Mint Theater to Present Reading of Carousel Source Play Liliom
(© Jeremy Doroski)
Mint Theater will present a reading of Ferenc Molnár's Liliom, the source material for the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel. The reading will take place on June 11 under the direction of Jesse Marchese.
Liliom tells the story of a shiftless carousel barker, his ill-fated love-affair with a servant girl named Julie, and his attempt to recompense her in the afterlife. The play was failure when first produced in Budapest in 1909; Molnár's daring blend of gritty realism and poetic fantasy baffled audiences. A revival in Budapest was well-received 10 years later and in 1921, the play was produced on Broadway by the Theatre Guild in an English translation by Benjamin Glazer.
Casting for the reading will be announced in the coming weeks.
