Carousel Concert, With Kelli O'Hara, Nathan Gunn, Jessie Mueller and John Cullum, Begins Feb. 27

By Adam Hetrick
27 Feb 2013

Kelli O'Hara in rehearsal
Kelli O'Hara in rehearsal
Photo by Monica Simoes

Tony Award nominee Kelli O'Hara and opera star Nathan Gunn take a spin on Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel beginning Feb. 27 at Avery Fisher Hall. The lush classic gets a starry five-performance concert staging featuring a host of Broadway talent and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

Tony Award winner John Rando (Urinetown, A Christmas Story) directs the Feb. 27-March 2 engagement that features Rob Fisher (Encores!, Anything Goes) conducting the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Warren Carlyle (Chaplin, Follies) choreographs the concert staging. 

The staging will also be broadcast on "Live from Lincoln Center" April 26 at 9 PM ET on PBS.

The musical centers on a tempestuous love affair between gruff carnival barker Billy Bigelow, played by Gunn (Camelot, Show Boat, Billy Budd), and young millworker Julie Jordan, played by four-time Tony Award nominee O'Hara (The Light in the Piazza, South Pacific, Nice Work If You Can Get It).

The cast also boasts Stephanie Blythe (Carmen, The Ring Cycle) as Nettie Fowler, Tony Award winner Shuler Hensley (Young Frankenstein, Oklahoma!) as Jigger Craigin, Tony Award nominee Jessie Mueller (Drood, Into the Woods, On a Clear Day) as Carrie Pipperidge, Jason Danieley (Candide, Next to Normal, Curtains) as Enoch Snow, Tony nominee Kate Burton (The Heiress, Spring Awakening) as Mrs. Mullin and Tony Award winner John Cullum (The Scottsboro Boys, Shenandoah) as the Starkeeper/Dr. Seldon.

New York City Ballet principal dancers Robert Fairchild and Tiler Peck perform the "If I Loved You" pas de deux ballet, as the Carnival Boy and Louise, respectively.

The script for the concert has been adapted by Tony Award nominee Chad Beguelin (Aladdin, The Wedding Singer, Elf). Scenic designs are by Allen Moyer, with lighting design by Ken Billington, costume design by David Woolard and sound design by Peter Fitzgerald.

Carousel has music by Richard Rodgers with a book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on the play Liliom by Ferenc Molnar. The classic features such songs as "If I Loved You," "June Is Bustin' Out All Over," "What's the Use of Wondrin'?," "You'll Never Walk Alone," "Mr. Snow" and "Soliloquy."

For tickets, priced $65, visit nyphil.org or phone (212) 875-5656.

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Stephanie Blythe and Jessie Mueller
Photo by Monica Simoes