<P> Carousel is the second musical by the team of Richard Rodgers ( music ) and Oscar Hammerstein II ( book and lyrics ) . The 1945 work was adapted from Ferenc Molnár 's 1909 play Liliom , transplanting its Budapest setting to the Maine coastline . The story revolves around carousel barker Billy Bigelow , whose romance with millworker Julie Jordan comes at the price of both their jobs . He participates in a robbery to provide for Julie and their unborn child ; after it goes tragically wrong , he is given a chance to make things right . A secondary plot line deals with millworker Carrie Pipperidge and her romance with ambitious fisherman Enoch Snow . The show includes the well - known songs `` If I Loved You '' , `` June Is Bustin ' Out All Over '' and `` You 'll Never Walk Alone '' . Richard Rodgers later wrote that Carousel was his favorite of all his musicals . </P>
where did rodgers and hammerstein find the story for their musical carousel
Ferenc Molnár 's 1909 play Liliom