received two Emmy nominations.
The all-star cast featured Kelli O’Hara and Nathan Gunn as Julie and Billy, with support from Stephanie Blythe, Jessie Mueller, and Jason Danieley. John Rando directed, with choreography by Warren Carlyle and music direction from Rob Fisher.
Making Room for Dance
Stephanie Blythe discusses her role as Nettie Fowler in Carousel with the New York Philharmonic.
Members of the Carousel team discuss the role of dance in carrying the plot in Act II.
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel has a rich history of ballet, with original sequences choreographed by Agnes de Mille. In the NY Phil’s production neither the stage layout nor the original budget were well-suited to accommodate extensive dance sequences, but based on exciting proposals for the dream sequence in Act II from choreographer Warren Carlyle, I became a strong internal advocate to make it happen.
I negotiated the master production agreement and reworked the budget to allow more flexibility to cast two NYC Ballet star principals, Tiler Peck and Robert Fairchild. Carlyle’s beautiful work carried the story’s emotional arc towards its conclusion, allowed us to showcase another artistic discipline its peak, and earned the production’s PBS broadcast a second Emmy nomination for Outstanding Choreography.
Photo Credits: Chris Lee