It snowed in New England this week. I know that’s a big surprise to everyone. After all, we’re known for our white sandy beaches, turquoise waters, and swaying palm trees….not! I guess my head was still back on the cruise, because this snow really blew me away. It also blew away our electricity. Fortunately, our apartment is pretty well insulated, but it did get into the 50s which feels pretty cold when you keep your place in the 70s.  We’d also planned to go to New York with Mark and Maria to see Carousel with Jessie Muehler and Renee Fleming. I posted on Facebook that after two days of no power, we were going to Broadway to see a show.

Janet and I had seen Jessie in Beautiful: The Carol King Story, a part for which she won a Tony award. It’s always a pleasure to see people who perform their craft at the top level. Renee Fleming recently retired from the Metropolitan Opera and is one of Maria’s opera idols. I’d done Carousel in community theater about 10 years ago and didn’t care for the show at the time. I thought it might be interesting to see it performed well and maybe experience a change of heart.

Last year, when we saw Hello Dolly together, I let Mark pick the restaurant. His choice was wonderful, but it was at least 6 blocks from the theater. If the blocks were north and south blocks, it would have been easy. But these blocks were east and west which are twice as long as the north and south blocks. We barely made it to curtain call. This year I chose the restaurant, which happened to be a mere three blocks from the theater making for a pleasant stroll after a sumptuous meal.

We were impressed with the show. Though Renee Fleming was a little out of her element, it was a pleasure hearing her sing the iconic “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” If you’re not familiar with Carousel, its about a carnival man, Billy Bigelow, who marries a young town girl, Julie, and is prone to hitting her. He gets mixed up with a thief and dies in the middle of Act II.  He gets to come back to help his daughter, Louise, who’s life is a mess, acting just like him. He becomes visible to her and after she refuses a gift he slaps her. In the original play Louise asks her mother, Julie, if it’s possible for someone to hit you without hurtin, Julie tells her that “it’s possible for someone to hit you hard and it doesn’t hurt at all.” To me, they were justifying his behavior. This was the way we performed it 10 years ago, and the reason I’ve not enjoyed this show very much. The show was written at a different time, and I always felt like it didn’t hold up well in the 21st Century. To my relief, they dropped those lines in this revival, holding Billy accountable for his actions. Performed this way, I enjoyed the show much more, though it’s still not one of my favorites.

The theatrics of the show were wonderful with beautiful dancing, and excellent singing and acting. This is our second spring show we’ve seen with Mark and Maria. It looks like we’ve once again started a new tradition.

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” – Helen Keller