Carousel is the second
musical by the team of
Richard Rodgers (music) and
Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics). The 1945 work was adapted from
Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play
Liliom, transplanting its
Budapest setting to the
Maine coastline. The story revolves around carousel
barker Billy Bigelow, whose romance with millworker Julie Jordan comes at the price of both their jobs. He attempts a robbery to provide for Julie and their unborn child; after it goes wrong, he is given a chance to make things right. A secondary plot line deals with millworker Carrie Pipperidge and her romance with ambitious fisherman Enoch Snow. The show includes the well-known songs "
If I Loved You", "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" and "
You'll Never Walk Alone". Richard Rodgers later wrote that
Carousel was his favorite of all his musicals.