Carousel presented by The Benjamin T. Rome School of Music at Catholic University Drama Complex

The students of Catholic University's Musical Theatre program perform Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel, which Time magazine called the best musical of the century. Swaggering, carefree carnival barker Billy captivates and marries naive millworker Julie. Losing his job just as he learns that Julie is pregnant, Billy, desperate to provide a decent life for his family, is coerced into being an accomplice to a robbery. Caught in the act and facing prison, he takes his own life and is sent "up there." Returning to earth for one day 15 years later, Billy encounters the daughter he never knew. A lonely, friendless teenager, her father's reputation as a thief and a bully has haunted her throughout her young life. How Billy instills in both the child and her mother a sense of hope and dignity is a dramatic testimony to the power of love. It's easy to understand why, of all the shows they created, Carousel was Rodgers and Hammerstein's personal favorite.