Anne Bogart's Boston Lyric Opera ‘Carousel' spins in circles

Boston Globe

08-04-2025

Like her 'South Pacific,' Bogart's 'Carousel' is metatheatrical, at least in theory. Press releases indicated the company is a 'traveling group of outsider artists' that puts on a production of the musical at an abandoned amusement park. Sara Brown's weathered wooden sets, including a towering roller coaster and a rotating circular dais, hinted at that intention; as did the colorful costumes, wigs and makeup by Haydee Zelideth and Earon Chew Nealey, which included plenty of ruffled skirts and neon-colored hair, a leather vest on the carousel barker Billy Bigelow (the outstanding baritone Edward Nelson), and one eye-catching tiger onesie. Theatrically post-apocalyptic and rough around the edges, it felt like a cousin of the 'Traveling Symphony' Shakespeare troupe as depicted in Emily St. John Mandel's National Book Award-nominated '
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That framing device also did its part to explain the over-the-top acting of some of the side characters, for example Theophile Victoria's David Bascombe. The script makes Bascombe out to be a condescending enforcer of masculine Christian morality; Victoria, clad in a sweeping coat and top hat, gave the role a preening high camp twist.
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However, in the program, Bogart's director's note indicated that the players are 'a group of refugees' that arrive from 'a great distance, seeking to gain access and acceptance.' This was represented by the tall rolling fences that took the place of curtains, behind which the company assembled during the overture and entr'acte, as well as actors dressed as unsmiling security guards positioned at either side of the stage throughout the show and intermission. Initially it seemed the guard characters were intended to be on the audience's side of the fourth wall, as they pointedly refused to interact with the actors' antics during the joyous clamor (choreographed by Shura Baryshnikov) of 'June Is Bustin' Out All Over,' but when a character called the police within the musical, those guards were the ones who answered the call. Otherwise, the refugee angle went unexplored, and it felt like a cheap afterthought.
Jamie Barton as Nettie and the cast of Boston Lyric Opera's "Carousel."
Nile Scott Studios
Under all the colorful ruffles and found-object props, it was still 'Carousel,' played mostly straight. The company deployed a robust orchestra under the baton of David Angus, and a strong cast to carry the score and story of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 80-year-old musical.
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Making her BLO debut, mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton brought a terrifically full voice and overflowing heart to Nettie Fowler. Soprano Brandie Sutton, also a BLO first-timer, wore her fast wits like a crab wears its shell during her first scenes as Julie Jordan, making her later resignation to Billy's abuses even more tragic. Nelson was a compelling and emotionally infuriating Billy; already giving the impression of a confused and terrified young boy in a man's body, 'Soliloquy' only sealed that deal. Might we see him as Sweeney Todd in a few years?
Soprano Anya Matanovič's effervescent Carrie Pipperidge was a delight, as was tenor Omar Najmi's stuffed-shirt Enoch Snow; their 'Say something soft and sweet' / 'Boston cream pie!' squabble earned several giggles. Baritone Markel Reed, as the scheming, strutting Jigger, snatched attention during 'Stonecutters Cut It on Stone' with an immaculate comic verse sung up an octave. Abigail Marie Curran's Louise landed onstage like a hurricane in the Act II dream ballet, wild-eyed and barefoot; her thrashing, whirling limbs beat at the bars of an invisible cage. (Costume team: nice job dressing the kids in Act II in a mixture of their parents' signature colors.)
But 'Carousel' sung well still has the problem of being 'Carousel,' in which a teenage girl earnestly asks her mother if it's possible for a man to hit you but it feels like a kiss, and that mother saying 'it's possible, dear,' as the music swells. Nicholas Hytner's acclaimed 1990s production changed the tenor of that scene by having Billy
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This production almost seemed to rush through that scene, crossing fingers no one would remember it in the wake of the uplifting graduation address given by the Starkeeper/Dr. Seldon (played by Boston Foundation president and CEO Lee Pelton) and subsequent finale-reprise of 'You'll Never Walk Alone.'
The ultimate scene on Friday encapsulated many of the problems with this 'Carousel,' as the house lights illuminated and Pelton addressed the audience, with the company standing behind him. Were we meant to be the townsfolk, in-universe? Were we meant to be the audience of the traveling troupe? A community with the power to welcome refugees, which might choose not to? No one seemed to know. When Pelton asked a question that begged for a loud and affirmative audience response, I heard one lonely 'yes' from somewhere nearby.
Before people join up with any cause, they need to know they're not just spectators. Some need to know that simply watching is no longer an option. This 'Carousel' had the opportunity to jolt us out of our comfortable seats; instead, it turned us in circles.
A.Z. Madonna can be reached at