Carousel is a 1945 stage musical by Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics) that was adapted from Ferenc Molnar's play Liliom. The original production, which was directed by Rouben Mamoulian, opened at Broadway's Majestic Theatre on April 19 1945 and closed on May 24 1947 after playing 890 performances. The original cast included John Raitt, Jan Clayton, Jean Darling, Eric Mattson, Christine Johnson, Murvyn Vye, Bambi Linn, and Russell Collins.