ACT 1 Lyrics

Freed from labor, mill girls joyously meet their boy friends at an amusement
park (Prologue: Carousel Waltz).Among them are the effervescent Carrie and
the moody Julie, who infuriates Mrs. Mullin, the carousel owner, by arousing
the interest of her barker (and lover, we infer), Billy. In the ensuing quarrel,
Billy is fired.
Carrie thinks Julie is attracted to Billy (You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan)
and fittingly chooses this as the moment to reveal that she, too, has a beau
(Mister Snow).
Billy returns, chases Carrie off, and romances Julie (If I Loved You).

Two months later, Julie and Billy are married and living with Julie's cousin
Nettie. Preparing for that evening's clambake, the girls and boys indulge in
a bit of gender scuffling, then, with Nettie presiding, celebrate the erotic
liberation of spring (Give It To 'Em Good, Carrie.../June Is Bustin' Out All Over.)
Julie confides toCarrie he marital problems: Billy is out of work and angry.
He has even hit Julie. Carrie's news is happier - Mister Snow and she are
engaged. The eavesdropping girls are thrilled, not least when Snow himself
shows up (Mister Snow reprise). Snow and Carrie look foward to married life:
a big family and a thriving business in canned sardines (When The Children
Are Asleep).

Whalers on the shore leave pile into a waterfront dive (Blow High, Blow Low)
and get into a brawl. One whaler, the infinitely sleazy Jigger, tries to
interest Billy in robbery, which they can pull off during the clambake.
Billy is leery - but then Julie tells him she is pregnant.
Overjoyed at the thought of fatherhood as he walks along the beach
(Soliloquy), Billy decides to turn thief with Jigger after all.

Nettie, Billy and Julie, Carrie and Mister Snow, Jigger and the rest of the
Gang sail off to the clambake.