Pounce
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Why is it called Carousel?Why is the show called Carousel? I know that Billy Bigelow is a carousel barker at the start of the show but he leaves that job early on. To name an entire show Carousel, it must have some larger meaning but I don't see the connection.
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Salome
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the carousel of life. the theory that you dont get off until you have finished your ride. which is why billy must come back and settle his accounts with his wife and daughter.
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Pounce
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| Salome wrote: | | the carousel of life. the theory that you dont get off until you have finished your ride. which is why billy must come back and settle his accounts with his wife and daughter. |
Good answer!  But does the show reinforce that idea? The show should have made some connection with life and the carousel, or did I miss it? You'd think that Billy should have had some sort of epiphany in heaven about the carousel being a metaphor for life and have that communicated to the audience. The movie has a nice dance sequence with Billy's daughter and a carousel horse appears in it but no real meaning that I can see is attached to it. A good show and film should have interspersed in it carousel themes. My impression is that the show (or at least the movie) has a weak connection to its title.
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Mr_X
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Yeah the title can seem pretty random at first, but Billy mentions it various times during the show. Plus, in our show at least, the ballet has a scene where Louise goes to a carnival and sees a carousel.
I think it could refer to its slapdash kind of plot. Not unsimilar to Oklahoma!, Carousel seems to have a format where it's a lead character scene, then a random supporting character scene, and it keeps going. This could refer to how people constantly get on and off the carousel.
But if you don't like the title, what do you think it should be?
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Pounce
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| Mr_X wrote: | | Yeah the title can seem pretty random at first, but Billy mentions it various times during the show. Plus, in our show at least, the ballet has a scene where Louise goes to a carnival and sees a carousel. |
But why? What does it mean? At best, I think it represents a haunting connection to her father whom she never knew.
| Quote: | I think it could refer to its slapdash kind of plot. Not unsimilar to Oklahoma!, Carousel seems to have a format where it's a lead character scene, then a random supporting character scene, and it keeps going. This could refer to how people constantly get on and off the carousel.
But if you don't like the title, what do you think it should be? |
The plot of "Carousel", or least the movie version, reminds me of "It's a Wonderful Life". It follows a similar pattern as "Carousel" by reviewing a person's life with some sort of divine intervention. The entire film of "It's a Wonderful Life" is tied together nicely at the end and the meaning of the movie's title hits home. George Bailey's seemingly dull and unsuccessful life was indeed worth living. But "Carousel" leaves me with little sense of connection of its title to what I just saw on the screen. "Carousel" just seems to be a convenient label. The film's message is not "life is a carousel". Perhaps "You'll Never Walk Alone" would have been a better title. That phrase is very strong and memorable and partly is what the show is about.
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RainbowJude
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Life is a carousel, old chum... | Pounce wrote: | | Carousel leaves me with little sense of connection (between the title and the content of tho show). Carousel just seems to be a convenient label. The... message is not "life is a carousel". |
But it is, in so many ways. The image of the carousel has so much to do with what goes on in the show. In addition to Salome's point above, the show is about cycles that perpetuate themselves - like a carousel that goes around in a circle, the cycles repeat and repeat and repeat - until something happens to stop them, until someone pulls a lever that stops the machine. That relates to the violence, crime, relationships, abuse, life and death - just about every aspect of the show reflects this in some way or another.
Later days
David
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