When "Carousel" was Jewish (Don't miss today's Weekly Blast!)Jewish author's original versions of Mr. Snow and Mr. Bascombe were Jews
Shalom!This week, The Broadway Maven looks at Carousel.• On Sunday, February 12 at Noon ET and Monday, February 13 at Noon and 7 pm ET we’ll have a FREE class exploring the 1945 Rodgers & Hammerstein masterpiece. Register here.• On Monday, February 14 at Noon ET ALL-ACCESS Passholders will have a special lecture by Peter Filichia on the women of Rodgers & Hammerstein.• This Weekly Blast includes:A) an ESSAY about Liliom, the very Jewish play upon which Carousel is based (included here FREE in this preview issue);B) a YouTube GEM that draws from our intensive Sondheim Boot Camps;C) a REVIEW of a documentary film celebrating the return of Broadway after COVID shutdowns;D) a SURVEY about the identity of the best Broadway score ever;E) a YouTube GEM with a Broadway Maven music educator explaining Richard Rodgers’s musical style;F) a LETTER from a Broadway Maven student; andG) LAST BLASTs (always FREE) about Cabaret, Grease, Bye Bye Birdie, and The Rocky Horror Show.
Set in Coastal Maine, the great Rodgers & Hammerstein show Carousel doesn’t have any Jews in it. (What would you expect? Even The Sound of Music didn’t have Jews — and that was about Nazis.) But Liliom, the play upon which Carousel was based, was very Jewish. Jewish playwright and novelist Ferenc Molnár, a Jewish playwright and novelist, included Jewish characters and themes of Judaism and Anti-Semitism. Lovers of Carousel may be surprised that the divorcing Molnár wrote his play in part to rebut accusations he had struck his daughter. Much of Carousel’s plot and characters follow Liliom pretty closely, although all the Jewish identities have been dropped. For example, the victim of the robbery in the Rodgers & Hammerstein version is mill owner Mr. Bascombe. But in Liliom, it’s a Jewish clerk named Linzman, who was delivering the payroll on Shabbat. And the equivalent of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s capitalist fisherman Mr. Snow was a Jewish businessman named Wolf, whose religion is treated as a minor inconvenience. Interesting that Oscar Hammerstein dropped all references to anti-Semitism from the plot, given his involvement in the tolerance movement and the fact he wrote “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught” just a few years later. NEW: Archive The Broadway Maven Archive is the only place where you can access all past and present Broadway Maven clips reels and view specially curated Bonus Features for each new class taught. Each clip reel is different and stretches back years to cover many of your favorite Broadway musicals with analysis, criticisms, and highlights. If you miss a class and want to make up some of the material; just want to review a video shown during a class; or even if you just want to see a concentrated playlist about all things Broadway, the Archive is for you. It’s home to more than 30 videos and more than 24 hours of content, with more being added and updated each week! For a sample of what the Archive might look like for you, click this link, and enter the password 'archivesample' to view our Les Misérables clips reel. Pay attention to the bottom of the screen, where the time stamps enable you to skip to the section you want to see. Sign up now for the rest of 2023 for only $80 if paid by March 1. Price is $100 after March 1.
Regarding The Broadway Maven: Your sessions ALWAYS bring up questions and issues about musicals that encourage me to think and look at things from a different perspective. I appreciate that reframing both with musicals I know and love, but also with those that I haven't particularly cared for or haven't been much interested in investigating. Thank you so much for offering these special seminars. -S.
A charming but disturbing show widely considered to have among Broadway’s finest scores, Carousel is worthy of careful examination — and The Broadway Maven is happy to comply! We’ll look at “the bench scene” and some of the major songs and themes. And music educator Mateo Chavez Lewis will be on hand to further illustrate the score.
For your Carousel homework, watch the 10-minute video below with highlights from the songs and story of the show. What’s the theme of Carousel? Explain your answers in the comments. 
Note: links to register for ALL classes are ALWAYS available at TheBroadwayMaven.com.• Sunday, February 12 Carousel (Noon ET, FREE) • Monday, February 13 Carousel (Noon and 7 pm ET, FREE) • Tuesday, February 14 Peter Filichia on the women of Rodgers & Hammerstein (Noon ET, ALL-ACCESS Passholders only) • Sunday, February 19 South Pacific (Noon ET, FREE) • Monday, February 20 South Pacific (Noon and 7 pm ET, FREE) • Tuesday, February 21 Damn Yankees & The Pajama Game (Noon ET, $5) • Sunday, February 26 The Sound of Music (Noon ET, FREE) • Monday, February 27th The Sound of Music (Noon and 7 pm ET, FREE) • Tuesday, February 28 “Musical Theater Writer Guy” Michael Radi on rhymes (Noon ET, ALL-ACCESS Passholders only) • Wednesday, March 1 Introduction to Jewish Broadway (Noon ET, $5 or $18 for the series) • Wednesday, March 8 Ragtime and Parade (Noon ET, $5 or $18 for the series) • Wednesday, March 15 Barbra Streisand’s musicals (Noon ET, $5 or $18 for the series) • Wednesday, March 22 Fiddler on the Roof (Noon ET, $5 or $18 for the series) • Wednesday, March 29 Peter Filichia on Jewish Broadway hits and misses (Noon ET, $5 or $18 for the series) Note: Students may attend up to 12 FREE classes a year. After that it’s $5 a class.Reminder: ALL-ACCESS Passholders do not need to sign up or pay for anything. Just show up!
LAST BLAST: Sometimes the movie musical of a Broadway show is so popular — and has such beloved songs — that revivals of the show inevitably interpolate material from the film. Cabaret is a notable example. But for two shows — Bye, Bye Birdie and Grease — it’s the title number that became so popular that the revivals always highlight it. LAST BLAST: One of the musical definitions of “riff” is “a short repeated phrase.” Well, the composer of the riffs in The Rocky Horror Show was Richard O’Brien, who — as an actor in the show and subsequent film — played a character named Riff Raff. The Broadway Maven, David Benkof, helps students further their appreciation of musical theater through his classes, his YouTube Channel, and his Weekly Blast. Contact him at DavidBenkof@gmail.com.
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