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Music and Lyrics by: Bob Merrill
Directed and Choreographed by: Robert Longbottom
Book by: Michael Stewart
Adapted from a story by Paul Gallico
Based on the film "Lili" by Helen Deutsch
Previews from February 17th 2007
February 24th 2007 – March 11th 2007
Eisenhower Theater
Presented by the Kennedy Center Theater Series
Washington, D.C.
SYNOPSIS
A visual and musical extravaganza, Carnival! is full of the theater's most colorful characters and sensational songs like "Love Makes the World Go 'Round." As the Grand Imperial Cirque de Paris tours Europe, a lonely orphan named Lili falls under its magical spell. She becomes entangled in a web of romance and illusion as she develops a crush on the dashing magician Marco the Magnificent, and finds solace in the company of some very charming puppets, only to discover that her puppet friends are a conduit for the emotions of their handler, Paul. It's a truly mesmerizing story about love in all its permutations.
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OPENING NIGHT CAST
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Ereni Sevasti
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Lili
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Jim Stanek
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Paul & Puppets (Carrot Top, Horrible Henry, Marguerite, Renardo, Dog)
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Sebastian La Cause
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Marco
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Natascia Diaz
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Rosalie
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Michael Arnold
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Jacquot
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Jonathan Lee Iverson
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Schlegel
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Mike Mosallam
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Grobert
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Allen Bennett
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Dancing Bear
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Nanette Michele
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Olga
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Rebecca Young
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Greta
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Ed Christie
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Carnival Puppeteer
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Jazmin Gorsline
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Carnival Singer
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Roustabouts
(Adam Laird, Denis Lambert, Chad L. Schiro, Steven Wenslawski)
Tricksters
(Matt Baker, Sean McKnight, Lance Olds, Christopher Sergeeff, Tara Siesener)
Aerialist
(Elizabeth Page Carpenter, Laura Anne Carpenter)
Pony Dancers
(Sarah Lin Johnson, Amanda Kloots, Lauren Pastorek, Krista Saab)
SWINGS
Koh Mochizuki, Jillian Owens
UNDERSTUDIES
Lili – Jazmin Gorsline
Paul – Koh Mochizuki
Jacquot – Sean McKnight
Schlegel – Chad L. Schiro
Marco – Denis Lambert
Rosalie – Lauren Pastorek
ACT 1
The play begins in an empty meadow sometime before sunrise. Jacquot enters, playing a concertina. He sits and begins to sing. The other carnival performers and roustabouts enter to raise the tent for the eventual performance. Schlegel, the owner, calls for the parade that announces the arrival of the Cirque de Paris to begin. The performers and their specialties are introduced, Direct From Vienna, as the parade starts for town.
Lili, a waif-like, recently orphaned teenager, arrives seeking work from her father's friend who runs the souvenir concession. Grobert, the abrupt, new souvenir operator, gruffly informs her thatthe man is dead. Lilli offers to sell souvenirs for him, Very Nice Man, and he lustily invites her into his wagon to discuss the matter. Marco, the self-centered magician, hears crashing noises from Grobert's and is intrigued by Lili who scampers out of the wagon. He charms her with some magic and showmanship, but Grobert angrily orders her to leave the carnival and she wanders off.
The lights rise on the puppet booth where Carrot Top, an endearing red-headed puppet, is singing, Fairyland, to Schlegel who is in a fury about the incompetence of the act. He yells for the puppeteers, Jacquot and Paul, and warns them to get a new act or be fired. Paul, the head puppeteer, a former dancer who was crippled in the war, angrily begins to pack up. Jacquot, his good-natured, caring assistant, begs him to reconsider, but Paul responds that his present life is meaningless: I've Got to Find a Reason. When Lili enters looking for Marco, Paul furiously tells her to go home and leave men like Marco alone. She retorts that he performs magic and Jacquot kindly agrees with her, but also urges her to go home. She tells him how far she has traveled and how much her town meant: Mira.
The Carnival Parade returns and Marco invites Lili to have lunch in his wagon. As he sings of how wonderfully gallant he is, the Roustabouts mock him, but the infatuated Lili doesn't notice: A Sword, and a Rose, and a Cape. Rosalie, Marco's girlfriend, starts to go to Marco's wagon but Schlegel, anxious to avoid problems with his star, offers her a drink. Rosalie tells Schlegel she has a proposal of marriage from a Swiss doctor and is considering accepting. She sarcastically tells of Marco's nauseating habit of humming at his sexual successes and revels in the fact that it's her turn: Humming. At the end of the song, Marco enters to ask Schlegel to give Lili a job and Rosalie decides to tell the Zurich doctor yes. Schlegel, surprised that Lili is the girl Marco wants him to hire, agrees to test her for six months at no salary. Lili excitedly imagines she is in love: Yes, My Heart. As she sings, various Roustabouts and performers enter and begin decorating the carnival for the evening's performance. Everyone becomes involved in her mood and song.
The company exits as the focus shifts to Jacquot who tells Paul he is staying with the Carnival. Paul angrily urges Jacquot to see the people and show for the mediocre place it is, but Jacquot tells him the ugliness is within Paul himself and exits. Paul looks sadly at Carrot Top, his favorite red-headed, little boy puppet and bitterly wonders if he should be more like the puppet: Everybody Likes You. The lights fade on Paul and rise later that night on the Carnival show. Various acts perform and Marco headlines with his magic act, assisted by Rosalie: Magic, Magic. Lili keeps commenting to the audience on the magnificence of the act, which upsets Marco who has her fired. The Carnival Ballet closes the scene and the Carnival for the night. Lili crosses an empty stage, puts down her suitcase and begins to climb a tall ladder, but the voice of Carrot Top slowly guides her from her contemplated suicide. She meets the rest of the puppets: Horrible Henry, a walrus, Renardo, a clever fox, and the elegant Marguerite.
After Renardo insults Horrible Henry, Carrot Top urges Lili to sing Henry a cheerful song, which she does: Golden Delicious. She then lyricizes the carnival theme: Love Makes The World Go Round. The puppets query her about her feelings and Carrot Top's voice gradually becomes that of Paul, who begs her to care about him. The puppets join her in the song, which stops when Lili sees Marco. Carrot Top, in Paul's voice, orders Jacquot to hire Lili for their act and get her away from Marco. As Jacquot leads her off, Paul slowly comes from behind the booth and removes Carrot Top.
ACT 2
The curtain rises on Act II as the roustabouts, band, and performers prepare for the puppet show. The fanfare is played and Marguerite pops up with Renardo and Henry. Lili joins them: Rum, Ticky, Ticky, Tum ,Tum. Schlegel watches as the crowd grows at the puppet booth and decides to move the puppet theatre to a more central location. The lights flash on to the puppet booth, which is larger and freshly painted. The puppets are better costumed: The Rich. The show continues, Beautiful Candy.
When Schlegel announces they will move to the main tent, the three are excited but Lili breaks the mood when she remembers she is to watch Marco's act. Left alone, Paul agonizes: Her Face. During the song, he realizes he has fallen in love. Paul calls to Jacquot to freshen up the puppets and give Lili a new song. Jacquot excitedly imagines their act will be so successful it will play Paris: Circque De Paris Ballet. He is joined by the Carnival people. The next morning, the sudden arrival of Dr. Glass, Rosalie's veterinarian boy friend who carries some of his patients with him, causes her to have second thoughts. Marco, certain she is leaving, asks Lili to join him in the act. At this point, Paul enters and orders her to rehearse. Angered by her attitude of fear he grabs her tear-stained face and kisses her. Lili denounces him: I Hate Him.
The carnival people perform: Cirque De Paris. Rosalie enters to tell Marco she is staying with him and is ready for their sword act. It seems Papa Glass, the owner of a large chain of hotels, is pleased that Rosalie is not marrying his son and has booked their act. She gets into the sword box and the two sing as Marco stabs swords into the box and she reacts as if hit: Always, Always You. Rosalie tells Lili that Marco no longer needs her and Jacquot urges her to go home to Mira, for Paul has torn down the puppet booth. When Marco enters to tell Lili he plans on seeing her again, Paul drives him off and angrily calls Lili cheap. She screams that she hates him and he slaps her across the face. She runs off and Paul laments: She's My Love. He slowly exits.
Lili informs Marco that she has grown up and learned some truths about the world; she won't be seeing him anymore. He kisses her fondly and exits. As she walks by the broken puppet tent Carrot Top and the other puppets ask her to stay. As she embraces them she realizes that the puppets are indeed Paul. She lifts the curtain and demands an explanation. He admits that the puppets are aspects of his personality and angrily asks if he must make another puppet in the form of a cripple. Irritated with himself for opening up, he angrily orders her out and hurls Carrot Top to the ground. She looks at him and, admitting that he needs her, he reaches out his hand and she runs into his arms. They exit arm in arm.
(Taken from Musical Notes, by Carol Lucha-Burns)
SONG LIST
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Opening
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Direct From Vienna
(Schlegel, Marco, Rosalie & Company)
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Mira
(Lili)
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I've Got to Find a Reason
(Paul)
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A Sword, And A Rose, And A Cape
(Marco & Roustabouts)
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Humming
(Rosalie)
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Yes, My Heart
(Lili & Company)
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Magic, Magic
(Marco & Rosalie)
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Golden Delicious
(Lili & Puppets)
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Love Makes The World Go Round
(Lili)
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Everybody Likes You
(Paul)
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Rum, Ticky, Ticky, Tum, Tum
(Lili & Puppets)
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The Rich
(Lili & Puppets)
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Beautiful Candy
(Lili, Puppets & Venders)
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Her Face
(Paul)
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Grand Imperial Circque De Paris
(Jacquot & Company)
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I Hate Him
(Lili)
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Her Face (Reprise)
(Paul & Lili)
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Always, Always You
(Marco & Rosalie)
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Always, Always You (Reprise)
(Rosalie)
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She's My Love
(Paul)
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Finale Ultimo
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