 Rodgers early decided to dispense with an overture , feeling that the music was hard to hear over the banging of seats as latecomers settled themselves . In his autobiography , Rodgers complained that only the brass section can be heard during an overture because there are never enough strings in a musical 's small orchestra . He determined to force the audience to concentrate from the beginning by opening with a pantomime scene accompanied by what became known as " The Carousel Waltz " . The pantomime paralleled one in the Molnár play , which was also used to introduce the characters and situation to the audience . Author Ethan Mordden described the effectiveness of this opening : 
