 The producers sought to cast unknowns . Though many had played in previous Hammerstein or Rodgers works , only one , Jean Casto ( cast as carousel owner Mrs. Mullin , and a veteran of Pal Joey ) , had ever played on Broadway before . It proved harder to cast the ensemble than the leads , due to the war — Rodgers told his casting director , John Fearnley , that the sole qualification for a dancing boy was that he be alive . Rodgers and Hammerstein reassembled much of the creative team that had made Oklahoma ! a success , including director Rouben Mamoulian and choreographer Agnes de Mille . Miles White was the costume designer while Jo Mielziner ( who had not worked on Oklahoma ! ) was the scenic and lighting designer . Even though Oklahoma ! orchestrator Russell Bennett had informed Rodgers that he was unavailable to work on Carousel due to a radio contract , Rodgers insisted he do the work in his spare time . He orchestrated " The Carousel Waltz " and " ( When I Marry ) Mister Snow " before finally being replaced by Don Walker . A new member of the creative team was Trude Rittmann , who arranged the dance music . Rittmann initially felt that Rodgers mistrusted her because she was a woman , and found him difficult to work with , but the two worked together on Rodgers ' shows until the 1970s . 
