Right, so you can happily wipe away a tear to "You'll Never Walk Alone", but have you ever actually seen Carousel?  I mean, all musical theatre is bonkers (being, as it is, opera re-written as sitcom), but I saw the touring edition of Carousel last night with Lesley Garrett, and it is so much more deeply peculiar than I'd ever dreamed.

Apart from the unambiguous message that a little domestic violence really only means he loves you, the hero is so deeply unsympathetic I was rooting for his death.  Which, by the way, is a suicide when he's about to be (rightfully) arrested for attempted murder. 

And then there's a 20-minute ballet, followed by a truncated closing number where the message seems to be, conform and everyone will like you.  Well, yes, that's actually the point of conformity. 

But we did have Lesley Garrett, and boy, isn't she determined that everyone's going to have a good time?  You, yes, you there, in the third row, are you smiling?  Are you smiling?  She's kind of like Dolly Parton, though, even cynics find it hard to say a bad word about her.  Just hearing her try an American accent was enough to make my evening.