Carnival – BROADWAY CAST****

Opening/Direct From Vienna/A Very Nice Man/I’ve Got To Find A Reason/Mira/A Sword & A Rose & A Cape/Humming/Yes My Heart/Everybody Likes You/Love Makes The World Go Round/Yum Ticky/The Rich/ Beautiful Candy/Her Face/Grand Imperial Cirque De Paris/I Hate Him/Her Face (Reprise)/Always Always You/ Always Always You (Reprise)/She’s My Love/Finale

The Broadway musical Carnival starred Anna Maria Alberghetti and James Mitchell. It opened in April 1961 at the Imperial Theatre and ran for 719 performances. Based on the 1953 film Lili, about an orphan girl and her relationship with a carnival puppeteer. Music and lyrics by Bob Merrill. (US:1)

“The simplicity and warmth of the story seems to have brought out the best in Merrill. Song after song, the score is fresh, exuberant, clever and emotionally rich. Credit is due to a committed cast, most notably Anna Maria Alberghetti who perfectly personifies Lili's naiveté and heart.”

“Carnival is a gorgeous Broadway musical based on the MGM musical Lili. It is a showcase for the amazing talents of Anna Maria Alberghetti, as Lili herself. Alberghetti has the most interesting voice I have ever heard, and was a child prodigy with her huge vocal range and soaring voice.”

“Bob Merrill's memorable score, best known for Love Makes The World Go 'Round is filled with delightful, often uniquely beautiful songs and numbers, truly without a dud among them.”

“Alberghetti originally made her mark as a child prodigy operatic soprano, and she created the role of Lili on Broadway when still barely out of her teens. Her combination of grit and vulnerability, part woman, part adolescent, combined with her gorgeous singing voice, make her performance a classic.”

“The songs are delightful and the cast a very talented group of people. Anna Maria Alberghetti is Lili, the childlike young woman who enchants the bitter puppeteer Paul. Their two voices, hers sweet and clear and his strong and virile, are well-suited to their conflicting roles as the innocent gamine, and the cynical and damaged man, who cannot show her the love he feels except through his puppets.”