Dear Shula and Akiba, Obviously a morning with time on my hands. Re: Carousel. As someone who was brought up on John Raitt, etc., I was recently intrigued by the new version done by Cameron Mackintosh for the National Theatre in London, and then to Broadway. He essentially went back and put all the real darkness and proto-industrialisation (the factory) back into it. I have a friend who saw it, and said it was devastating. The soundtrack albums are worth a listen. The orchestrations, etc., are quite strikingly harsh and much more interesting than the old Broadway or Lincoln Centre versions. The singers are young and unpolished, but affecting. The best duet -- If I Loved You (how could we forget?) -- is on the London recording, with a really sexual (!) Julie Jordon (no Shirley Jones she), Joanna Riding. "When The Children Are Asleep" is camped up on the same recording, but the new Broadway version of the song is O.K. Just thought you might be interested (Oh God, what is this doing on a folk site! -- might as well do a pre-emptive strike). Yours, Peter