Review: Carousel - Norfolk and Norwich Operatic Society

Two divergent stories of romance are at the heart of this classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical as NNOS treated us to the most dramatic of rides with their production of Carousel.

Billy Bigelow (played by Lewis Aves), a carousel barker, and millworker Julie Jordan (Ruby Bardwell-Dix) endure a rocky start as their romance comes at the expense of their jobs. Meanwhile, Julie's best friend Carrie Pipperidge (Jessica Brydges) and her secret beau Enoch Snow (Lucas Fox) see their romance blossom in parallel with Enoch's blooming business.

While Billy and Julie's marriage struggles, news of Julie’s pregnancy looks to alter the outlook, but things take a tragic turn after Billy participates in a robbery in order to try and provide for his wife and unborn child. However, with a little heavenly help, Billy ends up with the chance to make things right.

Julie and Billy (Ruby Bardwell-Dix and Lewis Aves) - Photo credit: Richard Jarmy

There were plenty of creditable performances among the near 50-strong cast, including Staisha Jeary's rendition of You'll Never Walk Alone providing a spine-tingling moment, and Liberty Downing's brilliant overall performance as Louise Bigelow including a stunning pas de deux with Samuel Govier's carnival boy. Inevitably though, it was the four leads who made the biggest impact.

Bardwell-Dix did a great job of conveying conflicted emotions and an underlying air of sadness in their performance, while Aves gave us a version of Billy that was both vulnerable and tough, unconcerned with getting the audience onside which made us consider more closely his character's nastier side. Their beautiful vocals were more than a match for each other in a stirring If I Loved You, and though their romance was cut short, they were thoroughly convincing as lovers in a somewhat tempestuous relationship.

Brydges and Fox on the other hand were full of wholesome charm throughout, and their duet in When the Children are Asleep was both note perfect and spell-binding.

Carrie and Enoch (Jessica Brydges and Lucas Fox) - Photo credit: Richard Jarmy

It was a real treat to hear the beautiful score played out by the 28 piece orchestra, led by MD Kevin Bell, and the imaginative set (supplied by Scenic Projects) along with some thoughtful lighting design meant it was a dazzling spectacle at times.

To counterbalance some of my sycophancy, I will say that it was by no means perfect, with a few dodgy accents and lack of diction letting down a couple of performances, and though it might be sacrilege to suggest, clocking in at near on three hours including the interval, it felt like some of the fat could have been trimmed from the piece.

Liberty Downing as Louise Bigelow performs a stunning routine - Photo credit: Richard Jarmy

However, that's nit-picking at what was yet another slickly-produced and highly polished piece of theatre from these community theatre titans. It's well worth the fare.

Carousel continues at Norwich Theatre Royal until 28 Feb.