 The Hytner production moved to New York 's Vivian Beaumont Theater , where it opened on March 24 , 1994 and ran for 322 performances . This won five Tony Awards , including best musical revival , as well as awards for Hytner , MacMillan , Crowley and Audra McDonald ( as Carrie ) . The cast also included Sally Murphy as Julie , Shirley Verrett as Nettie , Fisher Stevens as Jigger and Eddie Korbich as Enoch . One change made from the London to the New York production was to have Billy strike Louise across the face , rather than on the hand . According to Hayden , " He does the one unpardonable thing , the thing we can 't forgive . It 's a challenge for the audience to like him after that . " The Hytner Carousel was presented in Japan in May 1995 . A U.S. national tour with a scaled @-@ down production began in February 1996 in Houston and closed in May 1997 in Providence , Rhode Island . Producers sought to feature young talent on the tour , with Patrick Wilson as Billy and Sarah Uriarte Berry , and later Jennifer Laura Thompson , as Julie . 
