Emotions Ride Up and Down in a Well-Cast ‘Carousel’

When was the first time you saw Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical “Carousel”? Most likely, it was some screechingly awful high school production in which Julie Jordan showed all the ardor of set dressing and Billy Bigelow couldn’t manage to get through his Soliloquy without his voice cracking.

But still, when Julie cradled the dying Billy in her arms, you wept. How could you not?

First produced in 1945, and famously revived in London and then on Broadway some half-dozen years ago, “Carousel” has jerked enough tears in the last 50 years or so to float an armada off the coast of the small New England fishing village in which it is set.

Sharply realized and satisfyingly weepy, Sha Newman’s staging at the Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities is a high tide of pure sentimentality with performers who are, for the most part, Olympic-caliber swimmers.

Any “Carousel” rises or falls on the performances of Julie and Billy, and Newman has been particularly fortunate in casting Patricia Ben Peterson and Kevin Earley as her two romantic leads.

In an effectively understated turn, Peterson plays Julie as a modest but passionate innocent who has no capacity for girlish wiles or feminine artifice.

But it is Earley who is the focus and the fulcrum of the production, investing his role with just the right blend of swagger and vulnerability.

Vocally gifted and emotionally true, Earley is a world-class Billy, a young actor with a mature talent.

It’s a testament to the other performers that they manage to swim alongside Earley without getting blown out of the water. As Julie’s sensible and loyal friend Carrie, Lisa Dyson richly fulfills her role’s quotient of cute obtuseness.

Mellow-voiced and assured, Greg Zerkle finds new levels of humor in Carrie’s stuffy but sincere suitor, Mr. Snow--no mean feat for such a vintage role. Brimming over with machismo and predatory aplomb, Sam Zeller is ideal as Jigger, the seagoing water rat who leads Billy so tragically astray.

A pleasant actress with a lovely voice, Brooks Almy falls a little short of the weathered earthiness required in the role of Nettie.

Newman, who also choreographs based on Agnes de Mille’s original dances, marshals her largely non-pro chorus well.

The technical elements of the show, including the rental sets, are handsomely realized, though designer Kim Killingsworth underlights some key scenes. Jeff Rizzo’s musical direction is top-notch.

A shining standout of the evening is Trevor Brackney, a Baryshnikov look-alike who dances the role of the Carnival Boy with breathtaking virtuosity.

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“Carousel,” Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, 1935 Manhattan Beach Blvd. at Aviation, Redondo Beach. Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 and 7 p.m. Ends June 17. $35-$50. (310) 372-4477. Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes.