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The Theatre Guild, a theatrical producing organization which flourished on Broadway from the early ‘20s for over half a century, hit upon successful formula of turning a few of its classic plays into classics of musical theatre. Their production of Gershwin’s PORGY AND BESS was based on their production of DuBose Heyward’s PORGY; likewise, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s OKLAHOMA! was based on Lynn Rigg’s  GREEN GROWN THE LILACS.

In 1921 The Guild presented the American premiere of a new play called LILIOM by the renowned Hungarian playwright, Ferenc Molnar. Benjamin Glaser was the translator (although a fascinating and never-proven rumor has suggested that an early translation of LILIOM was provided by Rodgers’ first partner, Lorenz Hart), and Eva Le Gallienne created the role of Julie to Joseph Schidkraut’s portrayal of the title role.
 
LILIOM was a critical and popular success for the Guild; set on the outskirts of Budapest, its mix of whimsy and pathos, tragedy and fantasy, hit a chord with the American public. The Guild knew they had a winner; more than that, they felt its potential could be further exploited. A preliminary request to Molnar that LILIOM be musicalized, following on the heels of PORGY AND BESS, was rejected; but a subsequent proposal, this time fresh on the heels of OKLAHOMA! and with the understanding that the authors of that musical adaptation would tackle this one as well, met with Molnar’s approval. LILIOM could sing, if Rodgers & Hammerstein wrote the score.
 
However, there was yet another problem, this time on the American side of the equation: in 1945, at the height of World War II and the Nazi occupation of Europe, Budapest was not a romantic of uncontroversial setting for a musical. If LILIOM were to work, it would have to be relocated, and Rodgers and Hammerstein were reticent to do so. Theatre Guild producer Theresa Helburn suggested a New Orleans setting, with Liliom becoming a tough and exotic Creole character. Hammerstein demurred on the grounds that his lyrics, always rife with dialect of the setting they were placed in, would be riddled with so many “ze’s” and “zose’s” as to make the songs sound like so manu buzz saws.
 
Helburn was determined not to let the idea go, and she persisted. It was Richard Rodgers who came up with the concept of New England in the late 19th century—and suddenly the idea fell into place. While visions of clambakes and fishing boats danced in their heads, the authors went to work. The very first song they wrote for the score was the most daunting—Billy’s powerful and insightful “Soliloquy.” As daring as anything in the groundbreaking OKLAHOMA!, this number provided character, story, passion and heartfelt emotion—in an unprecedented eight-minute solo. After the “Soliloquy” everything fell into place: the upbeat choral numbers ( “June is Bustin’ Out All Over,” “This Was a Real Nice Clambake”), the love songs (“If I Loved You,” “When I Marry Mister Snow,” “What’s the Use of Wond’rin,”  and “When the Children are Asleep,”) and the haunting and inspirational “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” CAROUSEL proved that the extraordinary innovations of OKLAHOMA! were no one-time fluke; the opening scuttled the traditional overture and replaced it with a lush “Carousel Waltz” joined by a storied prologue in mime; and this was followed by the now-classic “Beach Scene” in which dialogue and snatched of song we intermingled to breathtaking effects.
 
CAROUSEL shared with OKLAHOMA! its stellar creative team: authors Rodgers & Hammerstein of course, and director (Rouben Mamoulian) and choreographer (Agnes de Mille.) After tryouts in New Haven and Boston, CAROUSEL opened at Broadway’s Majestic Theatre on April 19, 1945, where it ran for 890 performances. While not the spectacular success the OKLAHOMA! was, CAROUSEL managed to do the impossible—follow a mammoth success and stand on its own right. Audiences in the throes of World War II could not help but be moved by the story of a young widow raising a child without its father. The final scene, in which Bill comes back to Earth spiritually and reaches out to Julie and their daughter Louise, was played before countless war widows, parents, children and siblings who had lost a loved one overseas. The effect of CAROUSEL and “You’ll Never Walk Alone” is haunting, to this day.
 
The original Broadway cast featured John Raitt as Billy, Jan Clayton as Julie, and Jean Darling as Carrie. Winner of the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award as Best Musical of 1945, the Broadway run was quickly followed by a two year national tour, as well as countless productions throughout the world. In 1950, CAROUSEL premiered at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane, where it played for 566 performances, and in 1956 the motion picture version, starring Gordon MacRae as Billy and Shirley Jones as Julie, was released.

OKLAHOMA!, the first musical Rodgers & Hammerstein wrote together, wasn’t a mere success: it was a phenomenon. An artistic triumph that changed the course of musical theatre, it shattered box office records when it opened in 1943, outran every show before it, held Broadway's longevity crown for fifteen years, and launched the Rodgers & Hammerstein partnership as Broadway's Golden Team in Broadway’s Golden Era.

Inevitably the question arose: what could possibly follow OKLAHOMA!? In his autobiography Rodgers recalls the sage advice he received from film mogul Sam Goldwyn: "This is such a wonderful show!" Goldwyn bubbled. "You know what you should do next? Shoot yourself!"

Fortunately Rodgers & Hammerstein had other ideas in mind. Their first assignment after OKLAHOMA! was a new work in another medium altogether—writing the score for a movie musical called STATE FAIR (1945), a charming depiction of homespun Americana that introduced "It Might as Well Be Spring," the Academy Award winner for Best Song of the Year.

Still, Hollywood was only a detour on the return to Broadway. As with OKLAHOMA!, it was Rodgers & Hammerstein’s producers, Lawrence Langner and Theresa Helburn of The Theatre Guild, who provided the team with the source for their next musical. In two previous, successful instances Helburn and Langner had recycled Guild plays into Guild musicals (turning PORGY into PORGY AND BESS, and GREEN GROW THE LILACS into OKLAHOMA!). Now, the Guild wanted Rodgers & Hammerstein to make a musical out of LILIOM.

Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnar’s elaborate fantasy had its American premiere under the auspices of the Theatre Guild, in a 1921 production translated by Benjamin F. Glazer that starred Joseph Schildkraut in the title role and Eva Le Gallienne as Julie. The property was rich with musical potential, but before it could be transformed Helburn and Langner had to convince not only their skeptical American authors, but also their Hungarian one.

Molnar had already turned down several requests to turn LILIOM into an opera. And he was ready to resist again, until, at the Guild's invitation, he attended a performance of OKLAHOMA! and was instantly won over. LILIOM could sing, he decreed, if Rodgers & Hammerstein wrote the score.

But Rodgers & Hammerstein had their doubts too. It was not the themes of domestic violence and fateful tragedy in LILIOM that deterred the authors—in fact these issues only served to whet their appetite for challenging work—but the play's locale: Budapest, Hungary. In 1944 Budapest was ravaged by war and setting a play there would only compete with the headlines or, worse, seem exploitative.

If a musical of LILIOM were to work, they concluded, it would have to be relocated, and Rodgers and Hammerstein were reluctant to do so. Helburn suggested a New Orleans setting, with Liliom turned into a tough and exotic Creole character. Oscar Hammerstein II demurred on the grounds that his lyrics, which were always steeped in the dialect of their locale, would become riddled with the "ze's" and "zose's" of the Creole accent and end up sounding like a chorus of buzz saws.

But then Richard Rodgers came up with the concept of New England in the late 19th century and everything fell into place. Liliom would become Billy Bigelow, barker on a carousel in a small fishing village, and Julie would be featured as one of the local millworkers. While images of clambakes and lighthouses danced in their heads, the authors went to work. The very first song they wrote for the score was the most daunting—Billy’s powerful and insightful "Soliloquy." As daring as anything in the groundbreaking OKLAHOMA!, this number provided character, motivation, passion and heartfelt emotion—in an unprecedented eight-minute solo.

Structurally, CAROUSEL proved as daring as OKLAHOMA! in style and form, while telling a story that was far more sophisticated. Here, in addition to Billy’s "Soliloquy," the innovations included the opening, which scuttled the traditional overture entirely and replaced it with a lush "Carousel Waltz" that underscored a storied prologue in mime; and the now-classic "If I Loved You" scene, in which dialogue and fragments of song were intermingled to breathtaking effects.

CAROUSEL began rehearsals in early 1945. Guiding it was OKLAHOMA!'s stellar creative team: authors Rodgers & Hammerstein, producers Helburn and Langner, director Rouben Mamoulian, choreographer Agnes de Mille and costume designer Miles White. Featured in the original cast were John Raitt as Billy, Jan Clayton as Julie Jordan, and Jean Darling as Carrie.

After tryouts in New Haven and Boston, CAROUSEL opened at Broadway's Majestic Theatre on April 19, 1945, and eventually ran for 890 performances. Even the skeptics were confounded: while it could never be the unexpected revelation that OKLAHOMA! was, CAROUSEL did the impossible—it followed a smash hit by succeeding in its own right. Audiences in the throes of World War II responded deeply to its story of a young widow raising a child alone, and its spiritual imagery had a profound impact on those who had lost a loved one overseas. The effects of CAROUSEL and its authemn, "You’ll Never Walk Alone" are haunting to this day.

Winner of the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award as Best Musical of 1945, the Broadway run was followed by a two year national tour. In London CAROUSEL followed OKLAHOMA! directly into the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, opening in June of 1950 and playing for over a year and a half. In 1956 the motion picture version was released by Twentieth Century Fox. Filmed on location in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, it was originally slated to star Frank Sinatra as Billy and Judy Garland as Julie. However, she withdrew prior to filming and he left over a contract dispute during the first weeks of shooting. They were replaced by the OKLAHOMA! movie co-stars Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones.

CAROUSEL has been performed by hundreds of theatre and opera companies throughout the world. Notable productions include the Music Theater of Lincoln Center with John Raitt re-creating the role of Billy (1965); a television version starring Robert Goulet with choreography by Edward Villella, broadcast on ABC-TV (1967); and a summer run at the U.S. Pavilion of the 1958 Brussels Exposition, with Jan Clayton re-creating the role of Julie.

Director Nicholas Hytner, choreographer Sir Kenneth MacMillan and designer Bob Crowley collaborated on the revelatory 1992 Royal National Theatre production of CAROUSEL in London, which played to sold-out houses in the Lyttleton Theatre before transferring to the Shaftesbury Theatre in the West End the following September, where it was presented by Cameron Mackintosh.

In March 1994, CAROUSEL marked its first return to Broadway since the original run, playing for a year at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. Presented by Lincoln Center Theater, this CAROUSEL went on to receive a record-setting five Tony Awards (the most of any show that season), including Best Director of a Musical (Hytner), Best Choreography (MacMillan), Best Scenic Design (Crowley) and Best Revival of a Musical 1994. A Japanese production played extended engagements in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka in 1995, and a U.S. National Tour visited over 40 cities from February of 1996 through May of 1997, and starred Broadway stars to be Patrick Wilson, Sarah Uriarte Berry and Jennifer Laura Thompson. In 2002, Carnegie Hall hosted a concert performance with Hugh Jackman, Audra McDonald, Philip Bosco, Blythe Danner, John Raitt, Norbert Leo Butz, Jason Danieley, Judy Kaye and Lauren Ward. That same year, Emily Loesser appeared in CAROUSEL at the Royal Festival Hall in London. Shirley Jones played Nettie at the Reagle Theatre in 2005. In 2007, the Boston Pops' CAROUSEL featured Aaron Lazar, Liz Callaway, Jason Danieley and Marin Mazzie, while R&H opera star Lesley Garrett played Nettie in a 2008 West End revival.

CAROUSEL had always been Rodgers & Hammerstein’s personal favorite; the latest turns on the CAROUSEL prove that their opinion is still shared by audiences everywhere.

"You’ll Never Walk Alone" (music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II) was written for the 1945 Broadway musical play CAROUSEL. The song highlights a momentous plot turn early in Act II, and is reprised as the musical’s powerful and inspirational finale.

From the very beginning, this song has always had a special resonance and meaning beyond its context and function within the score for CAROUSEL. During the musical’s original Broadway run, with the world at war, many in the audience who had a husband, a brother, a son or a lover fighting overseas, found solace in its meaning and its message.

In addition to numerous recordings of the song on CAROUSEL cast albums and the motion picture soundtrack, "You’ll Never Walk Alone" has been recorded by dozens of pop, rock, gospel, country western and opera stars, including: Louis Armstrong, Chet Atkins, Shirley Bassey, Glen Campbell, Ray Charles, Perry Como, Michael Crawford, Placido Domingo, Aretha Franklin, Judy Garland, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Marilyn Horne, Mahalia Jackson, Patti LaBelle, Cleo Laine, Mario Lanza, Darlene Love, Jim Nabors, Olivia Newton John, Pink Floyd, Elvis Presley, The Righteous Brothers, Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra, Kiri Te Kanawa, Conway Twitty and Dionne Warwick.

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s "You'll Never Walk Alone" has a unique history in Great Britain where a 1963 cover version of the song by the Liverpool band Gerry and the Pacemakers was embraced by the locals (known as "scousers"), and lead to its adoption as the motto and anthem of the Liverpool Football Club. Subsequently, it has become ubiquitous at football (soccer) matches all over the world.

True to the song's intent, it has also provided inspiration in times of peril, and has served as a potent fundraiser for causes borne out of disaster. In 1985, a recording of "You’ll Never Walk Alone" featuring British pop and rock stars, was put together to raise funds for victims of the Bradford Stadium tragedy — and did: the song was a Number One single in Britain throughout the summer of 1985, and raised hundreds of thousand of pounds for the cause. In September 1997, on the eve of the funeral for Diana, Princess of Wales, scores of Londoners who had gathered for the event broke into spontaneous, subdued choruses of "You’ll Never Walk Alone."  In happier times, BBC live coverage showed over 750,000 Britons gathered on the Mall in front of Buckingham Palace in June 2002, singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" during the 2002 Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

In the United States in recent years, "You’ll Never Walk Alone," long associated with Jerry Lewis’ Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy telethons, has also been adopted by such causes as Hurricane Andrew and Hurricane Katrina relief and the annual national AIDS Walk campaigns. Marilyn Horne, Joan Baez and others have sung "You’ll Never Walk Alone" at AIDS Walk rallies in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Chicago, and in 1992 Patti LaBelle made a new recording of the song for a national AIDS Walk public service announcement. Bringing the song full circle, at the 1994 AIDS Walk New York, Shirley Verrett and the cast of the Broadway production of CAROUSEL sang "You’ll Never Walk Alone" on the Great Lawn in Central Park before a crowd of 30,000.  17 years later, CAROUSEL co-star Audra McDonald sang the song, to a crowd now swollen to over 45,000.

Rolling into the 21st Century, "You'll Never Walk Alone" continues to inspire the world at times of triumph and tragedy. In 2002, opera great Renee Fleming sang it at Ground Zero as part of the first year anniversary commemorations of the devastating 9/11 attacks; in 2009 she sang the song for a worldwide audience once again, this time backed by the US Naval Academy Glee Club on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for a globally-televised concert in honor of the Inauguration of President Barack Obama.

Suggested Additional Resources

Ewen, David. Richard Rodgers, Holt, New York 1957

_____. With a Song in His Heart (Richard Rodgers), Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York 1963

Fordin, Hugh. Getting To Know Him: The Biography of Oscar Hammerstein II, Random House, New York 1977

Green, Stanley. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Story, John Day, New York 1963; DeCapo Press paperback, 1980

_____. The Rodgers & Hammerstein Fact Book, Hal Leonard, Milwaukee 1980

Hammerstein II, Oscar. Lyrics, with an introduction by the author and a preface by Stephen Sondheim, Hal Leonard, Milwaukee 1985

_____. A Real Nice Clambake, illustrated by Nadine Westcott, Little, Brown & Co., Boston 1992

Mordden, Ethan.Rodgers & Hammerstein, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York 1992

Nolan, Frederick. The Sound of Their Music, Walker, New York 1978

Rodgers, Richard. Musical Stages: An Autobiography, Random House, New York 1975; Jove Paperback, New York 1978

Taylor, Deems. Some Enchanted Evenings, Harper, New York 1953