TWENTY years ago –, gosh, was it really 20 years ago? – Opera North presented its first musical, Oscar Hammerstein’s Show Boat.

It is still held high within the Leeds Grand walls as a benchmark show, much like the late Christopher Gable’s equally ground-breaking Simple Man for Northern Ballet Theatre.

For those who cavil that the company is called Opera North, not Musical North, three points counter that sneering. Firstly, musicals are a modern form of opera but with (often) American pop tunes rather than Italian arias. Secondly, Opera North have revived the works of Kern, Gershwin, Weill and Sondheim over the years. Thirdly, Hammerstein’s writing partner, Richard Rodgers, considered the 1945 score to be the closest to formal opera in their repertoire.

Opera North don’t take it any closer to the more grandiose artform in Jo Davies’s production, albeit that the chorus gives it extra clout.

Having navigated Gilbert & Sullivan’s troublesome Ruddigore so impressively, Davies now takes on another problematic piece, which she moves forward from the New England of 1873 to the early 20th century and sets on a revolve stage to suggest a life spinning out of control as much as the motion of the carousel of the title.

Carousel is “problematic” because its chirpy comedy and merry men versus feisty women banter is countered by its lead character, carousel barker Billy Bigelow, having as short a fuse as wee Billy Bremner.

Not to beat about the bush, Bigelow is a wife beater, who takes his own life when caught by the law mid-bungled robbery. That has always seemed a gutless cop-out, but it takes on the new racist resonance of Bigelow being an outsider, destined for harsh treatment, now that he is played by a black baritone, Eric Greene.

Greene stepped in at only two weeks’ notice to replace the ill Keith Phares, and unsurprisingly, his singing on press night was more satisfying and rounded than his performance in such a tricky role. How the heck are you supposed to convey the turbulent temperament buried beneath the early twinkle and the comedic dominance of the first half, and then build up a sense of tragedy in a character lacking the sympathy vote apportioned to the manipulated Othello?

That is the musical’s problem, more than the performer’s, and it is impossible to conquer. What a production must do is make the most of Carousel’s good points: the ballad If I Loved You, sung beautifully by Greene and Gillene Herbert’s Julie Jordan; the two ensemble cornerstones, June Is Bustin’ Out All Over and A Real Nice Clambake; the humorous priggishness of Enoch Snow (superbly captured by Joseph Shovelton); and the bad-lad cheek of Michael Rouse’s Jigger Craigin.

Chorus and orchestra are in fine form, and contrary to The Thunderer’s notice earlier this week, Anthony Ward’s set is magical in building a dazzling carousel before your eyes and later in conjuring heaven’s waiting room, where John Woodvine’s Starkeeper pickpockets the scene exquisitely.

Carousel is, of course, the one with You’ll Never Walk Alone, and no matter how often you hear it in this original musical form, it can never be a match for the Anfield choir and Gerry Marsden. Nevertheless, unlike Liverpool at Wembley last Saturday, this Carousel is still a winner.

• Carousel, Opera North, Leeds Grand Theatre, until May 19. Box office: 0844 848 2700.