All tagged Jessie Mueller
What do you do when Charles Dickins begins writing a murder mystery story, but never finishes it? You turn it into a musical, of course, and let the audience vote at each performance to decide which character they want to be the culprit. That is exactly what Rupert Holmes did when wrote the musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood. The musical, sometimes abbreviated to simply “Drood,” is an interactive experience for audiences, making it Broadway’s most original whodunit.
Carousel has always been one of my favorite musicals, unyielding and passionate in its telling of two imperfect people entwined in an ill-fated relationship. Yes, it isn’t the easiest pill to swallow, but it was daring musical for its time and continues to be in a world where domestic abuse and misguided codependency still flourish. Part of the reason why this musical continues to resonate is the glorious Rodgers and Hammerstein score.
With the forthcoming revival of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic Carousel set to open, I thought it would be fun to look back on the controversial gem from 1945. Based on the popular Ferenc Molnar play Liliom, but transposed from its original Hungarian setting to a New England fishing village in the United States, Carousel tells the story of factory worker Julie Jordan, a stubborn young woman who falls in love with a handsome, but troubled, carousel barker with a traveling carnival.
In a time where our government is concerned with manipulating and misdirecting the media to create doubts and confusion, it is heartening to watch a film like The Post and know that newspapers in this country were once the bastions of truth, the essential element of checks and balances that held our leaders to higher standard. Director Steven Spielberg has captured in The Post a cautionary tale, one that reminds those who deliver our news that they have a solemn duty to get at the heart of every truth, so hold our leaders responsible for their egregious choices and behavior.
