When director Nicholas Hytner brought a version of his Royal National Theatre production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel to Broadway, opening at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre in Lincoln Center on March 24, 1994, he was rewarded with favorable reviews, five Tony Awards (the most for any musical that season), and a run of 337 performances. But the revival did not go without criticism. While reviewers applauded Hytner's gritty interpretation and imaginative staging, they were relatively unimpressed with the cast's vocal abilities. Bringing only male lead Michael Hayden (as Billy Bigelow) over from London, Hytner seemed to have been more interested in characterization than singing, and it was notable that, of those five Tonys, only one went to a performer. When you also consider that the London production had already produced a cast album of its own, the prospects for the inevitable Broadway cast album were somewhat dimmed. On the whole, it isn't as good as the London version, and you can hear what the reviewers were complaining about. Prominent female singers Sally Murphy (Julie Jordan) and Shirley Verrett (Nettie Fowler) are fine, but the men are less adequate. Hayden and Duane Boutté (Enoch Snow Jr.) manage, but Fisher Stevens (Jigger Craigin), has no singing voice to speak of and growls through his part. The saving grace of the album, as it was the strongest element of the production, is the startling debut of Audra Ann McDonald (she later dropped the "Ann"), the show's sole Tony-winning performer. The casting of the African-American McDonald as New Englander Carrie Pipperidge may have been unrealistic (or, as the politically correct prefer, "nontraditional"), but she proved a remarkable singer and a magnetic stage presence. This album is worth having for her singing alone, even if she vastly outshines the rest of her fellow singers. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide