| I have not yet seen CAROUSEL, but I have always felt that Julie Jordan is one of the most challenging roles in musical theater. The character has a very complex personality. The actress who portrays her has to communicate that "quiet, deep" quality to which Carrie refers, yet obviously if Julie is too quiet, too deep, too inward, she's not going to register as a presence onstage. To me, proof of the role's difficulty is that, in my opinion, Shirley Jones's performance in the film is quite poor in comparison to her excellent performances as Laurey and Marian in the films of OKLAHOMA! and THE MUSIC MAN, for example. |
